Had to pick between a ceramic coating and a spray sealant for my truck...

I finally broke down and got my 2017 F-150 detailed last month. The guy gave me two options for protection: a $900 ceramic coating that lasts 3 years, or a $40 spray sealant he'd reapply every 6 months. I went with the sealant since I'm tight on cash right now... it's been 5 weeks and I'm already seeing water spots where I didn't dry fast enough. Kinda wishing I'd just saved up for the ceramic. Anyone else regret cheaping out on paint protection?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_gonzalez18d ago

Yeah the spray sealant is basically a decoy to make you feel like you're saving money until you realize you have to reapply it every five minutes and it still doesn't hold up. Water spots showing up in five weeks is rough but honestly that's about what you get for forty bucks and a prayer. Your Tacoma story about the clear coat getting wrecked is exactly what scares me, I barely trust myself to wash the truck right let alone keep up with some sealant schedule. The DIY ceramic kit idea is decent but man those things are finicky to apply and if you mess up you're stuck with streaks for months. I'm already planning to just fork over the cash for the pro job next time, lesson learned the hard way I guess.

john_fisher18d ago

That's rough man, I feel your pain on those water spots showing up that fast. I went the spray sealant route on my old truck too and it just never held up like I hoped.

margaretramirez19d ago

You mentioned the water spots showing up after 5 weeks and yeah, that's the exact reason I tell people to just save up for ceramic. I did the same thing on my old Tacoma, went with a spray wax every few months, and after a year the clear coat on the hood looked dull and scratched from my bad wash technique. The ceramic coating is way more forgiving if you don't dry fast enough or if you're in a hurry. If you can swing it, maybe look into doing a ceramic DIY kit yourself for like $75 to $100, it's not as good as the pro stuff but it'll hold up way better than that spray sealant.