The Last Coat. An American Car Detailing Company gave us our latest test subject! Another Ceramic Spray Coating that people seem to like a lot - The Last Coat Ceramic Spray Coating. Well as it usually is with tastes - everyone has their own, and we cannot resist but to test this one ourselves and reap the results that it gives - no matter how good or bad they might be.
The Last Coat has all kinds of car detailing products in its range but today we will specifically be looking at this Ceramic Spray that seems to be their flagship and their other products seem to be built around it. Seems only logical to test it out and review it.
Contents:
Just to clarify - we are not sponsored by The Last Coat or any other manufacturer of Paint Protection products, and we will test and review the product as it is in real-world conditions. We will follow the manufacturer's instructions during the application process and we will prepare the surface to ensure the best finish and best adhesion possible. We are leaving an affiliate link to all our review products but in case the product turns out to be of low quality or not as all as advertised, we leave a warning to all our readers, and the quality of the product will always be reflected in the grade we assign to it at the end of every review. So if you do not want to sit through all of this text, you can scroll down to the Average Grade and read our Final Thoughts to get a general idea of what the product is all about.
Get your The Last Coat Ceramic Spray on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3qndGIp
Ever since Ceramic Coatings came out people were looking at ways to make that expensive, time-consuming, and let's face it - the hard process of coating a car much, much easier. And faster. And, well, less expensive. This is how Ceramic Spray Coatings came to be. They are to regular Ceramic Coatings what a phone battery would be to a car battery. They both perform the same task, except the latter is simply better... in every way. And that comes with a cost.
We had countless people tell us how Ceramic Coatings are a scam after they had been disappointed by a Ceramic Spray Coating. The similarity in the product name is also not helping. But, to be fair - it is Ceramic Coating. Well, a Ceramic Spray that is.
This doesn't mean Ceramic Spray coatings are a scam. Because they aren't. And that also doesn't mean that they do not have a place in the car detailing industry, because they do.
But, once you, the consumer, know these things, you will know what you are getting for the money you are paying.
A Ceramic Spray Coating will give you pretty much all things that you would want in a Ceramic Coating:
hydrophobic properties
resistance to chemicals
gloss
UV resistance
It will just be much less effective at all those things as opposed to regular Ceramic Coating. You pay much less, you get much more and the marketing that is sometimes wrapped around these products is sometimes very misleading with bloated claims and a lot of ambiguity.
So, after our little rant about Ceramic Sprays, you would probably be asking yourself why we even cover them on our website. Well, the truth is that not all of them are bad. And at the same time, not all regular Ceramic Coatings are automatically good.
We are here simply to look past the marketing and the promises and place those Ceramic Coating products into a real-world environment and see how they would truly perform.
Let's start!
First, we'll prepare the entire car's surface. Even if going to such efforts may be a bit excessive, we want to give each product we examine the best chance of succeeding.
If you wish to learn more about how we prepare the surface of a car for paint protection products, you can click the link and read all about it.
Next, we will read the instructions that came with The Last Coat Ceramic Spray to ensure we apply the product as intended.
Remember that every paint protection product might have a different set of instructions. So make sure to always read them before you start working with the product.
We're ready to start after the car's surface has been adequately prepped.
The coating will be applied indoors in a well-ventilated garage. The temperature is carefully controlled so that it is neither too chilly nor too hot to create any problems. Before using the product, we will give it a good shake. Unless otherwise specified, do this with every liquid paint protection product.
After the car's surface is clean and dry, and we have shaken the spray bottle with the product, we are instructed to spray some of the product directly onto a microfiber towel, pick a segment of the care to work on, and start spreading the coating over the car. In our experience, doing this with spray coatings will conserve how much of the product you will end up using. So definitely stick to that technique when handling a ceramic spray coating.
This microfiber towel will be the one you will be using to spread the product onto the vehicle. Use a different one that is clean and completely dry to buff the excess coating off the surface of the car.
Make sure that the first towel is not too wet, if it becomes, change it for a fresh one, and make sure that the one you are using for buffing is dry enough. So same thing, swap it for a fresh dry one if it gets too moist.
This is why preparation is always key to anything you are doing in life. Make sure you have at least 4-5 clean and dry microfiber towels before you even start and it is a great idea, that we always recommend, using latex gloves.
This is because you might not think much of it, but no matter how clean our hands are, they have grease and oil in them that collects dirt and can contaminate the surface of the car making it so that the Ceramic Coating will not bond properly onto the paint. If you have buffed well you should have a shiny, streak-free Ceramic Coated car before you!
Time to test this product!
If you would like to learn the full process of how we torture test products, you can click here and see it all in full detail.
See below for our ratings in several categories that we think are significant when it comes to Ceramic Coating Sprays, the product's price per fluid ounce in terms of what you receive for the money you pay, and our final views on how it performed in the test.
Let's see how The Last Coat Ceramic Spray performed:
product life time when applied: C
resistance to elements: D
resistance to damage: F
resistance to chemicals: D
application difficulty: B
hydrophobic properties: D
gloss / shine: C
Average grade: D
Cost: 2.23$ / 1 fl oz
0.08$ / 1 ml
Our final thoughts The Last Coat Ceramic Spray Coating?
Is this a Ceramic Coating product? No. Ceramic Spray Coating is what it is. At best, it functioned as a Car Wax or a Polymer Sealant. It had acceptable hydrophobic capabilities until it was added to ordinary vehicle shampoo for the first time. It soon deteriorated, and once a stronger detergent was employed, it completely lost its hydrophobic qualities.
You get a decent amount of the product, a whopping 16 ounces. It also comes in an 8 fl oz package and a crazy 128 fl ounce one! Unless you want to Ceramic Coat your whole neighborhood, we suggest staying away from that one!
Even though we get a promised lifetime of up to 6 months, the catch is already in those words "up to" 6 months. No one promised that you will get the full 6 months. And under ideal conditions, you might even get there.
But you live in the real world, and we both know that conditions are more often than not far from the idea. Extremely high and extremely low temperatures, bird droppings, tree sap, acidic rain, water spots, dust, grime, and bugs. The list is endless.
And if you decide to use any stronger chemical or take your car into the local car wash, you will most likely have to recoat the whole car. This is where regular ceramic coatings shine as they are far more resistant to those types of damage, especially chemical damage.
Would we recommend The Last Coat Ceramic Coating Spray? Depends on who is asking. Suppose you want a quick and handy way to get a shine onto your car and some nice protection for your paint. If some decent hydrophobic properties are added to the mix, then we would suggest this product! It certainly isn't the best ceramic spray we have tested. But also considering how much you pay for it and considering the fact that not everyone can be bothered to spend 8 hours ceramic coating a car properly - it is a great deal. It is also, in some way a gateway product into some more serious paint protection and car detailing. If you like it, you just might be bothered to check out the real deal one day. Cheers!
Get your The Last Coat Ceramic Spray on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3qndGIp
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