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Do Ceramic Coatings Age Well?

This might be the #1 fear we hear from clients.

Do Ceramic Coatings Fade, Crack, or Turn Yellow?

This is a hot-button topic in the world of automotive detailing, so we’ll get straight to the point: no, ceramic coatings will not fade, crack, or turn yellow. So there you go! If you’d like to learn more about where this myth comes from, and why it’s not true, keep reading.

Why Do I See Faded, Cracked, and Yellow Coatings on Cars?

Every now and then, you will see a car drive by that looks like a snake shedding its skin. This is such an obviously bad look that we understand people’s concerns with adding anything to their cars, in case they suffer the same fate.

Most of the time, when you see cars with this effect going on, it is due to old, poor quality paint protection films (also known as “clear bras”). These films are awesome at protecting your vehicle from paint chips and scrapes, but poor-quality PPF will quickly degrade. PPF is like a sticker, there is a vinyl or polyester layer that is stuck onto your car using an adhesive.

Poor quality films are quickly broken down by UV light, leading to the aforementioned peeling, cracking, and yellowing. Modern commercial films use UV inhibitors to prevent this type of breakdown, but cars that have excessively old films, or buy bargain-basement PPF, will see major degradation.

Why Don’t Ceramic Coatings Degrade Like Bad PPF?

Chemically and physically speaking, ceramic coatings and PPF are completely unrelated. Whereas PPF is composed of a top layer and adhesive, ceramic coatings are a liquid composed of ceramic nanoparticles suspended in a clear resin. When this resin is applied to a clean clear coat, it forms a molecular bond with the surface and can only be removed by consistent abrasion.

Ceramic coatings are chemically inert and unaffected by UV light, so they don’t break down the same way a film will. Ceramic coatings preserve your paint underneath, revealing unparalleled gloss and providing extreme hydrophobicity, but they don’t protect from impact the same way that PPF does.

What’s Right for You?

In short, PPF is great for providing protection from hazards like rock chips and dings. Ceramic coatings make your vehicle look incredible and make maintenance an absolute breeze, as well as protecting your paint from chemical damage and light abrasion.

Looking for a primer on ceramic coatings? Take a look at this post we wrote a while back. Here is all the info for ceramic coatings that we offer at Island Detail.

If you have any questions about how ceramic coatings can change your ride for the better, just give us a call.

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