coating will reduce swirl mark, but will not prevent it. Not matter how hard your coating sand is 7H+, dust contains silica/quartz basically very fine sand which is also 7H+. Also doesn't protect against stone chip.

This only fool proof is PPF, but it is 15-17K to fully wrap a c-segment sedan.

This post has been edited by constant_weight: Aug 17 2020, 09:35 PM

Coating was designed for shine and replace waxing as scarification layers. It it harder than paint clear coat but not scratch proof.

If only drive around the town, just regular wash will keep it pristine for years. If you do a lot of highway, still need to go back to the shop for maintenance.

The shop that tell you completely no need maintenance, that is bullshit. It really depends on your usage.
The coating can be polished and sand off, just harder and need different compounds and more time.

So, it is harder but will not beat the sands. You can key it, and probably don't leave a mark. Some tiny sands will scratch it real deep.

As for watermark, the tap water will leave chlorine after dry, same for any surface, coating or not. Rain water is fine, but wipe dry after the car wash. But you leave swirl mark when you wipe dry.
Depends on how obsessive you are with the paint.