New Yaris Cross ceramic coating

[anchorman]

Keep in mind that ceramic or any other coating doesn’t excuse washing which is the best way to preserve the paintwork.  To the majority, the car is a tool, a means of getting from a to b and often, even if the house is immaculate the car is ***** tip.   You can spend £500 having ceramic coating but it is a complete waste if you don’t wash it.   I often wash mine several times a week for looks but it will look like new throughout its life if washed once a week and no worse than a car that was coated once when new.  

[Qasim]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Mine had dealer 'applied' Supagard and it was... okay. It did seem to impart some minor scratch resistance, and did help noticeably with the removal of bird !Removed! initially, but lost its hydrophobic qualities after maybe 6 months.

I was going to renew it, as it was rated for 3 years which is now up, but like MikeSh says as I've had the car longer I'm not so precious about it now and probably CBA to get it done

And I put the 'applied' in quotes, as it was fairly obvious the car had NOT been coated when I collected it. I was sick of dealing with the dealer by that point and called Supagard instead, and they showed excellent customer service - After verifying my car was down to have it, booked in one of their franchisees to come round my house to clean the car and apply it. I was quite impressed at how little hassle that was to organize - Was easier than booking a service!!  

I was talking to the guy that came to do it, and confirmed they charge far less than the dealer charges, so it's definitely not worth paying the dealer for it unless they discount it heavily or get it thrown it in as a freebie as I did.

TBH, you could easily do it yourself too, just clean one panel at a time and put the coating on as you go - It's just that the stronger coatings tend to be harder to get as they limit them to licensed franchisees.

Best advice.I will look into this🫡🫡

[Ralph H]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

You need to nick one of those water barrels caravanners use - Fill it up, tilt it on its side, the roll it to the car, tilt it back up then drop the hose in!   

My neighbours have a caravan but I think they might notice if theirs went missing 🤣

[Cyker]

31 minutes ago, anchorman said:

Keep in mind that ceramic or any other coating doesn’t excuse washing which is the best way to preserve the paintwork.  To the majority, the car is a tool, a means of getting from a to b and often, even if the house is immaculate the car is ***** tip.   You can spend £500 having ceramic coating but it is a complete waste if you don’t wash it.   I often wash mine several times a week for looks but it will look like new throughout its life if washed once a week and no worse than a car that was coated once when new.  

You'd hate mine, it gets washed maybe once a year  

The funny thing is the reason I negotiated the coating was to see if it saved me from having to wash the car as much - The hope was that the coating would allow the rain to wash off the worst of it, which has had limited success - Mine never looks as bad as my mates Auris, but will never look as good as one that's actually been cleaned so not a win but not a loss either.

I must admit I find motivating myself to drag out all the kit to clean my car very difficult as it's just as dirty again within a week due to the amount of use it gets! The coating has taken the edge off the worst of it so it just sits in this perpetual "good enough" state.

One upside is the paint is still almost completely absent of swirl marks because never has a sponge, micro-fibre cloth or mitt touched it!  

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

One upside is the paint is still almost completely absent of swirl marks because never has a sponge, micro-fibre cloth or mitt touched it!  

That's my excuse for only washing it if it really needs it.

[MikeSh]

5 hours ago, Ralph H said:

I haven’t got access to a water supply near my car so I use one of these great for car washing you just need a couple of buckets. 
https://amzn.eu/d/3LhIyhf

I have an earlier version of that which I got to wash my boats off at the slipway before putting it on the roof of the car (salt water estuary). I got a fairly cheap 'camping' water carrier - plastic jerry can type - for it as it needed to go in the car to the marina so needed not to splash around. 

Not as powerful as my big Karcher I use for the paving but did the job (and got some interest).

I've not used it for a while as I sold the boats (I should probably sell it too) but it got me into Worx Battery tools and I've got several others now to share the batteries. I can recommend them.

[Qasim]

On 9/11/2024 at 7:27 PM, Pannett said:

I use Autoglym Rapid ceramic spray to polish the car, which lasts about three months. I also use Autoglym Aquawax for an interim polish. Outside windows are cleaned with RainX, except for the windscreen as it smears, so I use Invisible Glass spray for the outside of the windscreen and all inside surfaces. A Megulars drying towel removes all the water after washing the car. Scotchguard spray protects the seat fabricc and Gummipflege keeps the door and boot rubbers flexible.

Is there any specific technique to apply ceramic spray ?

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Qasim said:

Is there any specific technique to apply ceramic spray ?

Two options. Do what random people on forums or YouTube say. 

Or follow the manufacturer's instructions ... 

[Qasim]

5 hours ago, MikeSh said:

Two options. Do what random people on forums or YouTube say. 

Or follow the manufacturer's instructions ... 

You mean Toyota instructions or wax manufacturers instructions?

[MikeSh]

3 hours ago, Qasim said:

You mean Toyota instructions or wax manufacturers instructions?

The product (wax, coating, spray) maker. If it's a reputable product (and I hope you wouldn't use anything else on a new car) they will know what's in it and how to get the best results.

Even if these cleaning and polishing products seem to have the same ingredients the proportions and how they have been 'assembled' can vary, which means they may need different application methods.

Very much a case of "do(es) what it says on the tin". 🙂

[Qasim]

52 minutes ago, MikeSh said:

The product (wax, coating, spray) maker. If it's a reputable product (and I hope you wouldn't use anything else on a new car) they will know what's in it and how to get the best results.

Even if these cleaning and polishing products seem to have the same ingredients the proportions and how they have been 'assembled' can vary, which means they may need different application methods.

Very much a case of "do(es) what it says on the tin". 🙂

I will very cautiously only use quality products or at max if I found a good detailor i will get his expertise.

 

I am hoping to retain the pristine condition.

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Qasim said:

I will very cautiously only use quality products or at max if I found a good detailor i will get his expertise.

 

I am hoping to retain the pristine condition.

If you really want to get into it then there is this specialist forum that has a lot of information: Detailing World

I used it a lot some years ago when I had a 'collector' sort of car but not recently.

[anchorman]

On 9/12/2024 at 12:52 AM, MikeSh said:

That's my excuse for only washing it if it really needs it.

They say a second class ride is better than a first class walk.

[Kental]

 

My work car park so cleaning has lost the appeal.

[Madasafish]

It is all BS.

I use Turtlewax Zipwax shampoo with Carnauba wax. Wash cars when very dirty  (wash glass regularly - safety). Maybe 12 times a year - in total.

Cars are both metallic silver : 2003 Yaris, 2012 Jazz. Both have perfect paintwork - ignoring scratches, bumps etc. We have owned both for 2 decades/since new respectively.

Wash underneath and Dinitrol them. Rust? Minimal

[Cyker]

9 hours ago, Kental said:

 

My work car park so cleaning has lost the appeal.

Blimey I bet you can put the improved agility of the new cars to good use there!!  

[Kental]

11 hours ago, Cyker said:

Blimey I bet you can put the improved agility of the new cars to good use there!!  

The extra ground clearance of the Aygo X and the shorter wheelbase & overhangs make it better than the Corolla. The boss will not let me take the Yaris or her soon to be delivered Yaris Cross there.

[SinglePointSafety]

Your work car park photo looks exactly like my local roads (and that's not a joke... sadly)

[TonyHSD]

On 9/16/2024 at 12:53 PM, Kental said:

 

My work car park so cleaning has lost the appeal.

That looks really nice off road trial where you can test axle twisting, traction control capabilities, body rigidity. If it was me next shared pictures would have been like that 😅👌

[jthspace]

10 hours ago, SinglePointSafety said:

Your work car park photo looks exactly like my local roads (and that's not a joke... sadly)