Paint and Body
Ceramic Coating Application in Southern California
Typical range
$800 to $6,000
Shop hours
8 to 60
Labor rate
$95/hr
The short answer
Ceramic coating applies a semi-permanent silica or silicon carbide layer over corrected paint, gelcoat, or wrap for UV and chemical resistance. Work runs $800 to $6,000, or 8 to 60 hours at the $95 per hour detail rate plus coating material.
01
What this work actually involves
A ceramic coating is not wax and it does not fix anything. It is a thin cross-linked layer that bonds to the surface and takes the chemical and UV abuse instead of your clearcoat. On a Southern California RV that matters more than it does on a car, because the exposed surface area is enormous, the vehicle spends most of its life parked outdoors, and the horizontal surfaces on a coach roof see brutal sun load. Where a coating actually earns its money is UV attenuation and the fact that acidic contamination, bird droppings, and sprinkler mineral sit on the coating rather than etching the clear underneath.
The application is 80 percent preparation. Any defect locked under a coating stays there for years, so the paint or gelcoat has to be corrected first, then stripped of every trace of polishing oil with a dedicated panel prep solvent. Coating over residual oil is the single most common failure we see on units that were coated elsewhere, and it shows up as patchy beading and high spots within months. On gelcoat the prep is different again, because porous chalked gelcoat drinks coating unevenly and has to be sealed properly first.
Environment sets expectations. A coach garaged in Yorba Linda or Newport Beach and washed correctly will hold a strong coating for years. The same coating on a unit baking uncovered in Palm Springs, Indio, or Victorville at 115F with a high UV index most of the year works harder and needs a maintenance topper sooner. We tell you the realistic service interval for where the vehicle actually lives, not a marketing number.
Systems and brands we work on: Ceramic Pro, Gtechniq, CarPro CQuartz, XPEL, System X.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Full wash, iron and fallout decontamination, and mechanical decontamination
- Required paint correction before coating so no defect is locked underneath
- Dedicated panel prep solvent wipe to remove all polishing oils
- Gelcoat sealing and preparation on fiberglass caps and trailer shells
- Coating application to painted panels, gelcoat, and caps
- Coating of glass, headlight lenses, and polished aluminum where specified
- Trim and rubber coating to slow UV chalking on exterior plastics
- Optional coating over an existing vinyl wrap
- Controlled cure time in shop before the unit is released
- Written maintenance wash instructions specific to your storage situation
03
When you need this service
- A recently corrected finish with no protection on it
- A newly painted or wrapped unit going into outdoor storage
- Water no longer beading anywhere on the vehicle
- Repeated bird dropping and sprinkler mineral etching at a storage yard
- A previous coating showing patchy beading or visible high spots
- A gelcoat cap that reoxidizes within months of every polish
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Assess and set expectations
We look at the current finish, ask where the vehicle is stored, and give you a realistic service interval for that environment before you commit to a coating tier.
- 02
Decontaminate
Wash, iron removal, tar removal, and mechanical decontamination. Anything bonded to the surface now becomes a permanent inclusion under the coating.
- 03
Correct
Defects removed to the level you approved. A coating locks in whatever is underneath it, so this is the last chance to change the finish for several years.
- 04
Panel prep wipe
Every surface wiped with a dedicated prep solvent to strip polishing oils. This step is the difference between a coating that bonds and one that fails patchy in months.
- 05
Application
Coating leveled panel by panel in controlled sections with booth temperature and humidity managed, and each panel inspected under raking light for high spots before it flashes.
- 06
Cure
The unit stays inside for the full manufacturer cure window. A coating rained on or washed during initial cure will not reach its designed cross-link density.
- 07
Handover and maintenance plan
Written wash instructions specific to your storage yard and water quality, because hard water is what kills coatings in the Inland Empire faster than sun does.
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Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $800 to $6,000 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 8 to 60 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Detail labor | $95 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
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Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Class A Diesel Pusher Motorhomes
A diesel pusher carries a rear-mounted diesel on a raised-rail air ride chassis, usually 34 to 45 feet with full-body paint and pa
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Sprinter Vans
Mercedes Sprinter vans run last-mile routes, trade service, and camper conversions across Southern California. Sliding door tracks
Vehicle
Rivian R1T
The Rivian R1T is a skateboard-platform electric pickup with a structural battery pack, an aluminum-intensive body, and a camera a
Vehicle
Camper Van Conversions
Camper van conversions are Sprinter, Transit, or ProMaster chassis with windows cut into the sidewalls, a roof full of penetration
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Questions about ceramic coating application
Frequently asked questions
How much does ceramic coating an RV cost?
$800 to $6,000, or 8 to 60 hours at the $95 per hour detail rate plus coating material. A Sprinter or camper van with a sound finish needing light correction sits at the low end. A forty-five foot coach requiring multi-stage correction, gelcoat sealing on both caps, and a multi-layer coating sits at the high end.
How long does a ceramic coating actually last?
It depends far more on storage and washing than on the product. A unit garaged in Orange County and washed with soft water and correct technique holds a strong coating for several years. The same coating on a coach sitting uncovered in Palm Springs or Victorville at 115F works far harder and needs a maintenance topper sooner. We give you an interval for your situation, not a number off a bottle.
Do I still have to wash it?
Yes, and how you wash it matters more than most owners expect. A coating makes dirt release easier, it does not make dirt stop landing. The bigger issue in the Inland Empire is hard water: mineral left to dry on a coated panel builds a film that mimics coating failure. Two-bucket wash, filtered rinse where possible, and dry rather than air dry.
Can you coat over a vinyl wrap or gelcoat?
Both, with different preparation. Wrap coatings use a formulation that will not attack the vinyl or its laminate and they measurably slow the UV fade that kills wraps here. Gelcoat needs more work, because chalked porous gelcoat absorbs coating unevenly and has to be corrected and sealed first or the result is blotchy within weeks.
My last coating failed in six months. Why?
Almost always residual polishing oil left on the surface at application. The oil fills the microtexture the coating needs to bond to, the coating sits on top of it, and it releases in patches as the oil migrates. The fix is a full strip and reapplication with a proper dedicated prep solvent wipe. Insufficient cure time before the first wash is the second most common cause.
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More paint and body work
Ready to move on ceramic coating application? Bring it to Yorba Linda.