Best car wax??? I'm waxing my car tommorow which wax should I buy?

[hoopsmx]

P21S

[SonicE]

I like P21s

I put it on all my cars

[:D]

[Buellwinkle]

It's hard to recomend one wax but if I had to chose I would say Meguiars #16, very, very hard to get. For a silver/pewter MB, nothing comes close, it not only leaves an amazingly reflective shine but lasts a long time and beads like crazy. It's only downside is that it's hard to remove because it's such a hard wax and it's almost impossible to get. The next best thing is Meguiar's synthetic waxes, the consumer grade NXT Tech Wax is probably one of the best waxes from the point of view of easy to use, great swirl filling capabilities, great color enhancing for some colors like red and black and good depth of shine. Their other synthetic is a little harder to get as it's their proffesional series and it's called #21. Has great reflectivity but not as good as #16 and lasts a long time. It's also hard to remove but for different reasons. I use #21 on my kid's car because I can only get to wax it twice a year, she parks outside and this will protect the longest, I have yet to see a shinier '98 Mustang. I use #16 on my pewter MB because it produces the absolute best shine and lasts the longest. I use NXT on my other cars like my red truck because it's color enhancing properties and swirl filling capabilities are unsurpassed, is very quick to use and makes my red truck really pop.

Keep in mind that no wax is a miracle product, you have to wash, clay, polish (by machine or hand) and then wax, it's the final step. Without proper preperation, no wax will hold up or live up to it's potential. If you are not into prepping the car, then use an all-in-one product like Klasse AIO, it's a mild polish/cleaner and wax in one that also does an excellent job. Someone above mentioned Zaino, you will not like that product unless you prep your car perfect.

[190Evoluzione]

[190Evoluzione]

so this is how we do it in rainy old London town.
i don't know if Auto Glym products are available Stateside, but if they're good enough for Aston Martin, Morgan and McLaren...

my Signal Red W201 has undergone the following process in the past two days...

Step 1 - Auto Glym Paint Renovator (a more gentle version of T-Cut)
This took about five hours to do the whole car, and i nearly dislocated my shoulder at one point pulling all the dirt and shit out of the paintwork. Quite an amazing process though.

Step 2 - Auto Glym Super Resin Polish (instead of Wax)
I've done this before, it takes about two hours to do the car. i also waxed the rims... (help me, i'm sick)

Step 3 - Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection (a semi-permanent Paint Sealant)
Wierd - it goes on like Baby Oil, and they tell you to use the minimum amount possible to coat the entire car, and not to rub it in hard. You leave it for one hour, it dries to a matte film, and then you gotta buff it off. it is at this point that you realise why you need so little of it. the shine is amazing, and if there were any parts where you laid it on a little thick, my god you pay for it. it took 10 minutes to apply. to take it off, two hours of the hardest buffing / polishing i've ever had to do...

pretty much ruined about seven polishing cloths doing this, but hopefully won't have to repeat the exercise again for some time!

[190Evoluzione]

so this is my W201 after the 3 Auto Glym steps...

hope you like!

[Buellwinkle]

Using a product solely because a car manufacturer recomends it is like watching a commecial and saying the TV recomends we buy this and then go out and get it. Since you have an MB why not go with what MB recomends which is their reformulated Meguiars products, or maybe you like the way Audi's shine and use Eagle One products. To me, manufacturers, wether they be in England or the U.S. pick partners to do business with for tires, radios, and yes, even car wax and it's probably more of a financial arrangement rather than what's best of breed, even if that product is best of breed at the time, new products are being made all the time like NXT Tech Wax or Eagle One Nano Wax which are vastly superior to products made a few short years ago. A great example is the Continental tires my car came with, does that mean that's the perfect tire for the car, no, the chance of me buying Continental tires as replacements are slim to none as is the chance of me buying Meguiars/MB co-branded wax.

[190Evoluzione]

i'm slightly confused.
you ask me why i don't use Meguiars if i have an MB, and then tell me that the chance of you buying Meguiars is "slim to none".

FYI, Meguiars is not a widely available brand here in the UK. there are about three of their products on the shelves of our biggest Automotive Accessory retailer, Halfords. and as for going to a Benz Dealership to buy Wax, you may as well complete the look by wearing a shirt that says "Hey buddy, i got too much spare money. Want some?"

i don't know about you, but i'm trying to help some guy find a good wax / polish / treatment for his Mercedes, and i threw in a detailed description of processes and some pictures for good measure.

[Buellwinkle]

Sorry for the confusion but what I probably wouldn't buy is Mercedes Benz branded Meguiar's products. It's a special formulation specifically made for MB. I buy mostly Meguiars professional and detailer products. I generally go with professional quality products from various vendors. For example, I buy Malco polishes and Lake Country pads for my buffer. These products are not readily available to consumers as they're meant for body shops, dealers, fleets and profesional detailers. If people are serious about detailing their cars, there's a certain value for profesional products. The downside is they usually come in larger packaging and because they work faster and better than consumer products there's potential for problems. For example, Meguiars consumer grade polish is too weak to do a proper polishing job of removing swirls but they purposely make it that way to avoid litigation from people that improperly use it, so to get a product that really works you have to go to their pro line. Same for example with their wheel cleaner, they have to make it very weak so if you leave it on for 15 minutes on a hot wheel it won't damage the finish, but to really get a quick clean you need their detailer line wheel cleaner, just don't do something stupid like leave it on for 15 minutes on a hot wheel.

I'm not saying your that AutoGlym is bad, don't know anything about it. It's just that if the only reason it's used was because Aston Martin uses it, it's like saying I should be Continental tires or Alpine radios because that's what MB uses. If you buy AutoGlym because you believe it's the best products, that a far better endorsement of a product than it's because someone else uses it, specially if that someone has a business relationship with the product they are recommending.

[190Evoluzione]

i thoroughly agree with all you're saying, and i can imagine that none of the professional detailing companies in either of our countries get their results by using products that can be picked up down at your local superstore.

the reason i use Auto Glym is because it really works for the colour and age of car that i have, and more than one independent MB specialist has told me that there probably aren't any better treatments available on the open UK market. personally, i would love to have the time and space to detail my car more thoroughly, but unfortunately i live in Central London, and have to park my car on the street. all detailing takes place kerbside!
this is why i've personally chosen to go for Renovation > Polish > Sealant.

incidentally, you'll also find that Auto Glym is endorsed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but she's the last person i'd call for car care advice!

i imagine the guy who started this thread has long since waxed his Benz...