How much does ceramic coating cost?

These are market ranges from published prices, not quotes. Our own prices are in the next section, and a quote takes about a minute.

Our packages include the paint, plastics, glass and wheel faces

We price ceramic coatings as complete packages. Every starting price includes coating the painted surfaces, exterior plastics, all glass and the wheel faces, and every package includes decontamination and paint correction as needed. Some shops price those surfaces separately, so when you compare quotes, compare what each one includes as well as the starting price. The final price depends on the size of the vehicle and the condition of the paint.

Two quotes for the same tier differ by the preparation

A bottle of professional coating is a small part of what a coating job costs. The rest is labor, and most of it happens before the bottle is opened.

The work runs in order. The car is washed, then decontaminated with an iron remover and a clay treatment to pull out what a wash leaves bonded to the paint. Then the paint is corrected as needed. Single-stage correction is a gloss enhancement that reduces lighter swirls and imperfections. Two-stage correction is a more intensive cut and polish for heavier defects. Results vary with paint condition, clear coat thickness, and how deep the defects go. Only then does the coating go on, panel by panel, before it cures.

The amount of preparation required varies significantly with paint condition. A newer, well-maintained vehicle may need relatively little corrective work, while an older vehicle with accumulated swirls, water spots and other defects can need substantially more preparation before the coating is applied.

A low quote can mean the car needed little preparation, or that less preparation is included. Ask which stages the quote includes, and whether correction is priced in or added once the car is in the shop.

Seven things that move the price

1. Paint condition and correction

This is the biggest variable and the one a price list cannot show. Swirls, water spots, and oxidation have to come out before coating, because existing defects remain visible beneath the coating unless they are corrected beforehand. Heavy correction on its own can add $500 to $1,500 to a quote. Every tier at our shop includes correction as needed, which is why the same tier can still be priced differently on two cars.

2. Vehicle size and shape

A truck or SUV takes 20 to 40 percent more labor than a sedan, and published pricing shows it: about $1,350 for a car, $1,550 for an SUV, and $1,650 for a truck at the same level. Sculpted bumpers, vents, and trim pieces add time for the same reason they do with film.

3. Warranty term and product

Longer-rated coatings cost more, and the term only means something with a written warranty behind it. Owner’s Pride backs its 5-, 7- and 9-year coatings with a manufacturer warranty that names what it covers and caps what it pays, which is covered further down this page.

4. What gets coated beyond the paint

Wheels, glass, trim, and interior surfaces are add-ons at many shops. Published add-on prices run about $200 to $300 for wheels and $150 to $300 for glass. At our shop, glass and wheel faces are not add-ons: every package includes coating the painted surfaces, exterior plastics, all glass and the wheel faces. A wheel add-on elsewhere may cover the whole wheel, barrels included, which is a bigger job than the faces, so compare quotes line by line rather than by tier name or starting price.

5. Self-healing

Heat-activated self-healing reduces the look of light wash marks and swirls over time, and it is priced at the top of the range. In the Owner’s Pride line we install, it comes with Owner's Pride SELECT 9-Year on our Platinum tier, and not with the 5- or 7-year coatings.

6. The installer

Manufacturer certification, insurance, a shop with controlled lighting, and someone to call if the coating fails all cost money to provide. Ask who applies the coating, whether they are certified by the manufacturer, how long the car stays in the shop, and who handles a warranty claim.

7. Timing

A car coated in spring has spent months in mag chloride and road grime, and it takes longer to decontaminate than the same car in September. In Colorado, a car coming out of winter usually needs more preparation, and preparation is most of the price.

The sedan column is the tier range from the first table. The other columns apply the size premiums the published guides agree on: about 15 percent for a mid-size SUV and 20 to 45 percent for a full-size truck or SUV, with a van priced like a full-size truck plus its extra panel area. Market ranges, not quotes.

Cost per year, and what the warranty is worth

Divide each tier’s price by its warranty term and the tiers land closer together than their prices suggest. At our starting prices:

• Silver 5-Year at $1,395: about $279 a year
• Gold 7-Year at $1,595: about $228 a year
• Platinum 9-Year at $1,895: about $211 a year

The market ranges show the same pattern: $200 to $360 a year for a 5-year coating, $214 to $343 for a 7-year, and $222 to $389 for a 9-year.

The warranty is the other side of that math. The Owner’s Pride warranty covers permanent paint damage the coating fails to prevent from 13 named causes, including road salt and de-icers, bird waste, tree sap, and weather-induced fading. It caps total claims at $3,500 on the 5-year tier, $4,000 on the 7-year, and $5,000 on the 9-year, and damage has to be reported within 30 days of appearing. The warranty does not require a paid maintenance service or inspection, and it is not transferable to a new owner.

A coating sold without a written manufacturer warranty is a different product at any price, because nothing stands behind the number on the label. Our guide to how long ceramic coating lasts covers the difference between a warranty term and how long a coating performs.

DIY kits and dealer add-ons, with real numbers

Consumer ceramic kits sell for about $50 to $300, and the product in the bottle can be good. What the kit cannot supply is the preparation: the wash, the decontamination, and on most cars a machine polish, all before the coating goes on and all on your time. A kit is a fair choice on a garaged car with paint already in good shape, owned by someone who enjoys the work. Over swirled paint, the swirls stay visible beneath the coating.

Dealer and car wash coatings vary widely. Some are good products applied with care, and some go on with little preparation. Quality, preparation and installation are what differ, so compare them the way you would compare two shops: which product goes on and whose warranty backs it, what preparation is included, who applies it, which surfaces are coated, and how long the car stays to cure. Our dealer coating versus pro shop comparison covers what to ask before you say yes.

Colorado adds decontamination time, and no coating stops hail

Mag chloride goes down on Colorado roads from November to March, and it bonds to paint. A car coated after a winter needs more decontamination before the coating will bond, and that is added time on the quote. Our winter car washing guide covers keeping it off a car once it is coated.

Altitude is the reason we treat a 5-year coating as the floor here. Sun at 5,280 feet is harder on paint than at sea level, and a 2-year consumer product spends most of its short life absorbing it. The UV and altitude guide explains why.

Hail is the one Colorado risk no coating touches. Nothing a shop applies is hail protection. A garage is.

Is it worth the cost?

For a car you are keeping several years and will wash properly, usually yes. Our Gold 7-Year works out to about $228 a year at its starting price, and it makes washing noticeably easier while resisting the UV and road salt that dull Colorado paint.

If rock chips are the worry, the money belongs in paint protection film first, and our ceramic coating versus PPF comparison shows how to split a budget between the two.

It is harder to justify on a short lease, on a car that goes through brush washes every week, or on paint that needs more correction than the car is worth. For some of those cars, a good detail or a shorter-term protection package is the better buy. The full answer, downsides included, is in our guide to whether ceramic coating is worth it.

Questions people ask about ceramic coating prices

Ceramic coating in Arvada, Colorado

Ride N’ Shine Automotive installs Owner’s Pride ceramic coating in Arvada for owners in Arvada, Golden, Westminster, and Denver. Coming in from the city, our page on ceramic coating for Denver drivers covers the trip and the day.