New ride....should I let the dealer apply a ceramic coating/clay bar treatment?

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rmsnickers

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I haven't picked the vehicle up yet (2023 Tahoe z71 in Sterling Gray) as it's just arrived on lot; dealer is offering this service at cost (approx. 1200). Should I do it (includes under vehicle and interior treatment as well)? Also, tempted to have them debadge the z71 emblems from the driver/passenger side prior to treatment.
 
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rmsnickers

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It also includes a 7 yr guarantee which covers things like torn seats which a detail shop won't cover. Still not worth it?
 

adventurenali92

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It also includes a 7 yr guarantee which covers things like torn seats which a detail shop won't cover. Still not worth it?
The interior protection is a nice feature. I detail a ZR2 Colorado for a client that had a similar package done on his truck. It’s held up well after a couple years now. But in my experience the exterior coatings are not worth the money they charge to install it. A lot of dealers, at least here in California like to use CilaJet coatings, which is what’s currently on the ZR2 Colorado’s exterior. and for that kind of money there are much better, and longer lasting coatings available on the market. I’ve had several clients over the years with dealer installed CilaJet coatings and it never last more than 2 years or so. And it just doesn’t perform as great as many other coatings. It doesn’t bead up anywhere near as well and honestly doesn’t bring out the pigments in the paint to give it that nice top tier level shine.
 
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rmsnickers

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The interior protection is a nice feature. I detail a ZR2 Colorado for a client that had a similar package done on his truck. It’s held up well after a couple years now. But in my experience the exterior coatings are not worth the money they charge to install it. A lot of dealers, at least here in California like to use CilaJet coatings, which is what’s currently on the ZR2 Colorado’s exterior. and for that kind of money there are much better, and longer lasting coatings available on the market. I’ve had several clients over the years with dealer installed CilaJet coatings and it never last more than 2 years or so. And it just doesn’t perform as great as many other coatings. It doesn’t bead up anywhere near as well and honestly doesn’t bring out the pigments in the paint to give it that nice top tier level shine.
Helpful as the product is indeed cilajet.
 

adventurenali92

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Helpful as the product is indeed cilajet.
I guess I should add though that I live and operate my detailing business in a mountain ski town in California. We see snow anywhere from late October to late April and even a little bit of snow and freezing weather into early May some years. This past winter was incredibly harsh. Major storms through the last week of February into March brought 10 feet of snow in just 10 days. That amount of snow is very few and very far between for us. And we had snow a well or so before add more snow a week or so after the big storm so even just my truck saw close to a month of crappy dirty snow road conditions. But Even when the winters are mild the elements are just harsh on vehicles up here. Being at 7,000 feet and normally dry low humidity conditions couple with lots of mountain dust and then the crap from the snow does numbers on paint. So it doesn’t surprise me that the Cilajet coatings don’t perform all that well up here. And I don’t have any experience with clients off the mountain that have it installed for normal California weather and environmental conditions. All my clients off the mountain that have coatings installed are the brand that I use. So it’s entirely possible that CilaJet coatings perform better under less harsh environmental conditions where weather is more mild. Anyways just my two cents worth.
 

Drone guy

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I prefer PPF or paint protection film like Xpel. It protects better than ceramic. My last 11 cars and trucks had it on. Find a qualified dealer in your area with good reviews.
 

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