Detailer applying ceramic coating by hand to the polished bonnet of a dark vehicle at Stow Smash Repairs

Detailing and paint protection, applied by repairers.

We paint cars for a living. That's why our correction and protection work holds up.

Ceramic coating applied by hand over a corrected finish

Detailing & Paint Protection

Stow Smash Repairs details and protects paint at our Artarmon workshop, for North Shore drivers and our own repair customers. Machine correction removes swirls instead of hiding them. Ceramic coating adds years of gloss and easier washing. Film stops stone chips, and nothing else does. We tell you which your car actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.

Premium ceramic coating products and compounds on workshop shelves at Stow Smash Repairs

How We Do It

Dark sports car covered in snow foam inside the wash bay at Stow Smash Repairs

Detailer measuring clear coat thickness using a digital gauge at Stow Smash Repairs

Detailer machine polishing the hood of a blue sports car at Stow Smash Repairs

Detailer applying ceramic coating to a vehicle panel at Stow Smash Repairs

Polished blue sports car parked outside in the sun at Stow Smash Repairs

01 / 05Wash and decontaminate.

Step 01
Wash and decontaminate.
Bonded fallout and tar come off with clay and chemicals before any machine touches the paint. Correcting dirty paint just grinds the dirt in.
Step 02
Measure the paint.
A thickness gauge tells us how much clear coat we have to work with. Thin paint from an old respray changes the plan, and we say so.
Step 03
Correct by machine.
Swirls and light scratches are cut out of the clear, not filled with glaze. The finish you see is the finish that stays.
Step 04
Protect.
Ceramic across the car, film on the nose if stone chips are the worry. Both applied in a controlled bay, not a driveway.
Step 05
Check it in daylight.
Correction that looks perfect under workshop lights gets a second inspection in the sun before handover.

Common Jobs

01 / 03

Water spots etched into the paint.

Fresh spots wash off. Etched spots have burnt into the clear and need machine polishing to level. On horizontal panels left in the sun, deep etching can need wet sanding first. We check before quoting.

Brush wash scratches are shallow and even, which makes them ideal correction work. One proper cut and polish removes years of them. Then a ceramic coating makes the next wash safer and easier.

Oxidised paint often comes back further than owners expect. If the clear coat is intact, correction restores real gloss. If the clear has failed and gone chalky, we’ll say so, because that panel needs paint, not polish.

Straight Answers on Protection

Does ceramic coating stop stone chips?: No. Ceramic resists chemicals, UV and wash marring, and makes cleaning easier. It does nothing against a stone at 80 km/h. Only paint protection film absorbs chips. Anyone selling ceramic as chip protection is selling wrong.
How long does ceramic last in the Australian sun?: A properly applied coating gives years, not months, but only with sensible washing. Australian UV is brutal on neglected paint. The coating slows that down. It doesn’t make the car maintenance free.
Paint protection after a respray. How long to wait?: Fresh paint needs to outgas before it’s sealed. We painted it, so we know exactly when yours is ready. That’s the advantage of protection applied inside a repair shop.

What It Costs

Ceramic coating cost.: Price follows paint condition, not car size alone. A new car needs light prep. A swirled black car needs correction first, and that’s most of the labour.
Paint protection film, full front end.: Film is priced on coverage. Bumper, bonnet, guards and mirrors is the standard chip zone. It costs real money and it’s the only thing that stops chips, so we quote it straight.
Dealer paint protection vs independent.: The dealer product is usually fine. The dealer price usually isn’t. We wrote a straight answer on it. Dealer Paint Protection →

Common Questions

Ceramic coating vs PPF vs wax. Which do I need?

Wax lasts months. Ceramic gives years of gloss and easier washing. Film is the only one that stops stone chips. Most cars want ceramic overall and film on the nose. We’ll say if yours needs neither.

	Lasts	Does	Doesn’t
Wax	Months	Short-term gloss	Chips, years of wear
Ceramic	Years	Gloss, easier washing	Stone chips
Film (PPF)	Years	Stops stone chips	Whole-car budget option

My black car is covered in swirl marks. Can they be fixed?

Swirls are thousands of fine wash scratches. Proper machine correction removes them rather than hiding them under filler glaze. Done right, black reads like glass. Done cheap, they’re back in a month.

My headlights have gone cloudy and yellow. Fix or replace?

Yellow lenses are UV-burnt plastic. We sand, polish and re-seal them, which beats new units by hundreds of dollars. Skip the toothpaste trick. It lasts a fortnight.

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