Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax: Real World Test And Review
Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax provides fast and easy protection to most car surfaces, giving good results in terms of aesthetics, hydrophobicity, and durability.
It is worth noting that this is a wax, not a coating, so it will not provide the same results as a professional ceramic coating. Using very little product is key to making this wax work, making it better value for money than it may initially appear.
Prepmycar Rating: 8.3 / 10
Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax
- 9.0 Ease of use
- 7.5 Aesthetics
- 8.0 Hydrophobicity
- 8.0 Durability
- 8.5 Value for money
- 9.0 Product Presentation
- 8.3 OVERALL TEST SCORE
Pros
Cons
Testing process
Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax is a spray and rinse protection product; however, an extra step is required on 1st application. I used the side of a clean BMW to test the product and monitor performance over time. I first washed the car, used an iron fallout remover, and used a panel wipe on the paint to ensure any previous waxes had been removed.
With the car still wet, I sprayed roughly twice per panel, with the bottle about 45 cm from the car in order to achieve good coverage. I then used a plush microfibre cloth to spread the product over the panel while simultaneously drying the car. Meguiar’s suggest that if a car already has a layer of wax on it, the product can simply be sprayed on, pressure washed off and then dried.
Test Results
Ease of use 9.0/10
Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax is an easy product to use, I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I think a quality cloth makes a big difference here, I used a 500-gsm buffing cloth which also had good absorbency to aid drying. The product is not sticky and is easily spread across the paint. I found it useful to have two cloths on hand, one to spread the product and absorb the bulk of the water, while the other cloth takes care of any streaks.
Aesthetics 7.5/10
The paint on my test car was in pretty good condition, making it hard to tell if the product had any effect on gloss. I decided to test it on a customer’s car with paint in a very bad condition. The product did improve the overall appearance of the paint, it looked much better from a distance than it had before. Once the car was inspected under sunlight, it could be seen that the paint was still in very bad condition, so the filling properties of this product are minor.
Hydrophobicity 8.0/10
The product was applied to a side panel, with that panel being much easier to clean owing to the wax preventing dirt from clinging. With the paint clean, hydrophobicity is good, with water quickly sheeting off the surface. The neglected paint I tested it on had not been decontaminated, and hydrophobicity was not quite as good on that car, which is to be expected and emphasises the importance of good preparation.
Durability 8.0/10
It can be easy to get sucked into marketing hype about this being some sort of ceramic coating offering 6 months plus durability. At the end of the day this is still a spray wax with added silica for water repellency. Meguiar’s also recommend ‘topping up’ the protection by spraying more product, while this works, it is not a test of durability. I am only concerned with how long the initial protection lasts with no reapplications.
3 weeks after application, 2 washes: I have used gentle snowfoams and shampoos to clean the car, with the Meguiar’s panels being very easy to clean, with water sheeting off the panel quickly.
6 weeks after application, 3 washes: the car has been washed 3 times, using a snowfoam and various maintenance shampoos. So far, the wax seems to be holding up well, with water still sheeting off the panel quickly.
Value for money 8.5/10
The product is sold in 768 ml (26 fl. oz.) bottles, available for around £20 ($22.14 USD) in the UK. Quite an expensive product, but it does seem that anything with the word ‘ceramic’ in the title is on the expensive side.
One spray from the bottle is about 2 ml of product, so for a medium car on initial application, about 40 ml of product is needed, assuming about 2 sprays per panel and 3 or 4 for the roof and bonnet, for larger cars this number will increase significantly.
40 ml of product is just over £1 ($1.10 USD) worth of product, which actually is not a bad price.
If you wanted to ‘top up’ the protection to ensure maximum performance, you would only need one spray per panel. If this were done every month, around 260 ml of product would be needed per year, at a cost of only around £7 ($7.75 USD). So, if used sparingly, this can actually be quite good value for money.
Product Presentation 9.0/10
The bottle is a translucent blue and is very eye catching, with the product itself being the same colour and having a pleasant smell. The trigger is good quality, and the narrow bottle design is handy for storing products on cluttered shelved. The bottle also has written instructions on a pull back flap in multiple languages, which is a helpful feature.
Meguiar’s
Meguiar’s are a global detailing brand, based in the United States. Their product range is extensive, catering to hobbyist and professional detailers, as well as marine detailers. They also produce a ceramic detailing spray, capable of removing light dust as well as a liquid ceramic wax.
Final thoughts
I was a bit late to try this product, which received considerable acclaim after release in 2019. I was impressed with how easy it was to use, it certainly saves time compared to applying a traditional paste wax. I wax expecting the product to be streaky when applied, but this was not the case, using a second microfibre to buff left streak-free paint.
It is a product worth considering for easy paint protection, being so easy to reapply is also a bonus, with it being reasonably good value when used sparingly. It would be worth considering for mobile detailers who apply a quick level of protection after a standard valet, this would be a good option in that case.
FAQ
Can Meguiar’s Ceramic Wax be used on any other surfaces?
It could be applied to glass and wheels, which will help keep these surfaces clean for longer.
How often should ceramic spray wax be reapplied?
This will vary from vehicle to vehicle. If a car is seldom driven and only washed every few weeks, reapplication every 8-12 weeks will be sufficient. For a car that is used more frequently, it may be beneficial to reapply some protection every month to maintain top performance.
Get it Now
- PROTECTION: anti-ozonants offer protection against cracking and fading
- LESS EFFORT AND MESS: no rubbing, curing, buffing or mess
- HYBRID CERAMIC WAX PROTECTION: Advanced Sio2 Hybrid technology delivers ceramic wax protection
