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

[PANZR]

190Evoluzione - 8/20/2005 11:52 PM

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

lol but I wonder what he used?

I also use Auto Glym, it's fantastic stuff, better than a wax and offers very durable paint protection when applied correctly

[southernstarla]

Don't fret over it too much. Like several others have said in this thread, I haven't found much noticeable difference in the shine or durabilty when I've used Zaino vs Zymol vs Meguires, etc, so I usually use the products that I can always pick up at AutoZone or Pepboys or WalMart without having to wait for mail order to arrive. They always have Zymol Cleaner Wax for about $18.00 per bottle, which will last for several car waxings and which is my personal all around favorite. It is a great all in one product. Don't be thrown off by the cleaner wax title, because it is not really abrasive at all and won't hurt your new car finish. And whenever I apply it, it reminds me of the beach because it smells great - a lot like Hawaiin Tropic lotion.

If you want to maximize your wet look, definately use a polish before you wax your car. The Mequires Polish which is sold in all the stores as part of Mequire's three step deep cleansing system (ie. step 1 is the Cleaner, step 2 is the polish and step 3 is the wax -- and each bottle says on the front of it which step it is for) costs only about $5.00 and goes on very quickly, you wipe it off immediately without needing to let it dry, and it basically puts down a film of oil which replenishes your paint and forms a layer under the wax which you apply next. That extra layer is what gives your car a wet, layered look.

I keep my paint waxed, so I usually skip using a cleaner (ie. step 1 in the three part Mequire's system) and go straight to step 2 (polish/oil enrichment for the paint) then wax it. For wax, I think the Mequire's gold class wax (which can be found anywhere and costs about $10.00) looks great. Or any of the non-cleaner waxes by Zymol, Zaino or Turtle.

About every third or fourth waxing, I use a cleaner wax (such as the aforementioned readily-available Zymol) and for noticeable blemishes (such as these tiny black spots which can get on my white paint -- and which appears to be some sort of environmental pollution) I first use Kit's clearcoat safe Scratch Out. It gets the oxidation and pollution out a lot better than Turtle's polishing compound or Meguire's step 1 cleaner or any of the several other auto paint cleansers that I've tried and without harming my paint. Don't be alarmed when you put some pressure into it to remove the fine polltants, because after you then apply your polish then your wax, the area will look like new again. Of course, however, don't get carried away with way too much rubbing pressure, because that can take off more than can be overcome by a simple polishing and waxing. Hope this helps. It works for me on all of my vehicles.

[tiggerfink]

It depends on what type of paint and clear coat is on your car. The Ceramiclear needs a product like Optimum or Zanio. http://www.optimumcarcare.com/.

The CEO of Optimum did a presentation on different types of paint at our monthly Mercedes dinner/meeting. Optimum does last about 5 to 6 months. Meguairs clear coat wax only last about 2 to 3 months in my area. The Optimum wax can be applied with a micro fiber towel. It takes about 15 minutes on my SL500.

Below is some information on paint. BMW will start using the Ceramiclear in 2006 or in 2007.

The 3 dominant paint systems being used are

1. 2-component Melamine-polyol
2. 2-component polyurethane (isocyanate-polyol)
3. Ceramiclear which is polyurethane plus fumed silica for increased scratch resistance.

[Buellwinkle]

Meguiars makes dozens of different waxes, some good, some not so good, some have more depth, some had more reflectivity, some have more endurance, some have color enhancing and filling capabilities, some bead, some sheet water, which one did they use? Also, what criteria did they use to determine the amount of wax remaining? And what was their testing criteria, were both exposed to sun, indoors, outdoors, rain, etc. Were both applied correctly?

Testing is always skewed to make a manufacturers product look good. Also, marketing is done to distract you from reality and make their product look good. As an example, I had the pleasure of working for a company that manufactured disk drives. They did benchmarks that showed their products was the fastest but so did the competitors, if they are all true lab test, then who's lying? Nobody, they all are fastest under specific circumstance and the marketing brochure is not going to tell you about the 99 failures, just the one sucess. So it's possible for one wax to work better under certain circumstances and not others. For example, what if one wax had more UV protection and stood the test of time in the sun but water broke it down quicker, you could do a test to show that in a water test the better product in the sun was poo and visa versa for the other vendor. But maybe I want the product that's better in the sun in So Cal, and maybe someone in London wants the product that holds up better in rain.

[Mike@ModBargains]

Whatever wax you choose, feel free to check out our waxing how-to guide for helpful hints on how to get the best shine out of any wax you purchase.

http://www.modbargains.com/showpages.asp?pid=1102[:)]

[SalvageTitle]

I have been using menzerna's full molecular jacket... this is truly the greatest wax on the market. I would highly advise polishing w/ a buffer before applying the wax, your hard work will be rewarded.

read up on the stuff:

http://www.properautocare.com/menzernafmj.html

[John_L]

SalvageTitle - 9/12/2005 4:33 AM

I have been using menzerna's full molecular jacket... this is truly the greatest wax on the market. I would highly advise polishing w/ a buffer before applying the wax, your hard work will be rewarded.

read up on the stuff:

http://www.properautocare.com/menzernafmj.html

Photos of your ride with Menzerna FMJ?

[SalvageTitle]

John_L - 9/12/2005 8:50 AM

Photos of your ride with Menzerna FMJ?

keep in mind this is at 7pm this evening and i haven't washed the car since friday when I cut, polished, and waxed the car. I really need to take pictures when it's brighter out to show how really awesome this wax is... this paint is 31 years old and it looks this good.

[Mike@ModBargains]

Menzerna FMJ is definitely a great product.

[SalvageTitle]

i forgot to add that if you buy the FMJ, invest a little more in the acrylic shield... makes the wax last a lot longer. dust literally does not stick to your car with the stuff and water does not stick at all, runs right off.