video showing how she ceramic coated her Subaru.
https://youtu.be/8iL8l-2tpXo

How much does it cost for the material?

Costs vary depending what you already have, need and desired outcome vs current condition. If you have nothing, I would say average is ~$500 for DIY. A good chunk of that is stuff you can reuse though (microfiber towels, wash materials. buffer).

Thanks for the info. Where do you usually get the ceramic coating from?

I usually purchase my stuff from Sky's the Limit (CarPro USA) and DetailedImage. They both have amazing customer service and prices are pretty good.

Now lemme tell ya somethin' boys, just s'more snake oil. No true' coat is gonna keep ur car from the real abuse that she deserves!

Get urself' a patina' goin. Some wear n tear as they say, I don't believe in that garagin' stuff. Get er' out there and smack er' around a bit !

I bought 100ml of CQuartz UK and a bottle of Reload for $150 shipped from Autogeek, plus a $20 gallon of wax and grease remover. I had all the other materials and equipment for detailing already, but if you dont you are looking at probably $300 more at least to do it right. So far the Cquartz has done a single coat on my 350z and a full coat on the WRX plus windows and second coat over most of the car, and I should have enough left to coat my truck as well (at least I hope so). If you have the materials and know the process you can coat your car for fairly cheap. It is definitely worth it.

thanks for sharing! I ceramic coated my car a few months ago, and the water beading and all that is great, but I also have to street park it in an area with a ton of street trees.

Warning! When it rains, all of those trees block the wind and none of the water sheets off, so it just sits there and collects pollen and particles. By the time the waters evaporated, you can literally see green pollen outlines of where those water beads were sitting!!!!!

did anyone try ceramic coating their car all on your own?

Yes, it's not hard, just tedious.

ive done it. not difficult, but as mentioned above tedious if you want to make sure you dont have any issues. if you are a fairly methodical person, you can handle it. if you are not methodical or well organized, id probably take a pass on trying it.

Yup, as others have said, not hard just tedious and requires patience and attention to detail. Rush or skips steps and the results will show it.

I'm very happy with the results.

How much does it cost for the material?

How is the coating holding up?

Old thread but you should never reuse microfiber towels used for a ceramic coating application. The ceramic binds to the fibers and scratches the paint.

??? I didn't say to reuse the towels used to level the actual coating. You will need towels for drying, polish removal, ipa wipedown, topcoat (sacrificial layer) leveling, etc etc etc that can be reused.

Of course you didn’t. You also didn’t specify either way, in a thread that seems to be a noob magnet. You clearly know what’s up, but some of these other guys don’t.

Its holding up great, zero complaints or regrets.

I've also been using a ceramic spray detailer after most washes to help maintain the coating.

I wonder how often you should ceramic coat a carbon fiber hood? I have one in Chicago and I feel scared its gonna get messed up somehow with this crazy weather.

It depends, there's too many variables to give you a straight answer. If you already have it coated, then just wash it using a good shampoo with no additives (Carpro Reset) and it should last 2 years or more. Don't need to overthink it or worry too much.

I agree with sebhockey, proper prep and then maintaining the coating afterwards and it will last a few years. Worst case do it again, the hood is a relatively small flat surface and wouldn't take alot of time like doing the whole car.

It looks amazing!

Even though I hadn't heard about ceramic coating, it sounds interesting. Not what I imagined once I looked it up. Wonder if/how it wears off.

wears off like any other coating over time. It bonds with the paint and fills the voids but it is just a coating and eventually wears off. Think of it like a better bonding wax over time the layers rub away.

For those that did it themselves did you do it in a garage? I looked into it and some said you have to let it sit overnight without water sitting on it. Not sure how to pull that off given the trees over my driveway and the dew every morning.