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I had a black car for over ten years that had immaculate paint when it got smooshed.
My "once a year" details would take me two days. Including a wash, clay and often a paint correction step on day one. Second day, two applications of wax/sealant and then of course, interior, engine bay, wheels, etc...
But again, that is once a year... I touch up areas as required, but even with a black car, I didn't deal with that too much. Often just the hood (where the sun would hit and swirls would be visible, if there).
Wax/sealant is every few months, though. Maybe three a year? Wash, dry and spray detailer/wax usually. With the upkeep as needed. The only reason it got a big detail in Spring was often due to all the snow/ice/salt damage I had to fix. The more you touch your car, the more risk for swirls/scratches/etc... Even careful washing. You can't be perfect.
This was also on a car with huge door panels and such (Scion xB). Even at the end, the paint looked better than most showroom cars in terms of swirls and such. Paint was in stellar shape aside from rock chips which there isn't much you can do about.
As far as special coatings and having to wax every few weeks? Nah. Overkill. The wax/sealant is basically superficial to help aid in removing contaminants easily and buy more time before damage is done to the clear coat in terms of etching and such. OTC wax/sealant (I like Meguiars products myself) is plenty. Not paying for any special 'ceramic' coating to be applied for hundreds (or thousands) of dollars when I had -zero- issue with 'old school' methods.
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