I’m thrilled to review one of the loudest new entries in the car care market, MAXEasy from MAXL. This product was released in early 2024 and makes some daring claims that have piqued my interest. MAXEasy has garnered a lot of attention not only by promising exceptional performance but also by bashing industry-proven ceramic technology. Trash-talking the industry with such bold claims made me curious to see what MAXEasy actually brings to the table. Let’s investigate whether this newcomer can live up to its hype and deliver on its promise.
– Quotes from recent social media ads
According to their website, and Amazon listing, MAXEasy is an instant coating that protects, maintains, and even improves the appearance of your car’s surface; similar to a ceramic coating, but better. It is intended to work on all vehicle surfaces, including interior surfaces like carpet and leather seats, and claims it will restore surfaces to “like new, or better”. MAXEasy has a no-touch, wet application process that minimizes the risk of scratching your vehicle’s surface, but it’s important to note that they provide instructions for dry application as well.
This product is advertised to last for up to a year, depending on environmental conditions. It claims it “generally lasts 3000+ miles on the average vehicle” and withstands “well over 10 washes”.
MAXL also claims that its product creates a “self-cleaning” surface, which no other coating on the market dares to do. They probably mean that MAXEasy is dirt and dust repellent so your car doesn’t need to be cleaned as often. Personally, this wording rubs me the wrong way because it inflates what the coating actually does and comes off as misleading.
Instead of ceramic, graphene, or other traditional coating materials, MAXEasy’s main active component is called Triphene.
Triphene, as touted by MAXEasy, is a brand-new surface technology that puts all other automotive coatings to shame.
From the FAQ on the MAXL website, under the question “Will MAXEasy replace a Ceramic?”
“MAXL study’s the field of science called Biomimetics or Biomimicry. Nature has already figured all of this out. Nature doesn’t try to build super strong protective barriers that last years. It instead just simply regrows them. That’s the science behind Triphene which is what is in MAXEasy.
MAXEasy is so easily applied and so quick to apply, you are most likely going to use it all the time to re-grow the protective barrier on your surfaces. That will always outperform any other coating over a long period of time. When you are constantly “growing” a new barrier, the environment has a very hard time of getting through it.”
I really respect when a brand is innovative and develops new solutions to better solve problems; However, this quote contradicts itself (and “study’s” should be spelled “studies”… MAXL might need an editor). Is Triphene actually re-growing itself? That would put the universal laws of physics and matter into question! Instead, it seems that the “regenerative” properties of Triphene are dependent on the user applying it often.
MAXL doesn’t go into much detail about what Triphene is, which in some cases is understandable to protect company secrets, but all my team and I could find was a one-page website and a trademark registration that linked back to MAXL. According to MAXL, Triphene Super Resin is a coating technology that provides 3 benefits, but seems like just a marketing term:
The information provided under each benefit was vague, and because MAXL does not provide any ingredient panel or safety pictogram on their bottle, it’s difficult to say what Triphene is or is not.
After exhaustive research, I’m forced to determine that Triphene is simply a trademarked term used for marketing purposes and not any actual type of new technology. There are no patents, white papers, lab reviews, or journal articles.
Note: We have requested a copy of the SDS via phone and email and as of the date of article publication we have yet to receive a response from MAXL.
If you happen to see a MAXEasy ad, you’ll see them bashing ceramic coatings. According to one I saw last week: “If someone tells you their spray and wipe product is a ceramic coating… chances are you’re being lied to.”
These are strong claims against proven technologies. Granted, anything in a spray bottle that claims to last 3 years is outrageous, but there are some great sprays out there that last, provide a great shine, and are much cheaper than a professional ceramic coating. MAXL’s “Us vs. Them” attitude toward dependable and popular coating solutions against an unproven product gives us a sense that they’re trying to generate hype rather than allow MAXEasy to stand on its own merit
Our test results weren’t impressive. While we tested MAXEasy, we carefully followed the instructions for wet application that were provided on the bottle. First, we thoroughly washed and rinsed a panel on our test vehicle with pH-balanced car soap. Then, we applied MAXEasy, and the application process was indeed fast and easy. After applying the product and rinsing it, we dried it per the “Finishing” instructions on the bottle. We then re-rinsed the car and were happy to see increased hydrophobic qualities on both the glass and the door panel; however, it lacked slickness to the touch and did not appear to add “shine” to the paint as described.
Instead of drying it again, we allowed this rinse to sit and air dry on the vehicle surface for the next 30 minutes to observe if the MAXEasy coating would repel any remaining water. Unfortunately, it did not.
There was also no noticeable “restoration” to the paint surface, as the product claims.
We then washed the test panel a second time and rinsed the panel to see how the MAXEasy would handle a standard hand wash using Chemical Guys Mr. Pink soap. After washing and rinsing the panel and window, no significant hydrophobicity remained. We would assume that this is why the directions say to apply it after every wash.
It should be noted that we did not do a chemical torture test on this product as most people will never encounter that situation (Though it does make for a good YouTube video!).
MAXEasy has earned an underwhelming average rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars in user reviews on Amazon, which is relatively weak for its category in the automotive care market. A common theme is the amount of product that has to be used is pretty extreme, raising concerns about cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Since it’s such a new product, there aren’t a lot of unsponsored or independent reviews, either. During our background research, our team found that Reddit users don’t seem to be that impressed with MAXEasy. The Reddit detailing community can be pretty harsh at times, but based on what we read, we think it’s warranted in this case. Almost all of the youtube reviews love it or hate it. Perhaps it’s user error or they are sponsored?
We also surveyed 50 independent professional detailers; none of them at the time of this publication were using MAXEasy.
Here’s the application instructions for MAXEasy:
Preparation and Wet Application:
Dry Application Option:
Finishing:
Even though MAXL claims that MAXEasy lasts anywhere from a few months to a year or over 3000 miles on an average car, we have yet to see this to be the case. It washed off after our first car wash and would need to be reapplied, as the directions stated, “after every wash,” to provide continuous hydrophobicity.
As of now, MAXEasy isn’t sold in stores, but you can get it on Amazon here, and on their website here
MAXL claims you can use it on the following surfaces:
Exterior:
Interior:
Unfortunately, MAXEasy does not live up to its ambitious claims. While it offers a generous amount of product per purchase, the performance is underwhelming. Users report that it leaves streaks and fails to provide the long-lasting protection it promises, and our testing found the same. The product’s appeal appears to be largely built on marketing hype rather than substantive quality. Given these issues, MAXEasy is not worth the investment, especially when more effective options are available on the market at a similar price point.
We rigorously evaluate each ceramic coating based on several criteria. Here’s how MAXEasy stacks up:
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