I've been doing a bit of research into this lately and the consensus seems to be that it's a waste of time and won't last. I would agree to a point but I've been doing a bit of experimenting, coming up with what's possibly a solution, probably a compromise.
I bought the car in October 2019 and the first thing I did was took it straight to my detailer who, after giving it a machine polish to remove several marks, coated it with Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer followed by EXOv4. This has been fine for the last year or two, although the car's not really done much in that time due to a combination of factors.
I must admit that I was missing the regular wander round it with a polishing cloth, this has been done on all my cars for many years now and is something which I enjoy. I had noticed a few fine scratches on the bonnet, nothing to write home about but in a certain light they stood out so I decided that the only way to get rid of them would be with a light polish. This was done by hand and, whilst having the desired effect in removing the scratch marks, it also removed the ceramic coating from the paint. I checked this just by dripping water on it and realising that it wasn't beading as it should be doing. This left me with the decision of taking a trip to my detailer again, or seeing if I could repair it myself. As I have several waxes in stock, this was a no brainer, in the words of a famous TV presenter: "What could go wrong?"
As the bonnet was already clean after my polishing efforts, I just decided to apply a coat of wax directly on to it, without polishing the whole area. I initially used Blackfire Midnight Sun, a product which I've had for years, and whilst being easy to apply, it was a bit of a struggle to buff off. I feel that it won't last more than a couple of washes before it needs re-applying to be honest. I did half the bonnet with this and then changed over to Dodo Juice Purple Haze, another product which I've used for a good while. This proved easier to apply than the midnight sun, though again didn't seem to bond to well which, in reality, is what I expected and what most people were saying on a lot of the detailing forums. Thinking about it logically, the ceramic coating covers a lot of the "peaks and troughs" in the paint which the wax sticks to, so by leaving the coating in place the wax is struggling to grip to it as it's too smooth.
As I'd gone so far, and had also removed a scratch on one of the front wings with polishing, I decided to try one more brand. The first two waxes I used were both carnauba based, this last one was a synthetic and is Soft99 Fusso. I've used it more occasionally than the other two brands, finding it a bit of a challenge to buff off. Having said that, the difference on the ceramic coating to a polished surface is night and day. It covers easily and quickly, and buffs off straight away, seemingly bonding well. This is quite probably something to do with it's composition and being petroleum based but, as I'm certainly no chemist, I'll put it down to magic. Obviously only time will tell on the duration, and I wouldn't expect it to last as long as when applied over a non-ceramic surface but it's a case of so far so good. In fact I was so impressed with the finish that I did the whole car in it. It'll protect the ceramic coat if nothing else and the shine is pretty impressive under artificial light, though this may be just a the placebo effect.
Ultimately, or at least when I can be bothered/get a bit of time, I'll mop the whole car to get rid of the ceramic coating as there are one or two more little marks which will want a bit of attention. This will then leave me with a back to basics polished finish to play with, so that I can get back to the cleaning and polishing routine which I'd become accustomed to over the years.
I bought the car in October 2019 and the first thing I did was took it straight to my detailer who, after giving it a machine polish to remove several marks, coated it with Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer followed by EXOv4. This has been fine for the last year or two, although the car's not really done much in that time due to a combination of factors.
I must admit that I was missing the regular wander round it with a polishing cloth, this has been done on all my cars for many years now and is something which I enjoy. I had noticed a few fine scratches on the bonnet, nothing to write home about but in a certain light they stood out so I decided that the only way to get rid of them would be with a light polish. This was done by hand and, whilst having the desired effect in removing the scratch marks, it also removed the ceramic coating from the paint. I checked this just by dripping water on it and realising that it wasn't beading as it should be doing. This left me with the decision of taking a trip to my detailer again, or seeing if I could repair it myself. As I have several waxes in stock, this was a no brainer, in the words of a famous TV presenter: "What could go wrong?"
As the bonnet was already clean after my polishing efforts, I just decided to apply a coat of wax directly on to it, without polishing the whole area. I initially used Blackfire Midnight Sun, a product which I've had for years, and whilst being easy to apply, it was a bit of a struggle to buff off. I feel that it won't last more than a couple of washes before it needs re-applying to be honest. I did half the bonnet with this and then changed over to Dodo Juice Purple Haze, another product which I've used for a good while. This proved easier to apply than the midnight sun, though again didn't seem to bond to well which, in reality, is what I expected and what most people were saying on a lot of the detailing forums. Thinking about it logically, the ceramic coating covers a lot of the "peaks and troughs" in the paint which the wax sticks to, so by leaving the coating in place the wax is struggling to grip to it as it's too smooth.
As I'd gone so far, and had also removed a scratch on one of the front wings with polishing, I decided to try one more brand. The first two waxes I used were both carnauba based, this last one was a synthetic and is Soft99 Fusso. I've used it more occasionally than the other two brands, finding it a bit of a challenge to buff off. Having said that, the difference on the ceramic coating to a polished surface is night and day. It covers easily and quickly, and buffs off straight away, seemingly bonding well. This is quite probably something to do with it's composition and being petroleum based but, as I'm certainly no chemist, I'll put it down to magic. Obviously only time will tell on the duration, and I wouldn't expect it to last as long as when applied over a non-ceramic surface but it's a case of so far so good. In fact I was so impressed with the finish that I did the whole car in it. It'll protect the ceramic coat if nothing else and the shine is pretty impressive under artificial light, though this may be just a the placebo effect.
Ultimately, or at least when I can be bothered/get a bit of time, I'll mop the whole car to get rid of the ceramic coating as there are one or two more little marks which will want a bit of attention. This will then leave me with a back to basics polished finish to play with, so that I can get back to the cleaning and polishing routine which I'd become accustomed to over the years.
