Understanding Ceramic Coating Installation: How Long Does It Take to Ceramic Coat a Car?
We talk to clients every day about ceramic coating options for their vehicles. The two most common questions we are asked is:
- How much does ceramic coating cost?
- How long does it take to install ceramic coating?
How long does it take to install ceramic coating on my vehicle?
The process of paint correcting and ceramic coating a vehicle takes most shops 2-3 days to preform. There are several factors that can affect the time needed to preform this process.
How new is the vehicle?
The newer the vehicle, typically, the faster the paint correction process. In theory, a new ride will have paint and clear-coat with less damage. This will lead to significantly less paint correction needed. Most new vehicles only require a single stage paint correction. Older, more worn vehicles on the other hand will generally have more paint damage and will require more correction. Sometimes this takes significantly longer to preform. The general rule of thumb is that a shop will need 1 working day for each level of paint correction. So a single stage will normally take 1 day where a 3 stage correction may take 3 business days or longer.
Learn more about paint correction here.
How large is the vehicle?
The larger the vehicle, the longer it takes to correct and coat. There’s simply more surface area to work on so this takes longer. A large SUV or truck may take as much as twice as long as a smaller compact car.
What Is The level of ceramic Coating Installation?
This plays a large part as well. A shorter term ceramic is typically less “potent” and has a much faster install and curing time. Many ceramics that dealerships apply are basically spray on products. take minutes to install but simply do not last. A proper ceramic coating takes several hours to actually apply and is normally done so one panel at a time. Many times, a vehicles panel will be broken up into sections. A hood, for instance, may be coated in four smaller sections. This allows the installer to be much more thorough and diligent with the install process.
The different levels of ceramic also have different curing times. A lighter ceramic may only need to cure for a few hours, where a 10H hardness ceramic will require a minimum of 12 hours after install to fully cure.
We hope this helps you prepare for your ceramic coating experience. Feel free to browse our other resources:
