The most valuable thing you can do to a new car is decontaminate it and put protection on before the city gets to it. Weeks of transport and lot storage have already bonded rail dust, fallout and iron particles into the clear coat, and none of that washes off.
Correction is optional and depends on what the dealer's pre-delivery wash did to the paint. Protection is the part that matters, and the earlier it goes on, the better the position the paint is in for the rest of its life.
This is the best condition your car's paint will ever be in. Everything after this is maintenance or repair.
Between the paint booth and your driveway, a car spends weeks in transit and often months in storage. Open transport trucks, ships, rail yards, and dealer lots. Along the way it collects rail dust and industrial fallout — airborne iron particles that embed into clear coat and start corroding — along with whatever landed on it during storage.
That is bonded contamination, and it behaves exactly like the contamination on a five-year-old car: it does not wash off, it keeps corroding, and it prevents anything you apply on top from bonding properly. Run your hand over the bonnet of a new car after a wash. It is frequently gritty.
The second issue is marring from dealer prep. The pre-delivery wash is usually done quickly, often in direct sun, sometimes on dusty paint. That is a reliable way to put fine swirling into a brand new panel, and it is why detailers see so many cars with 200 miles on the clock and visible haze under a torch.
None of this is scandalous. It is just what happens. But it means 'new' and 'ready to protect' are not the same thing, and skipping decontamination on a new car is one of the more expensive shortcuts available.
A torch held close to a panel after dark. If you can see a halo of fine scratching, there is marring. If it looks deep and clean, there is not, and you should not pay to correct it.
Two buckets, wheels first, straight lines, dried by hand. The first careful wash sets the baseline for everything else.
Iron remover to dissolve the embedded metallic particles, then a clay bar for everything non-metallic. This is the step people skip on new cars and the one that matters most.
A one-step is usually plenty on a new car with dealer-prep marring. Correction spends clear coat, and a new car has its whole life ahead of it, so there is no reason to spend it without cause.
Sealant or coating. On bare, decontaminated, correct paint, this is the best bond a protective product will ever get on this car.
Leather protection on a light interior before the first pair of new jeans gets in, and UV protection on the dash before the plastic has started to dry out. Both are far easier to prevent than to reverse.
Sedan pricing with no correction. Every package includes a full interior and exterior detail and the complete decontamination process.
| How long you are keeping it | Sensible package | Sedan price |
|---|---|---|
| A lease you hand back in 2 to 3 years | 12-Month or 2-Year Sealant, renewed | $399 / $549 |
| 3 to 5 years | 5-Year Gtechniq Coating | $649 |
| 5 years or more, parked outside | 5-Year Plus | $849 |
| You are not sure yet | 12-Month Sealant, decide again next year | $399 |
Midsize SUV and large SUV or truck pricing is higher. Add correction if the paint needs it: +$250 one step, +$500 two step, +$750 three step on a sedan. The full matrix is on the ceramic coating page.
Every month a new car spends unprotected on a San Francisco street is a month of salt film, brake dust, fog deposits and tree debris bonding into paint that is currently as good as it will ever be.
Send us a photo of the paint under a torch and tell us how long you are keeping the car. Those two things determine the whole recommendation.
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Decontaminate it, protect it, and it stays that way for years instead of months.