Ceramic Pro coatings for South Seattle: rail dust, industrial fallout and brake dust. Bronze from $900, minutes from our Tukwila shop.
Every coating is cured in the shop under infrared lamps, the same kind body shops use to cure fresh paint, before you leave. Many shops keep a freshly coated car overnight; we invested in IR curing so you can take yours home the same day. IR curing speeds up the same cure; it doesn't skip it. Your car is safe to drive and fine in the rain right away, and the coating keeps hardening over the next 7 to 10 days, so hold off on washing until then.
A coating has to bond to clean clear coat. Coating over embedded rail dust just seals it in, so the paint gets fully cleaned and prepped first. After that, new fallout has a much harder time sticking. It still lands, but it sits on the coating and comes off in a normal wash or a periodic Decontamination Wash instead of working its way into the paint. Every package also coats the wheel faces, which matters in stop-and-go traffic on I-5 and Rainier Avenue: brake dust rinses off coated wheels instead of baking on. We coat a lot of trucks too. For SUVs and trucks, Bronze is $1,100, Silver is $1,400 and ION is $1,700 (cars are $900, $1,200 and $1,500). Installation takes one day or less. Sprinters and other oversized vehicles are handled at our Monroe shop; call ahead if you're unsure whether yours fits.
South Seattle is the closest part of the city to our shop. Take I-5, SR-99 or East Marginal Way south to Tukwila, drop the car off in the morning, and pick it up that evening at 1050 Industry Drive.
How much a coating helps depends on where the car spends its day. Vehicles that park near the rail lines and industrial areas in SoDo, Georgetown and around Boeing Field pick up the most fallout. On the residential hills of Beacon Hill, Columbia City and the Rainier Valley, it's more tree sap, pollen and the brake dust of a daily commute.
Rail dust is tiny bits of iron from train wheels and tracks. A coating won't stop it from landing, but it keeps it from embedding in the paint, so it comes off in a wash or decontamination instead of staying.
Yes, all the time. SUV and truck pricing is $1,100 for Bronze, $1,400 for Silver and $1,700 for ION. Sprinters and other oversized vehicles are done at our Monroe shop.
Every two weeks if you can, and at least monthly. A hand wash is best and a touchless wash is next best. Cars near the rail lines benefit from a periodic Decontamination Wash ($220 car / $270 SUV or truck).
Very. Most of South Seattle is a short drive down I-5, SR-99 or East Marginal Way to our Tukwila location.
Rail dust Tiny iron particles from the rail lines embed in paint and can rust in place. Coated paint keeps them on the surface, where a wash or decon can take them off.
Industrial fallout and soot Fallout from industrial sites and diesel soot from freight traffic leave a film that dulls paint. It washes off a coated car far more easily.
Brake dust Stop-and-go traffic on I-5 and Rainier Avenue coats wheels in brake dust. Wheel & Caliper coating keeps it from baking onto the finish.
Winter road grime Wet winter roads throw sand, de-icer and oily grime onto lower panels. A coating helps it all rinse away.