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Has anyone had their boat ceramic coated? Is it worth the cost??

I've seen people say it can last up to a couple years, but I think it's probably more likely the kind of thing that would last a boating season at the most. The question then is whether the cost and effort are justified relative to regular cleaning or cleaning plus wax. I've decided not, for the time being.

There are a few other threads on the same topic:

viewtopic.php?t=2475

viewtopic.php?t=4324

viewtopic.php?p=18283

We have had a good experience with ceramic coating. We have had it placed on our last few boats. We kept our A25 for four years and had the coating put on by the dealer straight from the factory. After four years, gel coat still looked brand new! Didn't have it waxed once in those four years. We were told needs to be re-applied every five years and ours came from the dealer with a five year warranty. So we had a good experience. The brand we got (I don't recall the name I think it was vantage?) but if memory serves it was around $1,200... Dealer charges 3-4 hundred to wax. So it made sense for us and we had a good experience. When we took delivery of our R8S we had it applied again. It's not meant to protect against scratches but I don't have any scuff marks from bumpers and the like, I don't know if that's me being careful or the ceramic product. Anyway I give it a thumbs up.

As stated above, there are other recent topics on this, and I had a long response on one of them...

I will add here that I applied an over the counter ceramic coat to our 242 late last season in hopes to get a bit more lasting results than just the wax I was using before. I think it might have been slightly better protection against water spots and felt a bit slicker, but it wasn't night and day difference. I can't speak personally to the results for professionally applied ceramic coats on my boat, but my friends Cobalt had it done at the beginning of last season, and it did look and feel great all season.

I'll let you know at the end of summer. I did a DIY this weekend. If it can last through the summer i'll be happy. Any wax that I have tried might get me into July. Actually easier to apply than a wax coat. Both need a good polish to get the gloss before applying the protection.

We had ours done by the dealer when we purchased the boat new in May, 2019.
Still looks good.

Here are my results.

If it hold ups all summer I will be happy.

Look at that reflection!
Good work.

I didn't use ceramic, still debating that, but this is after StarBrite Cleaner Wax followed by Meguiars Flagship - seems it is the negative image of yours.

I use boat bling hot sauce often. It seems to do a good job of sealing the gel coat. No water stains and looks brand new.

FirstStar wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 9:20 pm I use boat bling hot sauce often. It seems to do a good job of sealing the gel coat. No water stains and looks brand new.

I use that as well after we pull the boat from the lake and put it on the trailer. I do this before we tow it home, while the boat is still wet. Seems to make a big different in not letting the dirty lake water dry on.

NautiWeasel wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 3:56 pm

FirstStar wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 9:20 pm I use boat bling hot sauce often. It seems to do a good job of sealing the gel coat. No water stains and looks brand new.

I use that as well after we pull the boat from the lake and put it on the trailer. I do this before we tow it home, while the boat is still wet. Seems to make a big different in not letting the dirty lake water dry on.

.
+1

billk2632 wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 4:39 pm I didn't use ceramic, still debating that, but this is after StarBrite Cleaner Wax followed by Meguiars Flagship - seems it is the negative image of yours.

IMG_0652.JPEG

How did you hang that Yamaha off the back of your swim platform?!?

Sam Adams wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2023 12:32 pm

billk2632 wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 4:39 pm I didn't use ceramic, still debating that, but this is after StarBrite Cleaner Wax followed by Meguiars Flagship - seems it is the negative image of yours.

IMG_0652.JPEG

How did you hang that Yamaha off the back of your swim platform?!?

That's Cobalt's new hybrid option - it automatically switches between the VP sterndrive and the outboard depending on which one is more efficient at the time. Ends the debate over sterndrive vs outboard.

Perfect!