Ceramic Coat

[Underboss]

Am I crazy (not looking for that answer, I know) but quoting ceramic coating, which I have had done on all but one of my coaches the last 7 years.
But most have a set price per foot. That includes a brand new coach and a 10 year old coach. It makes no sense as a 10 y.o. coach will most likely need much more prep., but they want the same price per foot.
So now take my coach, new factory pickup, no real issues. So its a quick buff (relatively), alcohol bath and ceramic application. They do not take that into consideration. I just told a popular company that, its ok, I will wax it and when I am ready, you can spend more time prepping, getting out the swirl marks and then charge the same amount.
Am I wrong?

 

[Neemer]

You’re right and not so right.

It depends on how anal you are about paint and micro-scratches. No coach leaves the factory with a show car finish.

Bob Moses applies the same process to a day-old coach as they do a ten year old coach. The results are near same.

I’m pretty anal about mine, but I have to defer to the king of anality, @redbaron

 

[Underboss]

I get it, I am a bit anal too as I built high end show cars. Factory pickup was spot on. I could not find a flaw, no swirl marks etc. But even so, the typical 3 to 5 yo coach is going to take a lot more buffing. They said it could take 3 to 5 days, so tell me does anyone want to pay the extra two days that they are not working for?
When I built a car, if my detailer came in and said " hey I am going to buff your new build like its a 5 year old car with swirl marks" He would be headed out the door before he got to the swirl marks part
I get that there is prep but I do not want to subsidize the guy who used a truckers brush and muddy water to wash his coach for the last five years.
I will know more next week as I am interviewing two companies that actually want to come see the coach first.

 

[redbaron]

Most factory new vehicles and all motorhomes are full of microscatches. My 2022 required over $30k of work to correct paint issues before I accepted delivery

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Well, I'll answer your question this way.

When it comes to "ceramic coaters", I know of two extremes: the local "idiots" who are nothing more than a car wash detailer looking to get more money, and the guy who seems to have people convinced that charging 3x makes him better.

That brings me to gushing about discovering Bob Moses Ceramic! I had hours of discussions with founder, Matt Moses, and ended up becoming friends before he referred me to Matt Moore who runs the Las Vegas shop.

These guys are absolutely the best in the business for a good reason; they do incredible work, they are honest, they are trustworthy, and they stand behind their work and product...backed up with a 5-year warranty as wel as an annual checkup for you.

In order to give people what they want, in terms of a quote, they will give you an estimated amount per foot; with the expected caveat that they will need to see the coach to lock down the price. Each location, however, has a slightly different cost per foot due to the fact that their local expenses (ie. rent) are so much more. Austin, TX is one of those examples that charge more than Vegas.

All this said, I can...without reservation...say that whatever BMCC quotes on the phone is worth every penny. And, yes, some coaches, trailers, boats, take more work than others. But, in terms of a 45' coach, I've never heard of them taking much less time for one over the other. What they'll do, to stay on schedule though, is assign more workers on a coach that needs more work. But, in total, they don't seem to need too much adjustment on the overall time of prep, coating, and curing which are pretty consistent.

I do know that they've had to rethink their price per foot on some high-end coaches, like Newells, due to working on some VERY elaborate paint schemes. And, with a Newell, so many details including all surfaces of the slides need coating...and they take a LOT more time to do.

Not sure if that helps answer your question or not.

 

[Neal]

Is there a cure time before anything should be done regardless? I was thinking Newmar used to say wait at least 6 months before wax or anything.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Is there a cure time before anything should be done regardless? I was thinking Newmar used to say wait at least 6 months before wax or anything.

That would depend on paint. New paint off gasses. Some more than others.

Glad you brought that up.

 

[Underboss]

I just called Newmar to confirm. Newmar says 90 days. Its been off the line since May 15th. So paint was most likely completed 5/1 ish. So 8/1 ish will be fine. Actually the chance of something happening is less then 1% but worth the wait. I have seen Bob Moses posts showing brand new special order coaches being ceramic coated.