I did the coating myself. Each of my vehicles took three days to complete. I started using it almost two years ago now on my Tacoma and about a year and a half on my Camaro. I'm getting ready to do a second spray coat on my Tacoma and first one on my Camaro. From what I read, the life span of the ceramic is about two years. This is based on a number of factors. Supposedly you can extend it to about five years if you periodically do a spray ceramic over it. I guess this adds to the layer already there.
In my area we have something called "Fallout". I have been told its due to my proximity to an airport. The fallout leave's a hard sap like rough coating on the paint and windshield.
So far, I have never found a wax that lasted more then a few months before the fallout started to build up again. I compare the paint to what collects on the windshield. The fallout starts sticking to the paint when the wax wears off. That's been my indication to clay bar and rewax. If its bad enough, acetone is what I end up using to clean it before the clay bar will work.
A bit over a year on the Camaro and I've only had to clean the fallout from the windshield. The paint is still very smooth.
The Tacoma has seen way less brush marks with the ceramic. I had never found a wax that actually helped. The ceramic has almost stopped them. I also stopped washing the Tacoma to see if it effect's the coating. Obviously dirt still sticks but washing the vehicles is like washing with a good coat of wax. This weekend will be 4 months (ish) since my last wash. I want to see how it look's after and then I will spray another light coat over it.
This is how I figure out if a product actually does what its suppose to. To me, it doesn't matter what people say. I want to know if it actually works in my environment. It isn't uncommon for something like this to take a couple of years for me to form an opinion. There's so many people out there raving about or condemning things they have either never used or used once. I prefer to give opinions on things I have used over time and most likely abused.
Forgot to add. I think I spent $120 on sale for enough to coat three cars and enough spray for three coatings. Haven't looked at the prices lately.
Also my neighbor just wrapped his work truck. The place suggested he ceramic coat the wrap. I'll be watching that closely.
3M 0.2 mm self repairing pro film is going to outperform ceramic coating 100% of the time if it's applied correctly, assuming you are going out often enough to damage paint. If you want something that looks fantastic, ceramic for days. If you are thrashing in forests taking limbs to your side panels, 3M vinyl. (Or even better, panel armor.)
The goal is to prevent damage that will cause long term rust/metal damage, vinyl. If the goal is to show off the paint and also protect it from normal driving conditions, ceramic.
DIY? Ceramic is probably cheaper for materials, way more for hours and chance of screwing up. It is not going to stop a giant branch dragging across your hood.
Getting the service done? Ceramic coat is hours for 3 days of work and go up into the $2-3k range if you go somewhere that does it right. Wrap is 800-1000 depending on where you live.
Another option is a thick coat of DIP or bed liner OP, you see a lot of bronco/jeep guys just throw bed liner on the body and just give up trying to use something "pretty", and instead just 100% try and prevent damage long term.
