Straight answers.

Coatings at AUTOGLOSS start at $1,000. The price depends on the vehicle's size and the level that fits how it gets used, and paint that needs more than the included polish is quoted after we see it. Send the year, make and model for a real number.

Jeff asks four questions first: where the car lives, how it gets washed, how long you're keeping it and what you want from the coating. Then he recommends one level. Not the most expensive one, the one that fits.

Most coatings take about 6 hours: drop off in the morning, drive home that evening. Level 4 covers every surface and takes about 20 hours.

An hour after the coating goes on. It keeps curing for up to seven days, but the car doesn't need to stay dry or indoors for that time.

No. Coating warranties are written by manufacturers and require a yearly visit where most of the coating is polished off and re-topped. We install a coating rated for the life of the vehicle and show you how to wash it instead.

How the car is treated, more than the level you buy. A garage-kept car washed by hand can outlast its rating; a car run through a tunnel wash every other week can finish off a lifetime coating in a year.

Yes, it's the best time. New paint needs the least polishing and is protected from its first wash. It still gets a full wash and decontamination, because new cars pick up fallout on the lot and in transport.

No. That's paint protection film, which we refer to Yellow Jacket Tinting. A coating resists chemicals, UV and light marring and makes the car far easier to clean.

Yes. Motorcycles get the Premium coating on every surface. Send the year and model for a quote.

10135 Division Dr, Raleigh, NC 27603, in south Raleigh. Work is by appointment only, so call or text before you come by.

Yes. Level 1 is the one coating that can be installed in your driveway. Levels 2 through 4 need the studio's controlled lighting and environment.

It's rated up to 5 years. How the car is washed matters more than the rating: brushes and tunnel washes wear any coating down fast.

It's the manufacturer's laboratory durability figure under average conditions, the point at which a coating fully fractures. It isn't a guarantee, and we don't dress it up as one.

Yes. Level 2 includes a one-step machine polish that reduces light swirls and haze before the coating goes on.

Its coating carries an additive that stops the fracturing that ends most coatings. That's why it's rated for the life of the vehicle rather than a number of years.

It's the longest-rated coating on the full exterior without the time and cost of every surface. For a car you're keeping, it's usually the one that fits.

About 20 hours of studio time, because it covers every surface and starts with full paint correction. We'll give you a drop-off and pick-up plan before you book.

Yes. Level 4 is the only level that includes full paint correction. On Levels 1 to 3, deeper correction is quoted separately after we see the paint.

Before its first trip through a car wash, ideally. Brushes start marring new paint on the first visit, and a coating protects it from that first wash on.

Usually very little, which is why new is the best time to coat. It still gets a full wash and decontamination, because cars pick up fallout sitting on the lot and in transport.

No. Chips need paint protection film, which we refer to Yellow Jacket Tinting. Film and coating are often paired: film on the front, coating everywhere.

Anything you can catch a fingernail in is through the clear coat and can't be polished out. Swirls, haze, light scratches and oxidation are what correction is for.

Every coating includes a gloss-enhancement polish, which is enough for most cars. One- and two-step corrections are separate, quoted once we've looked at the paint. Level 4 includes full correction.

If you're paying to correct the paint, protecting it is the logical next step. Otherwise the swirls come back with the first few washes.

Most of a day for a one-step, a full day for a two-step. Plan on a studio drop-off.