New black car coating - advice needed
Hi All
First time buying (leasing actually!) a new-ish (demo) vehicle. It's a black SUV.
Haven't been much into detailing/ceramic for my previous old cars (just basic stuff usually) but for this one, wanted to give it some TLC.
I got Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Wash & Wax 1.42L to wash the car, then Mothers CMX Ceramic 3-in-1 Polish & Coat 473mL to polish it and remove minor swirls, then the spray on Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Acrylic Black Wax (raving reviews from users esp for the black wax), then a Gyeon CanCoat EVO for ceramic coating (can't afford $1000+ ceramic coating unfortunately).
Bieng a newbie/novice, I 'experimented' the approach on my very old mazda and then did some research (should have researched earlier :( )
Here's what i learnt:
The Turtle ceramic wash/wax is pretty risky if not used properly - leaves water spots that are extremely hard to remove. [So I don't want to use it on my new black car now!]
The Mothers CMX ceramic polish is not 'strong' (abrasive) enough to remove swirl marks, it's a light touch polish to prep for ceramic coating
Can't use the Turtle Spray on ceramic black wax (the wax won't allow proper bonding of Gyeon ceramic coating).
So now I am thinking:
Use Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wash & Wax for the wash (have used it before, no streaks/spots)
Use a Meguiar's Scratch-X or Armour All Scratch remover (both used in past to succesfully remove scratch) to remove swirl marks
Use Gyeon Prep 500mL to clean off, then use the Mothers CMX as a prep coat for ceramic (it says on the bottle it's good as a pre-coat before doing ceramic coating, its got no wax)
Then use the Gyeon cancoat for ceramic coating
Let it cure for 24-48 hours then use the Turtle spray on ceramix black wax (to add that extra black gloss and also to provide a sacrificial protective layer to the base ceramic coating).
And as routine maintenance process, to continue washing car with the Meguiar Wash & Wax then apply the Turtle spray on ceramix black wax.
The Gyeon cancoat says it should last a year, so next year this time re-do the Gyeon cancoat ceramic.
Please advise if you have any other suggestions, corrections to my above approach, which is DIY friendly for a novice and not too costly
Posted Dec 7, 2025, 11:49 PM UTC