Ceramic Coating vs Waxing

Has anyone played around with getting their Rover Ceramic Coated? I got into a discussion about it the other day with a buddy of mine. He swears by it on his AMG, but couldn't really tell me what the big benefit was over giving the car a wax every few months? And the fact that it was that much more expensive...

I ceramic coated mine myself, there is a lot more prep to perfect the paint first, but the benefits are the longevity of the products, they can last years, provide better protection and durability.

Waxing as you say yourself needs to be done every few months, but can be done over non perfect paint, whenever you like.

There is a third option that is quick detailing sprays, these can give a good coating, are very easy to apply and can be used as a drying aid and applied to a wet car. I now use gTechniq C2 generally each wash to add some protetion, lot easier than wax and not as hardcore as ceramic coating.

I had both my last two cars treated by a specialist GTechnic application detailer - the first car was an RRS that was 14 months old and the dealership applied Autoglym paint protection was a waste of money so I had Crystal Serum applied - well worth the £500 I paid as even at 3.5 years old I hardly needed any effort to wash the muck off the car. Basis that I had my Mini Countryman done with the latest GTechnic Ceramic coating in June 2018, the car sits out on the drive and doesn’t move for 3 months at time as I work overseas. I take it once a month back to the applying dealer for a 1hour long hand wash and dry and it really sparkles - cost me £600 and the Mini dealer agreed not to do any prepping of the body work after the car was delivered from the factory to them. The wife of lead valeter at the detailers works in the BMW Mini dealer I bought from and they were so impressed when the detailers redelivered my car that they now offer proffesionalmprepping as an option to having their in house prepping team apply whatever coating they flog in the showroom. The detailer has heated indoor prepping areas and can wash cars inside as well for when the weather isn’t good for outside work.
My first Evoque was treated with the Gardex system of paint protection at the Gardex HQ in west London, the dealer delivered the car to them on a flat bed in exchange for some publicity for both the dealer and Gardex for a reduced fee as it was the first Evoque Gardex had worked on - that remains the best paint treatment I have had on a car, it only required a light hosing even at 3 years old to clean even the heaviest winter road crud off that car
The benefit is ease of cleaning, no back pain, no waiting for a warm enough not too hot day to get the car washed, dried and waxed all in one day.