Ceramic coating for Murthal highway drivers

Drive back from Delhi to Murthal on a June evening and look at the front of the car when you stop at a dhaba. The bumper, mirrors and number plate are covered in insects. Leave them until Sunday and the acids in them start to mark the clear coat, especially on a hot bonnet.

The rest of the car tells a similar story. Diesel soot coats the boot, tar specks the lower doors, and the car parked under a tree outside the dhaba has bird droppings on the roof. None of this is unusual for Murthal. It is just daily highway life.

Trucks on NH-44 throw gravel, and a coating will not stop a stone chip. If you run up and down the highway most days, the combination that works best is PPF on the bonnet and bumper with a ceramic coating on the rest of the body, or over the film too.

If you mainly drive locally and park in the shade, a coating on its own is usually enough.

Start every wash with a long rinse from the top down, so the grit runs off before anything touches the paint. Then wash with a pH-neutral shampoo and two buckets, one for soapy water and one for rinsing the mitt. Do the lower doors and rear bumper last, since that is where the tar and road film collect.

Dry with a clean, soft towel rather than leaving the car to air dry, because hard water leaves rings in the sun. Every few months, a spray sealant top-up brings back strong beading. Our guide on washing a ceramic coated car walks through it in more detail.