'ceramic' vs polymer coatings

[John in Santa Cruz]

once I get a fiberglass repair done on my E21, I'm planning on having a local boat detailer who came highly recommended do the whole nine yards, detail clean, then polish, then sealant. he can do either a polymer sealant, or a ceramic sealant, the ceramic is about triple the price for the whole job (like, $1500 vs $500)....

has anyone had their Escape (or other FG RV) ceramic coated? I've heard and read it lasts for /years/ without needing any waxing, just an occasional wash with mild car soap, and dirt and bugs just slide off. he says he's done it to big boats that are in the harbor and in the sun every day once every 3-5 years, and the shine holds up just great. the polymer coating is more like once a year under harsh conditions.

[BigSwede]

I have heard that dealing with ceramic coating can be a real PITA on a car if you want to repaint it, but that's not really an issue for a camper generally.

[GregandTeresa]

The guy who used to wax our camper for us got certified in one of those ceramic coatings, and was going to charge us about $1500 for it.

I considered it, but if I recall correctly, he would have had to come back every month or two and do some sort of maintenance on it, at an ongoing cost.

If it would have been a one time thing, and then every 5 years do it again, I probably would have done it (since I was spending about $600 per year having it waxed), but that continued maintenance turned me off to it.

[John in Santa Cruz]

afaik, the only maintenance is keeping it clean, like a monthly wash.

I should also have noted, the products this marine detailer uses are specifically for fiberglass gel coats.

[Doug2000]

My teenage son wanted to ceramic coat my Camaro SS, would have been a waste, we sold the Camaro to upgrade to a new Escape 19. Yippee

If it was me, just wax it once with Meguires Marine Wax, cost $20, and use good car soap, that's all I did on the 2007 17B and it looked new. Save your money for a couple extra miles and a couple extra nights.

[GregandTeresa]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

afaik, the only maintenance is keeping it clean, like a monthly wash.

I should also have noted, the products this marine detailer uses are specifically for fiberglass gel coats.

It's been a couple of years, so I may have the details a bit fuzzy, but if it had been monthly washing, that would have been no problem, cause I wash my own several times a year anyway.

Perhaps his product was different from what you will be getting (perhaps inferior to yours), cause I seem to recall it was more than that, and I was going to end up spending $50 per month for him to come back and do his maintenance.

Would you mind telling me what product you are looking at? If it's that good, I would seriously consider doing it to mine.

Now that I think about it, his product was not just for fiberglass, he was going to use it for cars and such also.