A Porsche Boxster treated to Fireball Dok Do ceramic coating. Triple buff first, yellow headlights polished back, convertible roof cleaned and nano-coated, all rubbers treated, all wheels refurbished. Gary includes the workshop's long-term evidence on coating durability -- including a polymer-coated car still looking good after 17 years.
A Porsche Boxster that really does look like new again -- triple buff, yellow headlights restored, convertible roof cleaned and nano-coated, all rubbers treated, all four wheels refurbished, and Fireball Dok Do ceramic coating on the paintwork. It came in tired and it left looking like it had just left the factory.
The Treatment
The headlights were very yellow -- a three-stage polish brought them back. The convertible roof was cleaned and given a nano-coating with hydrophobic properties; all the rubbers around the hood were treated as part of the same process. All four wheels were refurbished. Then the whole car was clayed and polished before Fireball Dok Do went on. Dok Do is our flagship Fireball coating -- 7+ years of ceramic protection. It goes on the paintwork and can also be applied to wheels, glass and metalwork.
How Long Does Ceramic Coating Actually Last
The manufacturers claim 7+ years on Dok Do. Should you believe it? The honest answer is: the products have not been around long enough in their current form to say for certain what they look like at the ten-year mark. What we can say is this.
We have been applying polymer sealants since the early 1990s. Those products were generally guaranteed for around three years. Over the years we had customers bring their cars back year after year, and we saw what the coatings actually did over time. It was not uncommon to see a car that had been coated ten years earlier still looking genuinely glossy. One car, well cared for, was still looking good at 17 years -- six times longer than the product promised.
Modern ceramic coatings are significantly more durable than those polymer products. If the polymers could far exceed their guarantee period, we have every confidence the ceramics will too. They are still a sacrificial layer -- they will lose some lustre over the years -- but there are top-up products available (Matrix Recharge is one we use regularly), and a well-maintained ceramic coating should outlast almost any ownership period.
One caveat: do not clean your car with dish soap and a brush. Any coating will degrade faster if it is being stripped back every wash. The right maintenance products exist for a reason.
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