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Tan's Auto Detailing
Black Lamborghini Gallardo head-on in the detailing bay with a freshly coated finish

Graphene ceramic coating

Graphene ceramic coating, measured in years not washes

From $300 for a sedan. One, five and nine year graphene coatings, applied over corrected paint, never over defects.

What a coating does

Four things, and they are worth knowing apart

Water beads and leaves

A hydrophobic surface means rain runs off instead of sitting in sheets and drying into spots. In a wet climate that is most of the benefit.

Washing gets easier

Road grime has far less to hold on to, so a maintenance wash takes less time and less agitation, which is itself how swirl marks get avoided.

UV and grime resistance

The coating takes the sun and the road film instead of your clear coat taking it. Colour holds longer, particularly on reds and blacks.

It is recorded

On the nine-year coating you get a certificate of authenticity and the coating date is filed to CARFAX, so it follows the vehicle to resale.

The other half

What a coating will not do

Coatings get oversold. Here is the part most quotes leave out.

  • Stop a rock chip. Nothing you can spray on will.
  • Stop a shopping trolley, a key or a door ding.
  • Hide swirl marks. It seals in whatever is under it, which is why correction comes first.
  • Mean the car never needs washing. It means washing is easier.
Corrected and coated black paint on a Lamborghini rear quarter, shop lights mirrored in the surface
Corrected first, then coated. Reverse that order and the swirls are sealed in for the life of the coating.

Prices

Coating prices by vehicle size

1-year graphene

A season of easy washing and real water beading. The sensible first coating.

Sedan
$300
Mini SUV
$330
Full SUV
$360

9-year graphene

Longest

Comes with a certificate of authenticity, and the coating date is recorded to CARFAX so it follows the vehicle to resale.

Sedan
$390
Mini SUV
$420
Full SUV
$450

A five-year coating sits between these two. It is not on the published list, call and we will price it for your vehicle.

Glass and wheels can be coated too

Wheel-specific coating and Diamond Glass on the windows are both part of the all-inclusive package, and Aquapel glass treatment is available on its own from $60.

Or take the whole thing

The all-inclusive package is $3,360 and bundles coating, correction, interior, exterior, wheels, glass and engine bay. See what's in it

One, five or nine

What actually differs between the tiers

It is not that the nine-year product is nine times better. What changes is the thickness and hardness of the layer, how much preparation it demands, and therefore how long it keeps working.

Choosing between coatings
  1-year 5-year 9-year
Correction needed first Wash and decontaminate One-step polish Two-step correction
Time in the shop Part of a day A full day Two to three days
Certificate and CARFAX record No No Yes
Makes most sense for Trying a coating, or a car you will sell soon A daily driver you intend to keep A car you care about, or one you want documented for resale

The honest guidance: if the paint is already in good condition and you keep the car, the five-year is usually the best value of the three. The nine-year earns its price when the paint needs correction anyway, because you are paying for that work either way and the CARFAX record follows the car when you sell it.

Aftercare

How to not ruin it in the first month

A coating needs to cure before it gets wet. How long depends on the product and the weather, and we will tell you the number before we start rather than leaving you to guess.

After that, the thing that shortens a coating's life fastest is an automatic car wash with brushes. Those brushes are what put the swirl marks in the paint in the first place, and they will abrade the coating just as happily. Hand washing with a clean mitt and two buckets is the whole maintenance routine.

One of our customers put it better than we can, Tanner walked him through the aftercare and it turned out the way he had been washing the car was destroying the finish he had just paid for. That conversation is part of the job.

More questions answered
Red Dodge Ram SRT-10 with a deep gloss finish after coating
Reds show coating gloss more than any other colour, and fade fastest without one.

Questions

Ceramic coating questions

What does a ceramic coating actually do?

It bonds a hydrophobic layer to your paint, so water beads up and runs off instead of sitting, and road grime has less to hold on to. The car stays cleaner between washes and washing gets easier. It is not body armour. It will not stop a rock chip or a shopping trolley.

Can you coat over paint that has swirl marks?

We will not. A coating locks in whatever is underneath it for the life of the coating, so sealing in swirl marks means living with them for years. Paint gets corrected first, then coated. That is why the nine-year coating is quoted alongside correction rather than on its own.

Black Lamborghini Gallardo head-on in the detailing bay with a coated finish

Get a coating quoted properly

The price depends on what the paint needs first. Call and we will talk through whether correction is required before coating.