The case against multi-year ceramic paint coatings - Road Grime = Surface Staining Daily Drivers by Mike Phillips


Years and years ago, around 1997 near as I can remember, I wrote an article called,

The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us


The nutshell version of the story is that IF your car is a daily driver then the paint gets a build-up or a layer of impacted road grime that physically and mechanically stains the paint.


Fast forward 21 years to day's present date, June 28th, 2018 and from what I've seen with my eyes, what I wrote back then is just as accurate today as when I wrote it.


Multi-year Ceramic Paint Coatings
Now the latest rage in car care are all these high-performance long lasting ceramic paint coatings that have the ability to bond to the paint so strongly that they can last for years and years without wearing off. That's great. It means the protection is there as long as the coating is there and that can be, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, years and some companies claim even longer.

The issue however is that these coatings are not invisible force fields and it is my experience, that if a coated car is a daily driver and driven in rainy weather, then the car, (and everything on the car including the coating on the paint), will get a build-up or a physical film of road grime that has bonded and even impacted onto the surface to the point that it will not wash off or wipe off.

I've seen this on one of my own cars that I keep coated.


That said, I know it can be hard for some people to wrap their mind around what I'm saying. So below are some pictures taken at the New Jersey Roadshow Detailing Class where after doing a Test Spot on a WHITE 2010 BMW M1, the before and after results make my case for me. That is paint or the exterior of the car, gets a dirt stain film on it when exposed to road grime over time.

The below pictures were sent to me by David Emmel that attended both days of this class.


Here's the BEFORE shot of the BMW




Here's the AFTER shot of the BMW - notice how bright and vibrant the white paint has become after machine compounding, polishing, which in effect REMOVED THE dirt staining off the paint.





IN the below pictures, I've cropped out just the car from the above shots as this makes it easier to see how the car has literally changed colors after machine compounding and polishing.


Before followed by After






And here's a shot showing the before and after section of paint where I placed the painter's tape when doing the Test Spot.

David is standing on the passenger side of the car shooting down on the hood, myself, Joe and a few others are in the reflection from where we're standing on the driver's side of the fender.

You can clearly see a line separating the before which is to the right and the after which is to the left




My premise is that whether you use a carnauba wax, a synthetic paint sealant or a ceramic paint coating, over time, when exposed to the world in which we live in the exterior of you car gets a film build-up that impacts onto the exterior surface, not just paint but also glass, plastic, chrome, convertible top material, etc.

In the case of a ceramic paint coating, if the car is washed often and washed carefully I believe the coated paint will stay cleaner longer and resist the build-up of a film of road grime, but with enough time the dirt film will build up.

Thus while the protection may be there... the beauty aspect of the paint will be diminished, it will get a grayish or brownish tint over it from the build-up of the road grime film. You can clearly see this on white paint but if it it's happening on white paint it's happening on ALL COLORS of paint it's just harder to see with the human eyes. And this was the final conclusion of what I wrote in my article, The lesson white paint teaches us" 21 years ago.


What's the answer?

If your car IS a daily driver and you drive in rain at some point throughout the year, then if you're not concerned about the vibrancy and true color of your car's paint shining through, then you don't need to do anything, just keep on driving as the protection is probably still there under the film or road grime.


If you want your car and specifically your car's paint to always look it's best, then at least once a year, maybe twice a year, re-polish the paint and the re-seal the paint using your favorite choice of paint protection,

  1. Carnauba Car Wax
  2. Synthetic Paint Sealant
  3. Ceramic Paint Coating




I'm sure some will choose not to believe the paint on their car is getting a build-up of road grime as an impacted film and that's their choice, but I know what I know from being in this industry for all of my life now. Besides experience, myself and 20 other people witnessed the paint on this BMW physically change colors after the road film was machine compounded off the paint.