When it comes to cheap ceramic coatings off Amazon for your car’s paint, the pros outweigh the cons.

For the DIY and budget constrained car owner, we prioritize and don’t necessarily skimp on preventative maintenance. We know that addressing a potential problem before it starts is key to a mostly trouble free car ownership experience.

And, when it comes to paint, we know that regular washes, plus the tried-and-true waxing, keeps your paint maintained and looking as good as new.

But what about this relatively new paint protection called ceramic coating?

Applied by a professional, ceramic coatings cost several hundred dollars just for the coating itself. For example, in Northern California, the going rate for a ceramic coating job is between $800-$1,000.

For the car owner on a budget, you have to do a long sit and think before pulling the trigger on such an expense.

However, hop on Amazon and you see these Ceramic Coatings from Asian companies like WEIRUIXIN selling ceramic coatings for as cheap as $22.99.

Can I just buy these cheap ceramic coatings, put them on myself, and expect decent results?

The short answer is yes.

Here’s everything you need to know about cheap ceramic coatings on Amazon, why these are actually pretty decent and are actually a better value under certain circumstances (which I’ll get to) compared to one applied by a professional.

What is a ceramic coating, and do these cheap ones have the same stuff as the expensive ones?

First, 90 percent of the ingredients between cheap and expensive ceramic coatings are all probably identical, if not the same.

Ceramic coatings are typically made from nanoceramic particles. These nanoparticles are often derived from silica dioxide (SiO2) or titanium dioxide (TiO2), which are both found in nature.

The exact mix varies among different manufacturers, and they may include additional chemical compounds to enhance certain properties, but by and large, both cheap and expensive ceramic coatings are largely Si02 and/or TiO2.

The reason professional ceramic coatings are expensive and when you should probably just buy this cheap stuff.

The main reason professional ceramic coatings are so expensive is that they’re labor-intensive processes. When done correctly, ceramic coatings are applied to what’s considered a perfect surface.

That means you should typically only apply ceramic coatings to paint that’s been decontaminated, washed, and paint corrected.

As this screenshot from the process for an expensive ceramic coating called CQuartz Finest Reserve shows, only after paint’s been restored to about 95% does the ceramic coating go on.

Paint correction is often an hours/multi-day long process where you’ll see detailers cut and buff a car with various pads and polishes, often under bright lights, to get paint looking better than factory (like AMMO NYC.)

The best Ceramic coatings will “lock in” whatever the paint looks like for several years, typically 3–5 years but as long as 10 years in some cases.

But, what if you just bought a 2013 Honda Civic or even a new one. It’s not like you’re ceramic coating a Bentley or Mercedes, here.

You just want to protect your Civic’s paint from being parked outside as best you can on your budget.

Here’s the good news, these cheap ceramic coatings are probably for you!

And here’s why.

If, after you wash your car as best you can, park it outside in the bright sun, and do not mind the way it looks as is, a couple of swirls and all, and you don’t mind minor imperfections being locked in, you aren’t going to do more harm applying a cheap-o ceramic coating.

You don’t ‘need’ perfect paint to coat a car. All you require is clean paint for the coating to bond. 

If you can paint correct your own car, and even get it to 80% perfect before ceramic coating, more power to you.

If that’s you, these cheap, less than $30 ceramic coatings are probably for you.

And, even if some heinous swirls are locked in, the big catch below plays in your favor.

The big catch about these cheap ceramic coatings

They say if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, and in this case, there is one big catch.

Some, and probably most cheap ceramic coatings off Amazon, will, under the best case scenario, only last up to (1) year even with a professionally paint corrected and prepped surface underneath.

WEIRUIXIN claims their coating lasts up to two years, but the Amazon reviews say otherwise.

You’ll want to search keywords like “year” and “lasts” in the reviews search bar but you’ll come across a handful of reviews like this.

“Have been using Weiruxin for a few years now, I’ve used 5 bottles. It’s on my boat and my truck. It lasts about a year, which is way better than any wax I’ve used.” says reviewer Julianne K on November 13,2022

“Less than 1 year later (April 2021), I noticed that the beading was not as pronounced and especially with the lower door panels, water wasn’t sheeting off as easily. So I bought the same coating again and put it on. It’s now March 2022 and again, I’m noticing that the dirt doesn’t wash off as easily and has lost much of the beading,” says reviewer Kent on March 3, 2022.

If you want to find an affordable Ceramic Coating that’s better than WEIRUIXIN even better, you have to do your homework.

Detailing Youtubers like Scott HD have already done the hard work for you and durability tested the most popular cheap, Chinese Ceramic Coatings for you.

In his test above that’s been going on for a one year and six months, and the winners thus far include NANOAGE, NANOBOND, WEIRUIXIN, FORETOO, NANOTECH (Aliexpress), MR. FIX 9H, and MR. FIX 10H.

Conclusion

To quote Jordan from The Wolf of Wall Street, these cheap coatings have “huge upside potential with very little downside risks.”

You should only consider these cheap Chinese ceramic coatings if you’re OK with how your car looks like after a decent wash and don’t mind minor imperfections being locked in for between 6-12 months.

You should also know that, best case scenario, these coatings will last up to a year, but you may see it break down a lot sooner.

That being said, potentially getting up to a year’s worth of paint protection from dirt, debris, and harmful UV (arguably) rays, for $22.99, that’s a value that can’t be beat.

And, as mentioned, you’re not going to harm your paint, even if you botch it up.

Worst case, washing it with Dawn Dish Soap will strip your errors right off.

If you’re on the fence, just go for it. It’s $22.99 for gob’s sake.