A ceramic coating from Shelby's Detailing costs $1,300 to $1,600 on a sedan for the 3-year coating, and that price includes a one-step paint correction. The same package is $1,500 to $1,900 for an SUV and $1,700 to $2,100 for a truck. The 7-year coating comes with a two-step correction and starts at $2,000 for a sedan, with SUVs from $2,500 and trucks from $3,000. There is also a 1-year paint coating at $250, sold as an add-on to a Paint Enhancement Detail. Either of the longer packages takes about 2-4 days.
What the price pays for
Paint correction is built into both multi-year packages, and the way Shelby does the job shows why. He starts with a hand wash, takes iron and road tar off the paint, and then goes over it with a clay bar. Machine polishing comes next. It takes out swirls and light scratches along with water spots, and it happens before the coating goes on because the coating locks in whatever is still in the paint.
Lake Granbury leaves hard-water spotting along a boat's waterline, and a normal wash doesn't remove it. Answering a review from a tritoon owner, the business called the lake bad for water spots. That is the kind of mark the polishing step is there to take out before anything gets sealed over.
The coating itself is a Shine Supply ceramic. Shelby applies it panel by panel, then levels and inspects it under proper lighting. In 2022 he trained with Shine Supply in Ventura, CA, completing its Advanced Paint Correction & Ceramic Coating course. The job finishes with a controlled cure, and you get a maintenance plan in plain English. Each step is on our ceramic coating in Granbury page.
We took that picture ourselves once Shelby had finished a complete detail on it.
What moves your price
Vehicle type comes first, with a separate price for a sedan, an SUV and a truck. Paint condition comes second: wet sanding, heavier defects and multi-stage correction get quoted once Shelby has seen the paint. He takes paint-thickness readings before any machine polishing so the correction stays within the clear coat. If your fingernail catches in a scratch, it has usually gone through the clear coat and can't be polished out safely, and Shelby says up front what will and won't come out. For one Mazda Miata MX-5 owner, Shelby cleaned the car inside and out, removed its vinyl graphics, then prepped the paint and ceramic coated it. Our paint correction cost article covers the polishing side on its own.
Coating other surfaces adds to the total: glass and trim coatings are $180 each, and a wheel coating is $250.
There is no travel fee anywhere in Hood County. Past the county line, travel is $25 for 15-25 miles and $50 for 25-40 miles, with a custom quote beyond 40.
Ceramic coating on a boat is a custom-quoted add-on, and our boat detailing cost article has the per-foot boat prices.
The 1-year coating
The 1-year coating goes on with the Paint Enhancement Detail, which runs $399 on a small vehicle, $424 on a mid-size one and $450 on a large one. That detail takes about 6 hours and adds a full decontamination and a gloss-restoring polish to the Essential Detail. For one truck owner, Shelby detailed a black GMC inside and out and applied the 1-year ceramic coating.
Is ceramic coating worth it?
Wax typically lasts six to eight weeks, and our 3-year coating carries a three-year rating that assumes normal maintenance. How the vehicle gets washed and stored decides its real-world life, which we cover in how long a ceramic coating lasts.
Shelby coated one customer's car several years ago, and the owner's review says it still looks incredible, is easy to keep clean, and owes that to thorough prep. He coated a regular detail customer's Tahoe and then made the owner a how-to and don't-do spreadsheet for looking after the coating. We also coated a new car for a customer after Shelby had done vehicles for that customer's son and daughter-in-law.
Shelby will also say if a lighter service would get you most of the result for less money.
Getting your number
Shelby is mobile, so he confirms the setup and the weather window for the cure when the job is booked. A different reviewer wrote that Shelby charged exactly what they had talked about. To get a price for your vehicle, pick the coating package for your sedan, SUV or truck on the full services and pricing list and request a quote.