4+ Best Professional Ceramic Coatings for Cars on the Market

Ceramic coatings are a game-changer. Need to protect your vehicle for months or even years? Want your car to shine in its best light? Apply a ceramic coating.

You can protect your vehicle from road salt, small debris (such as stones), UV radiation, and more. Meanwhile, the coating will help your car shine month after month, helping you stand out on crowded roads.

Still, applying ceramic coatings is difficult and skill goes a long way. Finding the right ceramic coating is also rather challenging. Quite frankly, not all ceramic coatings are created equal. Some coatings are simply much stronger and last far longer.

A professional ceramic coating can last five to nine years or more. An entry-level ceramic product might endure only a few months.

Quality isn’t the only consideration, however. The best ceramic coatings are typically a bit more difficult to apply. Often, the bigger challenge is that they can be very difficult to remove. Professional-grade ceramic coatings form strong bonds with paint.

When properly applied, this is a huge benefit, reducing the risk of damage from stones and other hazards, while also helping ensure that the coating will last for many months, or even years. But if the coat is misapplied and you need to strip it off and reapply it, you’ll have your work cut out for you.

So which ceramic coatings are the best? That depends on your budget, and if you’re applying the coating yourself, your skill level. We’ll examine the best overall ceramic coating on the market: Gtechniq.

We’ll also cover some great beginner products if you’re new to applying ceramic coatings. These ceramic products won’t last as long as a professional-grade ceramic coating, but they’re easy to apply and also remove if you need to redo the coat.

By the way, if you’re having the ceramic coating applied by pros, you’ll want to use the highest-quality coatings. A professionally-applied premium ceramic coating, like Gtechniq, could last for two years or more.

But entry-level ceramic coatings will endure only a matter of months, regardless of who applied them. That means shelling out more money to have a new coat applied and the costs will quickly add up.

Gtechniq – EXO, Crystal Serum Light, Crystal Serum Ultra

If you’re looking for an immensely tough coating that will last a long time while also offering top-notch aesthetics, Gtechniq is hard to beat. And it’s our ceramic coating of choice. Why? Quite simply, we want to offer our customers the best ceramic coatings possible, and Gtechniq allows us to do so.

Gtechniq is perhaps the thickest coating on the market and will provide a lot of protection. Whether we’re talking sunlight, stray rocks, parking lot bumps, or whatever else, this ceramic coating reduces risks and will help ensure that your auto is protected. Gtechniq coats can also last for several years and in some cases may even outlast the vehicle’s lifespan.

If you’re looking for a glossy coat, Gtechniq CSU ranks among the best. Your car will shine beautifully, for several years and beyond. You can also reapply coatings if parts of the ceramic coating are starting to wear thin. This way, you can extend the life of the coat without having to completely redo it.

There is one major “downside” to Gtechniq. The coat bonds really, really well. So well, in fact, that removing it is often difficult. Often, sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease are required to remove a Gtechniq coating. Of course, a strong bond is by-and-large a good thing and ensures durability even if it makes removal difficult.

Still, with professional-grade products, it’s often best to let skilled hands apply them. And when applying Gtechniq brand ceramic coating, prep work is vital. You want to make sure that the vehicle is spotless. Using a clay bar and microfiber towels to wipe the vehicle down is smart. The vehicle should also be completely dry. It’s wise to take your auto to a DIY car wash and spray it down with plenty of high-pressure water. Then, let it sit in the garage or under a clean car cover overnight.

Since Gtechniq is hard to remove, it’s not always the best choice for beginners. Fact is, it’ll take some time and practice to properly apply ceramic coatings. If you’ve never applied a coating before, you may want to try a less durable, shorter-lasting solution. Let’s take a look at a few solid entry-level products.

Chemical Guys HydroSlick HyperWax

Chemical Guys puts out generally well-regarded, beginner-friendly products. Their HydroSlick HyperWax is a good choice for those new to applying wax coatings as it’s generally pretty easy to apply and forgiving.

It’s not as thick or durable as the Gtechniq ceramic coating already mentioned, but if you make a mistake and need to remove then redo the coat, you’ll have an easier time.

Chemical Guys HydroSlick HyperWax does offer great hydrophobic properties, and thus will help your car stay clean. The coat likely won’t last as long as Gtechniq and some other brands, but should last for several months, and perhaps a year or more.

The product is positioned as a wax/ceramic coating hybrid. Compared to ceramic coatings, wax is a bit easier to apply and use. With the HydroSlick HyperWax, Chemical Guys aims to offer similar ease of use while also providing the long-lasting protection and shine of a ceramic coating.

The result is a product that is more user-friendly, especially if you’re not familiar with applying wax coatings. That said, you will be sacrificing durability and longevity. For anyone on a tight budget, the Chemical Guys HydroSlick HyperWax is a great choice. Otherwise, a stronger ceramic coating will likely provide more protection. Thus, even with a higher price tag, the right ceramic coating may still be a better value.

Users on Amazon and elsewhere report good results with the Chemical Guys HydroSlick HyperWax. Given the price and feature mix, this product will likely remain a favorite among auto enthusiasts.

Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating

Turtle Wax is a leading car wax company. While waxes are different from ceramic coatings, you can trust that Turtle Wax is focused on developing quality automotive detailing productions. The Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating is a ceramic/wax hybrid and is among the cheapest solutions on the market.

The Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating is easy to apply and offers a decent amount of protection, especially when compared to traditional waxes. The coat could last for up to a year, although if you regularly drive your vehicle, it may only last for a matter of months. Still, this wax ceramic hybrid is a solid safeguard.

Like the Chemical Guys HydroSlick HyperWax, this wax hybrid is a great choice for beginners. If you misapply the coating, stripping it off and reapplying it shouldn’t be too difficult. Yes, you’ll have to put in some elbow grease but you’ll have an easier time stripping this coating than removing a professional-grade ceramic coating.

Gtechniq C2V3 Spray on Ceramic Sealant

If you’re looking for a ceramic coating that lasts longer than a hybrid wax, but isn’t quite as hard to remove or as expensive as a professionally installed serum, Gtechniq C2V3 Ceramic Spray Sealant is a good choice. Properly applied and under ideal conditions, it can last 6 months, and maybe more.

Many users will find Gtechniq C2V3 Ceramic Spray Sealant a bit harder to apply than a hybrid wax. Still, if you’ve got some practice or are otherwise good with your hands, this ceramic coating is pretty approachable. If you mess up and have to strip the coat off, it’ll take some work but will typically be easier than removing Gtechniq and similar pro-quality coatings.

Gtechniq C2V3 Ceramic Spray Sealant costs more than the store bought ceramic wax hybrids we covered. Yet it’ll likely last longer, potentially offering better value, especially if you factor in how long it’ll take to apply the coating. Having to reapply coatings every few months can be a pain. Using a coating that lasts a year or more will cut down on time spent.

Torque and Nextgen ceramic sprays are also solid mid-range products that offer decent durability but are a bit easier to apply than pro-grade ceramic solutions.

Ultimately, the best ceramic coating remains Gtechniq’s Crystal Serum Ultra. We put it in our cars because we want to ensure that our vehicles are well-protected and shine in their best light. If you’re new to ceramic coatings, however, a wax-hybrid or an entry-level ceramic products may be the better choice. Once you get some practice under your hands, you can upgrade to pro-quality products.