Are You Buying a New Car or Truck and Considering “Paint Protection” or a “Ceramic Coating” From the Dealership?
When purchasing a new car or truck, many dealerships offer services like “paint protection” or “ceramic coatings” as part of the deal. These add-ons often sound appealing, promising to preserve your vehicle’s finish and enhance its longevity. However, before making a decision, it’s important to fully understand what’s really being offered. Sometimes, these extras aren’t quite what they seem—are you getting the true value for your money? Keep reading to discover what you might be missing.
Understanding What Dealership “Paint Protection” / Dealership “Ceramic Coating” Really Offers—Before You Buy
After building this page, it quickly gained more attention than I [George] ever expected. I began receiving numerous messages about specific paint protection brands offered by dealerships. To meet the demand, I expanded the page to cover the four largest offerings in Northeast Wisconsin. Now, I want to take it even further. My goal is simple: to help the general public understand exactly what they are paying for when considering these dealership options. All the information I provide here is backed by manufacturer installation videos, dealership websites, and more. This page isn’t an attack on dealerships—it’s an honest comparison between professional ceramic coatings and the sealants they apply. Dealerships have their place, but when it comes to ceramic coatings, there’s a huge difference.
The Usual Process of Buying a New Car or Truck:
You have had your eyes on a brand New 2024 Chevy Silverado or the new 24 Corvette Stingray for weeks. You finally get a Saturday you’re free to run to the dealership with your spouse. Have to be there right at 9 am and you are going to be in-and-out, right? Wrong.
From discussing your trade-in value and taking test drives; you wrestle with the sales person for 2 or 3 hours. You feel like you got a great deal all lined up. Then you step into the financing office and realize what is still to come. You get the pitch on GAP insurance, extended warranties on the power train and vehicle protection packages.
The last offering is – the biggest scam to ever hit the auto industry. While there are many brands offered at the various dealerships across the United States, in NE Wisconsin the main four we see are Auto Armor, Diamond Ceramic, PermaPlate and CermaPlate. Ultimately, there are probably more offerings here that I am unaware of, but you can be certain if it alludes to “entire car protection”, “appearance protection” or the like – it is just a flimsy warranty you are buying.
The Dealership New Car Paint Protection Scam Goes 1 of 2 Ways:
Worst Case: Done in 60 Seconds
While you are sitting in the finance office ironing out the details; a guy that started 2 months ago is applying a spray “ceramic” (like Diamond Ceramic or ECP) to your new $120,000 vehicle. At best you got a quick wash before the installation, but absolutely no attention was given to decontamination or paint correction. What should be an 6-12 hour installation is magically done in 3 minutes. The coating will realistically last you a couple weeks and you just spent PROFESSIONAL prices ($2000+) for $20 in product.
“Best” Case: You Spent WAY Too Much
You buy a protection package from the dealer and they tell you that you can pick up your new car in a couple days. This is good news as it usually means the dealership sub-contracts a shop like ours (a specialist) to install your new car paint protection. The bad news? You are grossly over paying! Traditionally if a coating would retail at our shop for $1,500 – a dealer would pay us about $800 (or less) and charge you $2,500 (or MORE)! Who wins again? Only the dealership.
Which New Car “Protection” Scam Happens Most Often in NE Wisconsin?
Unfortunately when buying a New Car in Appleton, De Pere or Green Bay – our dealerships are reliant on the first method of “paint protection” – an incredibly cheap sealant applied hastily while you sign your loan documents. Below I have done my best to provide information on the four major brands of dealership “ceramic coatings” in the area. These include (you can click to jump to a specific section): Diamond Ceramic Entire Car Protection, Auto Armor Plus Auto Appearance Protection, PermaPlate and CermaPlate. Already convinced the dealer isn’t the right option? Get your quote below by selecting a service type below.
More Information on Diamond Ceramic Entire Car Protection:
Below you will find a video on the Manufacturer of Diamond Ceramic’s YouTube channel.
Cost of Diamond Ceramic Entire Car Protection:
The Cost of Diamond Ceramic Entire Car Protection (ECP) is between $1500 and $2000. For these prices you could have a real ceramic coating installed from Coatings by the Bay. Learn More by Clicking your preferred install method below!
More Information on Auto Armor Appearance Protection System:
Official Manufacturer Installation Video for ECP Plus Auto Armor
Unfortunately, ECP Plus Auto Armor is not much different from the “diamond ceramic” offerings. You do have the option to upgrade from your garden hose application to an “air powered foaminator”. We can promise; with absolute certainty, this is not helping your exterior protection on your new car in the least. It gets worse – they application video shows the order of steps being:
- *Optional* Paint Correction (Before a wash?)
- Wash (and leave wet)
- Spray on Coating
- Claybar
- Dry
Uhhh – what? The manufacturer goes as far as saying the reason for claybarring last would be to help embed the coating in the paint’s pores. We have been in the industry a long time; this is one of the craziest claims to date.
Cost of Auto Armor Appearance Protection System:
The Cost of Auto Armor Entire Car Protection is between $1500 and $2000. For these prices you could have a real ceramic coating installed from Coatings by the Bay. Learn More by Clicking your preferred install method below!
More Information on PermaPlate PaintGuard:
Below you will find the official Installation Instructions for PermaPlate PaintGuard posted on Vimeo
Personally, the craziest part of this video to me isn’t even the 6 minute (or less) application time; as all the dealer “ceramic coatings” are quick to apply. The most unbelievable part of this video is applying only 2 oz of product to the entire vehicle. The bottle of PermaPlate product costs the dealer less than $20 (this is an unverified number from an ex installer). Meaning your $700 exterior only coating costs the dealer about $2 in product and $2 in labor (assuming the detailer is making $20 per hour).
Again you will notice that no prep other than a wash is done. Even new vehicles need paint correction to remove sanding marks and blemishes from the manufacturer. PermaPlate is applied with a wet sponge, to a wet vehicle and then rinsed off. I would be shocked if the finance office has even grabbed you a cup of coffee before your new car paint protection package is applied.
Cost of PermaPlate PaintGuard:
The Cost of PermaPlate PaintGuard is $849 (This is Exterior Only – With Interior Protection it is between $1500 and $2000.) For these prices you could have a real ceramic coating installed from Coatings by the Bay. Learn More by Clicking your preferred install method below!
More Information on CermaPlate:
CermaPlate was a bit more difficult to find information on as it is a very small (possibly early stages) dealership offering. It is also dominated by results for “PermaPlate”; as Google just believes this is a typo. (That’s what happens when you intentionally name yourself very close to a much more established company). Below is what we dug up – don’t worry – all the usual promises.
It [CermaPlate] is a spray on and rinse off product that is quick and easy to implement. Our auto technicians have all been trained on how to properly apply the coating to your vehicle and the whole process should only take about 5 minutes. First we spray the entire vehicle using a regular spray bottle making sure to get every inch of your car, truck or SUV. Next we rinse the spray from the vehicle. Finally we dry thoroughly to make sure there are no streaks and to further embed the nanoparticles. The whole process will leave your vehicle looking clean, sleek and more importantly protected against anything that might damage your exterior.
This is taken from “shopkunes.com/CermaPlate” which appears to be the only local dealership offering CermaPlate. There was no “official installation video”, but according to Kunes – CermaPlate is another 5 minute (or less) install. Spray on rinse off – which a true ceramic coating cannot get wet for the first 24 hours. Another red flag is a spray bottle. The SiO2 in ceramic coatings clogs straws on a spray bottles. Final point to make here would be the how after rinsing the sealant off – drying further embeds the product? The product was just rinsed off? This seems to put CermaPlate in line with the rest of the dealership scam ceramic offerings.
Cost of CermaPlate:
The Cost of CermaPlate is $749 (This is Exterior Only – With Interior Protection it is between $1500 and $2000.) Wouldn’t you prefer a real ceramic coating to be applied for just a little bit more? A 3 month spray sealant versus 5 years of actual protection…
The Solution to the Dealership Rip Off?
We Are 200% Confident That You Will Have an Amazing Experience at Coatings by the Bay
Vehicles Protected Since 2018
%
Repeat Clients
Total Claims
Its not that we won’t field a claim; it’s that our system is that good! We believe this so much so that we offer a 200% money back guarantee. You read that right; if you have a Ceramic Coating Installed with Coatings by the Bay and are less than ecstatic George will cut you a check for twice what you initially paid for the coating. No fine print – we just ask for one chance to make it right. If during this one opportunity we cannot rectify what went wrong; the check is yours.