Voodoo Blue - Paint Protection Worth It and What Kind?

Dear Voodoo People,

I am taking delivery of a 2021 VB manual TRD Sport sometime late summer. A parts guy at the dealership recently told me I might want to consider the Toyota dealership applied ceramic coating (about $500 Canadian plus tax).

This guy was not trying to sell me by the way - he discouraged me from getting a part from the dealership and suggested a site I could find said parts for nearly half the price. So I'm not that worried someone is selling me garbage...

He explained the Voodoo Blue paint is "softer" than Toyota's usual stable of Taco paints. Apparently, VB like other special edition paints that usually first are seen on TRD Pros, is not as durable as your MGM, Super Blacks, etc.

Any truth to this?

My truck is going to see plenty of narrow trails and gravel roads. Stone chips, abrasion from sand/dust at speed, and pinstriping from the odd branch or conifer that's crowding my way - all these are the regular tortures the paint job can expect.

Should I be looking at a dealership offered ceramic coating or some other option?

I'm into the colour, hence willing to wait 3-4 months, but not if Voodoo Blue chips if you so much as sneeze in its direction (the Parts guy's words).

Thanks!

 

Ceramic coatings are great to keep the truck cleaner and help with some scratchers. More at protecting against improper washing scratches. It is not going to do very much against any scratches you would get offroading and such.
You can apply your own ceramic coatings and they are pretty easy.
I coated my truck in Gtechniq CSL topped with EXOv4
You dont have to do both you can just use CSL as it is a 3-5year durability coating.
1 30ml bottle will do your truck almost 3 times but only 1 coat is needed.
They are about $70 for a bottle.
https://www.autoality.com/store/pc/Gtechniq-Crystal-Serum-Light-30-ml-407p7626.htm
just watch some videos. You dont have to polish the truck if you dont want to if its new just make sure the paint is super clean with a very light claying. Just make sure the paint has zero wax or sealants on it and then wipe it down with a panel wipe to make sure the paint is perfectly clean. If you apply it over wax or sealant or if the paint isnt clean like some oils on it the coating will fail much quicker because it did not bond to the surface correctly.

 

I have the simonize glass coat plan done on my 2020, and would seriously consider anyone to look into it. Supposedly its a lifetime plan as long as you own the truck. The ceramic glass coating they use is suppose to protect for nearly 10 years.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9iPQZUvXFU
here you go. This shows the Dealer stuff is pretty weak. It got taken out by some chemicals quickly. Save yourself the money and buy a quality one for under $100 and put it on yourself and it will be much better

 

Also, I cannot comment on voodoo blue but I had the 16 blazing blue pearl color and it wasnt crazy soft. it wasnt hard either it was the middle of the road. if your going to be doing all that stuff. I would say the best bet is more cement, silver and such so it doesnt show as much

 

I have the voodoo blue, I didn't have a choice on the dealer coating as it was already applied when I took delivery of the vehicle. They said I should come back every 4-6 months and have it reapplied. That being said, I have started trying out some different ceramic coats and as others have said, it's really easy to apply and it much cheaper than what they put on at the dealership. I live in Arizona so the sun is pretty brutal down here. Consistently hits 110+ degrees F for weeks on end in the summer. I have always just kept several good thick coats of wax on the vehicle and any scratches have always buffed out. I will see how the ceramic coating does, so far the dealer one did not impress me as the first time I drove through a automatic car wash the roof was scuffed and scratched. Talk it with a grain of salt but anything you do at home is going to be better that what a dealer charges you.

 

wow, they want to reapply every 4-6months. that just proves its durability is not very good.
you can buy turtle wax seal n shine for 9.99 and get the same performance and not need to be as meticulous as when installing a coating.

 

My 2021 Off road is AG. I ended up having full frontal PPF put on, I also put it on the tailgate and top of the cab. Next month I am getting a ceramic coating put on from ceramic pro's gold package it has a life time guaranty but cost a lot more than $500

 

I have the Ceramic Pro coating on my 2019 VooDoo Blue TRD Pro. Was expensive but I LOVE it. Easy to wash/dry and after 2 years paint looks like new.

 

If you have the budget get full front, tailgate, roof PPF, and ceramic coating at a PPF shop that can demonstrate exacto knife skill.

As in, have them put a small piece of film on a body panel (any legit shop should have some for demo and training purposes anyway. Have them put a small piece of film on, then have them trim it off right on the panel, if they can't show you that they are able to do it without cutting into paint, RUN out of there.

I posted a while back that I metered the entire truck and the paint was super insanely thin at low to mid 3 mils with some spots at 4 barely.

I also got OEM mudflaps and OEM running boards that look like raptor ones and my doors have been chip free. Was trying to avoid having to also pay for all 4 doors since then it gets too expensive proportionally for a 45K truck.

TLDR, get PPF and have it ceramic coated if you are worried about chips, because you are going to get a lot of it bare.