What is The Value of a Ceramic Coating?
7058029754 • July 8, 2025
What is the Value of a Ceramic Coating?
Every once in a while, a customer tell me that they need a "good wax job" done on their vehicle. The are not emphasizing the "wax", they are emphasizing the "good job" part. The other day, a customer came in after having the factory wing on his Sonata repainted. The body shop guy told him to go get a good wax job done on it to protect it.
Whenever I hear someone refer to wax being what they need to protect their paint, I realize that wax is what they know and trust to protect their vehicles' finish. I'm not criticizing this thinking. I'm glad he came in to have his vehicle detailed. That is the first step you can take in vehicle preservation. He also realized that we could do a better job than him and that a coating is better than wax. The next question I could see in his eyes was, do I want to spend the money for it?
The right question to ask is not, do I want to spend that much money? It is, what is the better value? I have had both of my vehicles coated since 2021. I have not had to polish or wax it, just clean it. That has saved me much time, money and preserved much better than a wax or sealant.
Let's look at a detail, polish, and wax. This service can cost $400 plus depending on where you go. Three months later, the wax has pretty much worn off. Now what? Ok, now we need to detail and wax it the next time. Now it's $200 plus. That's $600 in three months. Three months later the wax is worn off again. Another 200 bucks. That's now $800 in nine months. The cycle just keeps repeating itself. These are even very conservative costs that I am mentioning. Let's just multiply these numbers by three years just for fun. $800 times three years is $2,400. Yikes. And that's only three years. Oh, well I'm only going to keep my car for three years. So what. $2,400 is still $2,400. It's still a lot of money.
If you plan on finally bringing in your vehicle to be detailed and protected because you can't do it yourself anymore or you know it needs more than what you could do and you plan on a wax on the exterior, then you need to plan to do this every three months. Is there much of a point to bring it in once a year for a three month protectant. We are even talking about a pro-grade wax, here. This isn't the stuff at Wal-Mart.
Let's look at the cost of an exterior ceramic coating. We will talk about an industry standard 5-year coating. Let's say it cost $1,500. What is $1,500 divided by three years? It is $500 per year. Let's divide it by 5. That is $300 per year. My 5-year coating will outlast the warranty, so let's divide it by seven. It's 214 bucks per year. What was it with the detail and wax at $200 a pop? That would be $1,200 per year. I know I'm not being fair, here. It still should be washed and detailed once a year. We will go ahead and factor in those numbers.
Ok, we will go back to dividing $1,500 by five and add the other services. If a wash is $100, let's say and a yearly detail is $250. That would be $1,750 per year to keep your vehicle looking brand new, Seriously, looking brand new. A coating isn't a wax. It is much harder and can withstand the elements where a wax or sealant can't. A wax will not preserve paint with the ease that a coating can. Hey, don't forget that with that $2,400 a year detail and wax, I didn't factor in polishing every year or even a wash. So, the reality is that it's much higher than $2,400 year.
Do you see how a coating can save you money? Saving money isn't really the point in a coating, Although that is a great bonus. Keeping your vehicle looking like new is the main reason for a coating. We haven't even talked about an interior coating. How an interior coating can keep your interior cleaner for longer, therefore allowing you to have to take it to the detailer as often, therefore saving even more money. Again, the main reason for an interior coating is preservation. No dulling, cracking, fading or need to apply a protectant to the interior. More driving and less stress. Where is the downside?
One last thought. You might be asking (or not because you're not a huge nerd like me), "Why does he want me to spend less money at his shop over time with a coating?" That is the right question, Detective Spooner. Why would I want that? Because, why would I want to sell you my lowest level of detail? Wouldn't I naturally want to sell you my best? Of course I would. Who wouldn't? If you had a flower shop, you would want to sell your most expensive flower arrangement. (Where did a flower arrangement illustration come from? Weird.) I want to be able to preserve your vehicle with the best of what I have. Waxes and sealants are good, but not the best.
Tug Bankert-Owner/Operator of Wax On Wax Off Detailing
Since 2013
Detailer since 1999
Opti-Coat Podcast Host since a few weeks ago
Idiot since birth
Dad since 2011
Husband since 2009
The Reason Why I Detail
I welcome new detail shops opening up. I have reached out to some local detail shops to ask if they want to network with me and get to know them. I love the detailing industry and I like reaching out to other local detailers to find things in common. I enjoy training and giving advice to new and existing shops. Maybe we can teach each other something in business. With that being said, there is a difference between a new detail shop opening and a 20 year old that thinks it would be cool to work for themselves and own a detailing business. They jump on Amazon, buy their tools, towels, and chemicals, load up their VW Golf and hit the road. Their prices end up being so bargain basement cheap because, to them, $100 is a lot of money. They live at home with almost zero overhead. Their business is most likely not a registered business with the local, State, and Federal government. I'm not for preventing this from happening, I'm more for educating them and helping them get established. The more fly-by-night operations there are the less value the industry offers. Detailing is a luxury service. This means that it is something consumers can pay for, but they don't have to. It's like going out to eat. Going out to eat is not nutrition, it's entertainment. I heard Dave Ramsey say this recently and I 100% agree. Since detailing is a luxury and running a shop is expensive. The cost is not going to be cheap. The services we offer produce amazing results. The result is what you are paying for. Someone who spends 4 hours detailing a car and charges $100 is not giving you amazing results. They are practicing on your vehicle and only putting a little money in their pocket. They are not making money. They are actually losing quite a bit. My goal as a detailing business owner is to prop up the industry and help other detailers reach their potential. Most detailers that I reach out to don't take me up on any of my offers. That's ok. Maybe they are fine and don't need a detailing friend. No judgment. I want all of my current and potential customers to understand that experience matters. Just as you would not trust a cardiologist on his first day to operate on your heart, a brand new detailer may not be life and death, but you are not going to get the amazing results like you would with a detailer with experience. The reason that some have told me that they don't see a difference between the two is because they were swayed by the price and are ok with lesser results. I'm ok with that as long as you realize that there us a difference. Not only are the results between a new shop and an experienced one is that the experienced shop has a track record of satisfying customers and being open when you need them. Every single one of these shops that pop up and charge $100 for an interior/exterior detail NEVER endure. They close their doors every single time. On a similar topic, Hanover is a small town. There are only about 10 detail shops. On the other hand, there are almost four dozen Auto Repair Shops. Which tells me that there is room for more detail shops. Also, detailers that only offer mobile never stay around. This is just not a mobile friendly community for whatever reason. Most of the owners of the 10 detail shops in Hanover work full-time jobs. They run their shops part-time at night and on weekends. They only have so many appointments available. This is not a criticism, I am just contrasting the fact that my availability is much greater than theirs. When you book an appointment with us you are actually paying for the absolute best possible results out of any other detail shop in Hanover. This has been my full-time job since 2013. I have more hours of detailing than any two detail shops in Hanover. There is only one shop that has even close to our shop's age. They have seven years and we have 12. But, again, they work an outside full-time job. That matters because it means I HAVE to succeed. I MUST produce the best results I can. Their main jobs can fund their shop, so it's a side hustle for them. I have been detailing since the late 90's. I have surpassed the practice and advanced stage and have entered the expert stage. The final stage is legend. One day I will be there so long as my very loyal, amazing customers continue to use us. The stages are achieved over time. Spending those hours not satisfied with the results and continuing until they are achieved is the progression. Repetition with a focus on efficiency is the key to becoming a detailing legend. Not a legend in the detailing industry. Who cares about that. A legend in my market and area is what I am referring to.
A wash at home or at the automatic car wash does not take the place of an exterior detail. My shop is in a small town, but we have a lot of cars. I never thought I would ever see the day where I need to convince people to get their exterior detailed. When customers call me or drop off their vehicle, they, of course, want the interior detailed. When I ask them about the exterior the response I get so often is either, I don't care about the exterior or I will just run it through the car wash. I don't understand this thinking. The point in having your vehicle detailed is to hit the reset button on it and make it look new again. Why would you only want half of your vehicle to look new? I completely understand not wanting to spend a lot of money and If given the option, many people would choose interior only. The exterior added to the interior detail does not cost all that much more. I make strong effort to keep my entice everyone to have the entire vehicle detailed. I understand budgets. Most shops around me have an interior/exterior packaged together and then you end up getting a big discount. These shops are new and they are young and live at home, so their prices reflect their overhead. They package it this way because it is more convenient for them and reduces objections. $100 is a lot of money to them. You as the customer choses both interior and exterior because the price point is usually quite low. What you end up with is not a detail. It is a detail you could have done yourself. They are actually using your vehicle as practice. With that being said, there is a huge difference between what these cheap mobile shops can do and what we do. Our results are worlds better, the vehicle is preserved and it stays cleaner for longer. What we use is more durable against the elements as well. I have nothing against these new and mobile shops. We all had to start somewhere. I started where they are as well, just not mobile. I have reached out to several shops in Hanover over the years to lend them advice and training. Some have taken me up on it while most don't respond. Regrettably, most of these shops pop up and are gone in a few month because they think it's easy money. It's not easy money. It's hard work and takes skill and determination and a business mind-set to make it work. I have seen many detailers exterior details. They have 13 different options and 13 different protectants to apply. Just to distinguish and exterior detail from a wash; an exterior wash is something that can be done at home or at the automatic car wash. You can soap it up, scrub it down, rinse and dry. This is basically what the automatic does except it does it for you. An exterior detail is using appropriate, paint safe chemicals in a specific order to pull the different kinds of gink out of the clear coat or top layer of the paint. There is dust/dirt laying on the paint and there is sticky dirt stuck in the paint. The wash in the driveway removes the former while the exterior detail removes the latter. If you are looking at a detailing menu and you are confused then you should not book an appointment with them. No matter how many options and how confusing detailers make it, there are only two different exterior detailing options. They are an exterior detail with protection applied and an exterior detail with polishing or "buffing" as it is known in Hanover with a protectant applied. It's that simple. Detailers try and make it confusing only because they are confused and think everyone needs a whole bunch of options. Do yourself a favor, rather than be persuaded to book by a cheap price, trust a detailer that does this for a living, is reliable, trustworthy and offers high quality. Let someone else allow their vehicle to be practiced on instead of yours. Don't let the price make the decision for you. Let the decision be made based on how many people have been thoroughly satisfied and the experience the detailer has. You are paying for results, not time. Definitely don't pay for someone's lack of experience on your vehicle that you have spent so much money on. You avoid using Jiffy Lube for your oil changes because you value quality. Keep the same thinking when choosing a detailer.
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