I can't believe cars don't come with it on from the factory. Ceramic coatings are probably the single best thing you can do if you care about having a shiny clean car. I use CQuartzUK. It is called UK because it is formulated for the UK climate which has a relative heat and humidity index requiring a longer flash time. It can be intimidating to do this yourself, but don't worry, it's EASY.
What is a ceramic coating? It's a liquid SiO2 coating which solidifies to produce a 9H hardened coating, chemically bonded to the clear coat. There are a lot of options out there, but they are all this fundamental coating. This coating has a higher resilience to scratching than ordinary clear coat. If something can scratch glass, it will scratch this coating but it does provide a much tougher surface. The coating will prevent a lot of ordinary swirl marks from washing and debris. It also provides a super-hydrophobic property to the car, making water bead like a permanent wax. This ceramic coating also prevents debris from sticking to, and bonding to, the car. It also enables dirt/debris to be washed off much easier than if it had bonded to the ordinary, untreated clear coat.
The IPA mentioned in my step-by-step below is arguable the most important measure for assuring a clean surface for the coating to adhere to.
Here's a play-by-play for my method:
1. Wash the car
2. Clay-bar the car
3. Wash the car again
4. Inspect the surface with LED/Halogen lights and tactile feeling for any foreign particles. Do any paint correction if you so choose.
4a. Use a polish of your choice and DualAction polisher to correct any paint imperfections.
4b. Remove remaining polish with microfiber and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) to remove remaining oils
4c. Wash car again
5. Use 70% Isopropyl Alcohol on a microfiber and clean the panel you are going to work on
6. Once dry, use Cquartz on the provided felt applicator pad+block and apply a thin coat up and down in columns, then side to side in rows making a cross-hatch pattern to assure even coverage. Start by doing 2x2 areas of the panel (once comfortable, you can probably get up to 4x4 before it flashes)
7. Wait 20-30seconds for the product to flash (adjust as necessary for humidity/heat)
8. Wipe off the remaining product from the area with a high-pile microfiber (replace microfiber after each panel since the products residue will build and harden and can scratch the paint, it is effectively glass after all). It should be easy to wipe off with only a little resistance. If you have a lot of resistance, you let the product sit too long.
9. Once car is complete, use Reload and apply a thin SiO2 coating to the car.
10. Don't let the car get wet for a week while the coating cures.
NOTE: NO CERAMIC COATING IS PERMANENT. They are all semi-permanent, the average duration is 2-3 years before the coating loses some of it's hydrophic properties. You can extend this duration by using Silica-Dioxide (SiO2) sprays, like CarPro Reload every few months. It is important that you use NON-ORGANIC SiO2 detailing sprays in order to get the added benefit of maintaining the SiO2 ceramic coating. Organic quick detailers like Kenotek Showroom Shine (which is AMAZING) but is organic, will work with amazing results, but will also degrade quickly by comparison and will not benefit the underlying ceramic coating.
Maintenance: Every 2-3 months, use Reload or other SiO2 NON-ORGANIC spray. In-between, wash the car with PH Neutral car wash to prevent PH related degradation of the coating.
