Ceramic coating in Tampa
A slick layer applied over corrected paint. We come to you, look at the paint first, and a person talks you through whether a coating suits your car.
What it is
It preserves whatever it finds. So the paint gets fixed first.
A coating cross-links into a glass-like film a few microns thick and bonds to the clear coat. It is slick, it resists UV and mild acids, and it releases dirt with far less contact in a wash.
It also locks in what is underneath. Coat a swirled panel and you have made the swirls part of the finish. That is why every coating here starts with at least a one-step polish.
What’s included
- Decontamination wash and clay
- One-step polish, or full correction
- Panel wipe to strip polishing oils
- Coating applied and leveled under a low light
- Glass and wheel faces on request
- Panel wipe and careful application
Prices
Two coatings, chosen by how the car lives
Both include the decontamination and a one-step polish on a mid-size sedan. Heavier correction is quoted from the readings.
Ceramic coating
2 days
add to a polish from$650
The right choice for a daily driver that lives outside in Tampa.
- One layer
- Applied over corrected paint
- Ask us what to expect
Two-layer ceramic coating
2 days
add to a polish from$1,150
Two layers of a harder coating, for a car you plan to keep.
- Two layers
- Harder, more chemical-resistant
- Ask us what to expect
We don’t put a number of years on a coating. How it wears depends on washing and on where the car lives; ask us and a person talks it through.
What it does and doesn’t do
Honest about what you are buying.
It does
- Take the chemistry first: lovebugs, bird mess and sprinkler minerals hit the coating, not the clear coat.
- Stop dirt gripping, so a wash needs less contact and puts in fewer swirls.
- Resist UV, the thing that kills clear coat in Florida.
It doesn’t
- Stop rock chips. That is paint protection film.
- Make a brush wash safe. Bristles scratch a coated car too.
- Fix the paint under it, or heal itself.
How it goes
How a coating visit goes
Prepare
Wash, iron and tar removal, clay, then the gauge on every panel.
MorningPolish
One-step polish or full correction, chosen from the readings.
MiddayCoat
Panel wipe, then small sections leveled under a hand light.
AfternoonHand over
We look at the finish with you and leave care instructions.
Afternoon
Send a few photos from your phone in the chat. Somebody on Dana’s team looks at them and writes back a quote, usually the same day.
Questions
Ceramic coating questions
How soon can I wash a coated car?
Leave it a week before the first wash and keep it out of sprinklers if you can. After that, a pH-neutral shampoo every couple of weeks is all it needs.
Does a coating mean I never need to wax?
Wax would just sit on top of it. Ask us what to use instead and a person will tell you for your car.
Can you coat a new car straight away?
We still polish it first. New cars arrive with transport marks and dealer-wash marring, and the coating would lock them in. See new car prep.
Verity Detail Studio · Tampa
Protect it before the next summer.
Tell us the car and how it lives: garage or driveway, how often it is washed. We will say which coating makes sense, if any.