Ceramic coating new truck

[NOCK NOCK]

Truck is white. All of my trucks have been white so the scratches don’t show up as much.

Exactly! I have a 2012 F-150 that's seen more than its share of brush, and it really hides it well.

A truck is like a tool in a tool chest meant to be used, I wear my scratches like a badge of honor!   

100% on both of these.     ALL of my vehicles over the years have always been white.

[Rainier10]

Truck is white. All of my trucks have been white so the scratches don’t show up as much.

Exactly! I have a 2012 F-150 that's seen more than its share of brush, and it really hides it well.

A truck is like a tool in a tool chest meant to be used, I wear my scratches like a badge of honor!   

100% on both of these.     ALL of my vehicles over the years have always been white.

For sure.  I remember hunting the umptanum muzzy elk.  Guy said nice truck.  I said thanks just got it last week.  He says how did you get up here?  I drove.  Well don't go down pine, that is so overgrown you will destroy that truck.    Uh....I came up pine.   

Another year and another new truck just before Swakane archery season.  "You're going to ride with someone else this year and not take that up the hill right?"  Why would I wait a year to scratch it up?  Up the hill I went.

With all of that said if there was a product that would protect it from the abuse I would certainly do it.  I have all kinds of aftermarket stuff on order to make the truck better than factory.  If there was something I could do to make the factory paint more durable I would love to.

Sounds like the ceramic coat will help a little but will still scratch the same and may be tougher to repair.  I guess I will wait to hear more on that.

[NOCK NOCK]

I just did the wipe on ceramic for my jeeps black plastic. looked great for a week or 2, then this winter hit.  Curious to see how it holds up.

[thinkingman]

I used the Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic spray late summer and it seems to be holding up to outside storage pretty well. For $18 and an hour of work, I think I'll choose that over the detail shop charging $$.
And no, nothing short of film is going to protect you from backcountry pinstriping.

[fishngamereaper]

I don't like shinny and fancy so raptor liner for the win...
Durable and easy to fix. The more we cover with it the more I like it.

[Stein]

Most of the hunting damage I get to paint are very light scratches from sage and tree branches.  I usually spend an afternoon each spring getting them all out and a bit of touchup paint for rock chips.  It's very easy to do and inexpensive.

I don't hesitate going pretty much anywhere I think I can get without getting stuck but also like my truck to look as good as possible.

It was surprising to me to see what you can get out in a few minutes with a dual action polisher.  My truck looks better than 95% of my neighbors that never get off pavement.

[bearhunter99]

Does anyone here have experience with the wraps?  How durable are the wraps? 

I need to have some work done to my truck to fix a few dents (my wife ran over a poor little defenseless Subaru in a parking lot...), plus I replaced the tailgate with one that has a step but is a different color and the typical Ford paint peel on the front of the hood, but want to get the whole thing painted when its done.  I don't take it in the sticks much anymore but do occasionally brush up against sagebrush.  I apologize if this derails the thread but it seems like this might be a good option to ceramic?

[Crunchy]

Most of the hunting damage I get to paint are very light scratches from sage and tree branches.  I usually spend an afternoon each spring getting them all out and a bit of touchup paint for rock chips.  It's very easy to do and inexpensive.

I don't hesitate going pretty much anywhere I think I can get without getting stuck but also like my truck to look as good as possible.

It was surprising to me to see what you can get out in a few minutes with a dual action polisher.  My truck looks better than 95% of my neighbors that never get off pavement.

what are you using with your DA MACHINE?  I've got one and my truck will need a good buffing to remove some light scratches.

[Rainier10]

@bearhunter99 Im curious about the wrap also. I’m sure it will protect the paint but still show scratches is my guess. The wraps are expensive

[Stein]

Most of the hunting damage I get to paint are very light scratches from sage and tree branches.  I usually spend an afternoon each spring getting them all out and a bit of touchup paint for rock chips.  It's very easy to do and inexpensive.

I don't hesitate going pretty much anywhere I think I can get without getting stuck but also like my truck to look as good as possible.

It was surprising to me to see what you can get out in a few minutes with a dual action polisher.  My truck looks better than 95% of my neighbors that never get off pavement.

what are you using with your DA MACHINE?  I've got one and my truck will need a good buffing to remove some light scratches.

I have 2 go-to's, both from Chemical Guys.  VSS and a yellow pad for light stuff and an orange pad with C4 if I have heavy oxidation on the paint (I did my 2000 Silverado) or if you have some deeper stuff.  The C4 sometimes needs a second polish with something like VSS or sometimes it's fine on it's own depending on the color.

Most stuff the VSS works great as a one-step unless you paint is old and you need to cut the top junky oxidized stuff off.  I use VSS probably 95% of the time.

I'm sure other brands work as good, it's not rocket science, just light abrasive paste.

I also use the same thing on my boat if I get a bit frisky with the Everett launch docks and end up with white bumper rub.