Mr. T

I too use meguirs products. Have used Gold class, the shine was very good. I would recomend their newest wax, NXT tech wax. My car looked better then when I drove it off the lot.

tehCOW

i swear by klasse AIO and SG

goes on and off like butter, a wet shine, cleans paint, etc... can do my tsx in 15 minutes or less

Homer2

The nsx test was fairly unbiased . . the GURU report done last year tested 46 products - very unbiased and accepted as the most extensive multi-brand testing done in many years . . guess what came first - head and shoulders . . . go ahead
Oh, also - the poster who mentioned doing his car in 30 minutes with somethign else cause it was easier than Zaino - i do my cars in 30 minutes - and they are likely larger than yours. Anyways, I dont want to seem biased - there are lots of good products out there that can be had cheaply, or applied quickly - but the greatest impact on a good looking TSX would be proper prep work . . . so many people dont do the ground work and while they may be pleased with the results from something in the middle of the scale, they could be blown awau with something truly better . ..

MarkPinTx

I went to Autozone to buy some off-the-shelf stuff. Zaino sounds like too much work.

They didnt have the NXT or whatever, but had Gold Class. Used it. Goes on/off easy enough. Shine is fine, car is only a week old, so nothing really to tell. Did it for protection.

What do you guys think of Meg Gold Class?

Lung Fu Mo Shi

I don't see how Zaino is too much work...it's the same as anything else.

I wash, mix ZFX and Z-2...apply, wait 30 min or so, wipe off, then use a quick detailer (Z-6) for some extra shine.

nuke

I just tried Meguire Gold Class on Saturday. Went on fine and looks great. I normally wax 2-3 times each year and want something that goes on quickly.

KingV

I use the Zaino system as well, because I feel it's a superior product. But it's definitely one of, if not the most, time-consuming protectants to apply. 1Z Glanz Wax for instance, is literally wipe on wipe off, I used it for a couple of months and could literally do the entire car in under 20 minutes, with no wait. I could then top with a high quality carnauba and be completely done in under an hour. I'm not convinced it provides the same level of protection Zaino does however.

Meguiar's NXT tech wax is also supposedly easy to apply.

KingV

If you're waxing that often, I'd really recommend a polymer protectant. 4-6 months is truly testing the limits of protection for a carnauba wax. If you're going to use Carnaubas I'd say rewax somewhere between every month and every 3 months. Meguiar's NXT tech wax is supposedly easy and quick to apply and should provide much longer lasting protection than Gold Class. Ditto for Klasse All-in-one and Sealant Glaze

MarkPinTx

Thanks for the input. So Gold Class is mostly carnauba? I had hoped to find something more synthetic for length of protection. However, it was easy enough on and off and the TSX is small enough (I have had a string of LARGE vehicies) that I wont mind doing it more often (at least for a while).

What is the tipoff? Beading?

KingV

The rule of thumb that I have heard is that the protection from a conventional wax just about halves ever month, as it melts off, comes off via washes, etc. Beading is probably the tip off, but for me personally, I have trouble telling when my car's beading is getting bad esp with a carnauba as I wash my car so often I have a difficult time saying "Oh, it doesn't bead as much as Saturday". Some carnauba waxes seem to last better than others, I've never used Gold Class so I can't comment on that product specifically. I will say that I like what I've seen of my roommates car with Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax, even with zero prep. According to him it was easy to use, as well as being fairly cheap at 15 bucks or so for a large bottle. If you really want to do your car every 6 months, that product should last plenty long for you. I'd expect it to be about as durable as Zaino.

Klasse all in one is similar in durability to Zaino and is real easy to apply. I've never used it myself, however, I'm sure somebody on this board has used it or uses it regularly. If you're not obsessive about detailing your car monthly, I'd say either of these products should satisfy.

If you're really interested in detailing stuff, I'd check out www.autopia.org, there's a lot of knowledgable people on there, much more knowledgable than me anyway (also a couple not so knowledgable). Regardless it's a great resource.

Homer2

You have me terribly confused. First the above quote about it being a time consuming product,and the fact that you have used it? That is weird - - because unless you are using it wrong, like doing too many steps (unnecessary steps) - then what is making it time consuming . . . can i run throiugh it with you ?

Wash the car . . . gotta do it anyways.
Dry the car . . . gotta do it anyways.
Apply 1/2 ounce of Zaino polish (z2 or z5) on car - 10 minutes? (gotta apply something)
Let it dry (have to do that also)
Wipe it off (no buffer, just a soft towel or microfibre, and my daughter can do this it is so easy to wipe) -

Help me - what are the extra time consuming steps you mention? Are you claying the car everytime? Are you doing extra Z6 detail spray inbetween drying and applying (if so, thats an extra 5 minutes tops). Are you spraying Z6 after the polish has been wiped off?. Thats en extra 5 minutes - and many waxers do this also, so its hardly an extra zaino step.

So, maybe we can lighten your load here . . are you counting the 60-90 seconds of shaking the ZFX and polish combo (if you went that route)?

Did someone instruct you wrong in the first place. I know some people get confused and apply a coat of Z1 every time they put polish on . . . and that is not required at all. Just bad instructions that dont tell the user clearly when and when not to . . .

MarkPinTx

Ok Homer2, i'll bite. Maybe I've been reading too man Autopian ubergeekguru posts. But it seems you zainophiles routinely apply multiple steps of multiple products. With lenghty drying times in between.

Help us out with a lazy-man's zaino application. Obviously, I'm not totally lazy, but I'm not willing to make it a 12-36 hour process.

Thanks.

KingV

Here's my steps, and by time consuming I just mean more time-consuming than other products I've used, but a lot of this has to do with the steps I use.

Wash..
Dry..
Z6 gloss enhancer
Z2 or Z5 + Zfx
wait to dry
wipe off
Z6
Z2 or Z5
wait to dry
wipe off
Z6
Z2 or Z5
wait to dry
wipe off

Granted, it's only time consuming for me because 1) I wait the specificied 30 minutes for each coat and 2) I do three coats in a day whenever I use it. Other products I've used, mainly Glanz Wax or P21S Concours Carnauba I can do the whole car in the time it takes to wait between coats, because they don't really layer. However, I don't think that the products are as durable, and the extra time spent on layering Zaino and following directions to the letter is worth it to me.

Homer2

Ah, I see . .that is what I was hoping you would say. I hate it when folks do it wrong and then bitch

Sure, thats a lot of steps . . . and only needed if you want to. One day, doing exactly those steps and then the rest of the year goes like this (cause three coats last all year, thats why)

wash
dry
Z6 gloss spray . . . .
drive

If it dont get any easier than that - then maybe you shouldnt own a car? hehehe

Yes, many users apply more coats - because each one enhances the view and protection etc . .unlike traditional waxes where each layer takes the other one off, because wax cant layer well (yes, a few do a decent job, but basically they dont)

Hope that helps, I wasnt trying to attack KingV, just pointing out something that looked weird . . .

Cheers

KingV

Homer2 I have a a zaino related question, if a need arises to strip the Zaino off down to the clear coat, what products will do that? The reason I ask is that I recently had a mishap with some paint overspray over about 3/4 of my car, I removed 99% of it via clay (some small spots were extremely stubborn), then repolished, re zainoed to repair the micromarring from the agressive claying. It seemed like the claying, light polishing, and frequent dawn waxing trying to get all this stuff up didn't even really touch the zaino, it was a week long project at least, and every time it was the next day I was going to work on it, which started with a car wash, the polished/clayed areas beaded just as well as the pristine areas. I'm just curious what products I could use to completely strip Zaino if a need ever arose to.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

You could probably just use a few washed with Dawn dish soap.

EDIT: I just send this question to the info-line at Zaino. I need to know the same thing so I can attack the hard water deposits.

KingV

During the detail I probably did 5 or 6 dawn washes over the course of that wek. Didn't touch the Zaino, as far as I could tell. Still beaded like crazy every time water touched it. I expect maybe over time Dawn washes will hurt the Zaino, but not sure that it's truly feasible to dawn wash your car 20 times (not sure how many it would actually take) to remove three coats of zaino.

iVTECHokie

I'm not a Zaino guy (more a Blitz Wax guy) but have been leaning more toward Zaino the more research I do on the product. My questions to the Zaino community and KingV are:

1. Was the car protected with Zaino when the overspray incident occured?

2. Assuming the answer to #1 is YES. Wouldn't the Zaino protect the paint and if it did, will removing the Zaino remove the overspray with it?

I ask the above because it sounds like this stuff is indestructible. I mean, still beading after numerous Dawn washes and claying sessions!?! No carauba wax is going to stand up to that treatment.

KingV - I hope the overspray is just sitting on a layer of Zaino and that the removal process of Zaino (whatever it is) will take care of your problem. Good Luck!

KingV

I did a full detail ~1 week before the incident, topped with 3 coats of Zaino. Presumably, stripping the Zaino will strip off the overspray. I got pretty much almost all of it off via clay and said "screw it", it's good enough until the next full detail (it's good enough that you can't tell from over 2 feet away). I thought removing the zaino would work too, and frankly, still think it would. I just... don't know how to strip the Zaino. I'm also not too inclined to do it right now as I've put way too much time into detailing the car in the last month already.

Homer2

Hi - forgive the layout of this reply - my enter key is screwed. OK, Dawn will not remove zaino. Rubbing alcohol does a great job and abrasives like swirl removers (3M etc, stuff with abrasion power). Claying will also do it, but thats a tough one to measure, as more rubbing on one area will have a different impact than other areas. Use the abrasives buy hand if you are weary of machining it . . . i hope that explains the answer. I was a bit confused by the word "polished" - as that normanlly means abrasive . . . and yes - we arent quite indestructable - but very determined to stay on the paint

Mokos23

i tried zymol, gold class, and nufinish and it still doesn't bring out a great shine in my folks Silver MDX. i guess there isn't any wax that can bring out reflective shines on a silver car?

but, i sometimes draw too much attention from others in the parking lot when i used the zymol and gold class in the carbon gray TSX.

Homer2

hmmm - silver you say . . . check some of the pics in this thread out . . you might find what you are looking for . ..

http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1

Santa Rosa Steve

NXT.

Try it!

Santa Rosa Steve

KingV

Definitely used abrasives, applied by Porter Cable. I used Einszett Metallic Paint polish and Paint Polish on one side of the hood. No discernible difference in beading after a week or so. I believe Metallic PP has some kind of protectant in it as well though, so maybe that was causing the beading. Or... maybe I just needed to polish more deeply to actually abrade through 3 coats of Zaino. 1Z MPP and PP are not incredibly abrasive.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

Zaino and Meguiars NXT are damn good products.

Both bring out tremendous shine and last a fairly long time. I think that that point it comes down to availablility, price, and ease of use.

iVTECHokie

All of the Zaino folks discuss the yearly Dawn, Clay, 3 layers of Zaino ritual. My question is...

If you have used Dawn the first time and removed all the wax and only used Zaino from that point on, do you really need to Dawn the car ever again?

Based on answers to my last post in this thread, it doesn't sound like Dawn would do much of anything anyway.

It seems logical that after the very first Dawn wash, every wash after that could be done with Z-7 as long as you only use Z2/Z5/Z6 on your car. And of course a yearly claying.

Thanks in advance!

KJLite

i use turtle wax carnuaba. its inexpensive and shines great.

i'll use meguiar's detail spray in between wax coats.

the great thing about carnuaba, the more coats, the better the shine and protection.

C-Zero

I don't agree by putting more than one coat of the same wax, it does'nt work that way.

I've been doing detailing for years, and to get a sema show car shine ( You're probably like how do they do that) no swurl mark in site?
You do it in this order : Wash -> cleaner wax -> polish -> clear coat wax (I.E. Gold Class)
Foam pads + DA polisher
Note : Just wipe off foam pad never wash them, AND NEVER USE THE SAME PAD.

tony4311

the layers aren't for the wax for the most part. Most of the time the layers are of sealant and protestant then the wax goes on top of all that.

sjavera

I used the Meguiars NXT wax today ... wow very impressed. Easy to apply and take off. Not sure how long it will last yet but very impressed.

MarkPinTx

Rats. I had intended to get the NXT, but they were out of it. So I got gold class instead. It goes on easily, shines well, but durability is supposedly an issue. Six weeks at most?

Is the NXT a "polymer" wax like zaino, klasse, etc? Or more like gold class, just better?

Thanks.

KingV

YEs, NXT is a polymer based protectant.

TonyFresh

NXT ALL THE WAY..before Gold Class

Mokos23

well, thanks for all the help in car wax.

now, i wanted to know how many times a month do you wax your TSX's?

the most i've waxed is 3 times a month.

i know i really want to bring out the shine in the TSX, but also i wanted to get a wax that repels water quickly like when there are heavy downpoars, i don't have to bother wiping and drying the car too much anymore. any type of wax that does this really well?

also, have u guys seen the commercial for that Mr. Clean auto wax dry thing, just wondered if anyone on here has tried that and what you think of it.

Corbon91

I also use Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax. Love it!

txathlete

I zymoled my car yesterday and it looks pretty slick. But it didn't take some scratch/swirl marks on my NBP TSX like the bottle said. I think I need some touch up paint and some clear coat. Like someone said on a post: if you ask 5 people what is the best wax, you'll get 5 different answers. Zaino seems like the most popular. I wanna try it but it's friggin expensive to get zfx, z1, z2, z5, and z6, plus sounds like it's a three day process. Anyone try Mother's waxes and polishes? Some guy at Pep Boys said that turtle wax was good. His basis is that it's been around for such a long time that they must be doing something right. Anyone try it? How does carnuba car wax compare to zaino in terms of appearance?

Anyone accidentally clean their car paint with windex? I did, ooops. It made the NBP paint job look like glass. But I read that the ammonia in windex will mess up the paint. I didn't notice any problems with the paint at all. Anyhoot, I washed my coche and zymoled it.

majormojo

Dude, that sounds painful.

txathlete

Dang Mang, I meant coche as in car. Oh well, who doesn't like shiny balls? lol

floridaowner

pinnacle liquid wax- they are the top brand -but only can buy online, it is well worth spending the extra few dollars rather than buying the same stuff people buy for their ten year old cars. you get several usages out of there wax so it comes to like three or four dollars per wax job.
www.pinnaclewax.com

TheDuke

If you are having problems with swirls and scratches; try using a clay bar BEFORE you try covering it with touchup paint. If you strip the existing wax, (use Dawn dishwashing soap to strip the wax) and then use a clay bar with it's cleanser; it should clean the paint surface to a smooth finish. Then rewax the entire area.