Ceramic Coating for Canberra Conditions
A ceramic coating is a semi-permanent glass-like layer that bonds to your car's clear coat and protects it from UV, frost, tree sap, bird droppings, industrial fallout and wash marring. It's the highest level of paint protection we offer, and once it's on it stays put for years, not months.
It's for owners of new cars, weekend cars, black or dark-coloured cars that scratch easily, and anyone tired of waxing every three months to keep the paint looking sharp.
Canberra is one of the harder Australian environments for paint. Sub-zero winter mornings freeze whatever is sitting on the clear coat and burn it in. Summer sun oxidises pigment and fades colour. Autumn drops sap and pollen onto anything parked under a gum tree. Spring hail is its own conversation. A ceramic coating gives your paint a sacrificial layer that takes all of that instead of the clear coat.
The coating itself is a liquid-applied Si02 (silica) resin. Once cured, it forms a hard, hydrophobic layer chemically bonded to the paint. Water beads tightly and rolls off, dust doesn't cling, and chemical contaminants (bird droppings, sap, bug guts) sit on top of the coating instead of etching through to the clear coat , as long as you rinse them off in a reasonable timeframe.
Prep is where a coating is made or broken. We start with a full decontamination wash, then chemically strip iron, tar and any residual sealants off the paint. On new or lightly used cars we do a single-stage machine polish to remove wash marring and level the clear coat, then wipe the paint down with an isopropyl solution so there's no oil or polish residue left behind. On older paint we'll quote paint correction as a separate stage , there's no point coating over defects because you'll lock them in for years.
The coating is then applied panel by panel, wiped off in the correct window, and left to cure. We usually recommend leaving the car undercover for 24 hours and out of rain for 48, that's the only real inconvenience. We book coatings at your home or a covered space so the car doesn't have to move immediately.
You get a written warranty against loss of gloss and hydrophobics, annual inspection appointments if you want them, and a coating-safe wash guide so you don't accidentally kill it with the wrong products. Applied by us, not a factory subcontractor.
We come to you in Canberra
Imperium Detailing is a fully mobile service. We bring the gear, the product and the manpower, you just need to make sure a couple of basics are ready when we arrive.
- Access to water, an outdoor tap we can hook a hose to.
- Access to power, a standard 240V power point within reach.
- Enclosed garage or covered workspace, required for this service. Correction and coating work has to be done out of direct sun, wind, dust and rain so the finish cures properly. No garage on-site? Give us a call and we'll sort an alternative.
Common questions
How long does a ceramic coating actually last in Canberra?+
Our coatings carry a 3, 5 or 7-year warranty depending on the product tier you choose. Real-world durability in Canberra depends on how you wash the car, coatings degrade fastest at automatic car washes with spinning brushes, and last longest with a proper two-bucket hand wash every few weeks. Look after it and you'll get the full warranty period.
Do I still need to wash the car after a ceramic coating?+
Yes, but far less often and much more easily. A coated car sheds dirt and water instead of holding it, so a normal wash takes half the time and light dust often blows off in the rain. What the coating removes is the need to wax, polish or reseal, it's the protection layer for the life of the warranty.
Do I need paint correction before coating?+
If your car has visible swirls, scratches or holograms, yes, a coating locks in whatever the paint looks like underneath, defects and all. On new or near-new cars we'll usually do a single-stage polish and prep, which is included. On older paint we'll quote paint correction separately and only coat when the finish is right.
Book your detail.
Tell us about your vehicle and we'll come back with availability and a fixed quote, usually within a few hours.