Wax is a protector, much like when you wax a floor, while car polish aims to fill in those microfractures and splits on your finish and keep it nice and smooth. The difference between them is pretty simple once you know it—while a car polish helps remove minor defects from the car's surface, a car wax acts as a protective layer, coating the shallow scratches and keeping the surface smooth and shiny. In essence, car polish is for correction while car wax is for protection.