How often should a ceramic coating be reapplied to a car?
It depends on the coating you have and how much abuse it sees.
If you applied a ceramic product yourself, and you bought it online or through a motor accessory shop, then you will probably need to reapply it every six to twelve months.
Professionally applied ceramic coatings should last many times longer.
If you keep your car garaged and only do three thousand miles per year, it will last a lot longer than a car doing motorway miles. Before we can answer when it will need to be reapplied, we need to ask how long it will last, which we did in an article. My conclusion was it will probably last much longer than you might think.
A better question would be, "how will I know when a ceramic coating needs to be reapplied to my car?"
The answer to this is when it isn't doing what it is supposed to do. The first sign of this will be when it loses its hydrophobic effect. If your car is showing signs of wash marks, then it may also need some attention.
The lifetime of professionally applied ceramic coatings can be extended with top-up products, and this is highly recommended. You might also consider marking it on your calendar to have this done at least ones a year, and having a professional address any scratches or stone chips. In this way, you may be able to maintain your coating indefinitely and never need a full re-application.
Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 02/05/2023 16:42
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Matrix Black Reloaded/Recharge
An example of what top-up products can do for a ceramic coating. This is Matrix Reloaded, which has now been replaced by Recharge.