Everyday & Family Cars

Holden ceramic coating on the Gold Coast

There are no new ones left - which changes the whole job.

Holden stopped building cars in 2017 and stopped selling them in 2020. Every Holden on the Gold Coast is now a used car at best, and a great many are kept because the owner wants to keep them. That makes paint work on a Holden a restoration question rather than a protection question, and the two need different answers.

PhotoHolden after correction and coating

Paint profile

What Holden paint is actually like

Late-model Commodores drew consistent criticism from Australian painters for how thinly the factory finish was applied - thin enough that resprayers reported seeing substrate through the colour. Combine that with a car now at least six years old and usually parked outside, and the starting condition on most Holdens is oxidation and fade rather than swirls. What the paint has left decides what can be done with it.

Commodore
Colorado
Monaro
Torana
Trailblazer
Astra
Barina

Common issues

What we see most on Holden

Oxidation and chalking

Clear coat that has been in Queensland sun for a decade goes hazy and then cloudy before it separates from the colour underneath. Reds and silvers show it earliest. Caught before it separates, it corrects; after that it needs paint.

Thin factory paint

There is often less material to work with than the age of the car suggests, particularly on later Commodores. Depth readings are not optional on a Holden - they decide whether the car gets corrected or just protected.

Resprayed and repaired panels

Most Holdens have had at least one panel redone, and repaired paint behaves differently to factory paint under a machine. Fresh paint also has to finish curing before anything is coated over it, or the coating traps solvents that are still gassing out.

Faded plastics and trim

Bumper trim, mirror caps and window surrounds chalk out well before the panels do, and a car with beautiful paint and grey, sun-dead trim still looks tired.

Our process

How we prep a Holden before coating

Preparation is the job. The coating is the last hour of it.

01Full inspection under LED and swirl-finder lighting, with paint depth readings recorded panel by panel.
02Two-bucket hand wash, wheels and arches degreased, badges and shuts cleaned out.
03Chemical iron and industrial fallout removal, then a clay treatment to lift bonded contamination.
04Tape-up of trim, rubbers and sensitive edges before any machine work.
05Paint depth read panel by panel, and the correction planned around what is actually left. On an older Holden with thin or oxidised clear coat we correct conservatively and tell you plainly if a panel is past saving.
06Extra attention to the roof, bonnet and boot, and an honest assessment of any resprayed panels before they go under a machine.
07Panel wipe with a coating-safe solvent to strip polishing oils and reveal the true finish.
08Fireball ceramic coating applied by hand, levelled panel by panel under controlled lighting.
09IR / controlled cure, then a final inspection and handover pack with aftercare instructions.

What we'd recommend for a Holden

New Car Paint Protection

The right call for a fresh delivery - corrected properly before anything goes on top.

Paint Correction

Clears the wash swirls and transport marks the factory finish arrives with.

Nano-Ceramic Window Tint

Real heat rejection for a vehicle that lives outside in Queensland.

Other Everyday & Family Cars

Holden enquiry

Get a quote for your Holden.

Tell us the model, colour and condition and we’ll come back with the right preparation and coating plan. Inspections are done at our Gold Coast workshop — no obligation.

Reach us through

1/2 United Road, Ashmore, 4214