What does everyone consider to be the best car care products?, maguires, autoglym P21S. best wax for colour ie carnauba wax or a synthetic polymer like NXT?. How often should your car be washed/ polished / clay barred? If I decide to go for a black car I want to know exactly what I am letting myself in for.

Everyone has their own preferences ;

Mine are predominantly Swissol.

I use a multiclean from Jantastic - gets rid of the gunk.

Then I was with Zymol wash (the green one that smells of coconut). I apply a coat of Swissol Saphir or Shield to the leading edges (front of bonnet, lights, bumper, front wings, door mirrors, A pillars, the front of the roof in front of the sunroof and the lower half of the doors).

I usually wax every third wash. I use either Swissol Saphir or Shield.

Every 2-3 months I use the Swissol cleanser and then re-wax. I also use Swissol Pneu on the tyres.

Once a year I clay bar, usually March time.

May seem excessive waxing every third wash, but for me that is every 6k miles :(

I've used maguires 3 step was and wax. I found it to be very good and gave a great finish. I just give it a quick wash and the top coat wax is still there to protect the body work.

pH neutral detergent for washing. Carnauba wax, 'cause its softer, has less 'cutting' effect on the paint and you can build up a deep shine by overlayering.

'Poorboy's' is a good, cheap brand and their 'World Wheel Sealant' is a good high-temp coating for the alloys.

John.

I use autoglym for most with some megs goods i.e. hot rimz, tyre dressing, polishing pads etc.

I use a product called Harley Wax which a chap brings into the UK from the States..this can be found on Ebay or @ woodsautomotive.co.uk and is made solely from 'Grade 1' yellow Carnauba wax so it contains no abrasives etc..this is absolutely amazing stuff!...and then go over that with Turtle Wax's Gloss Guard this is a paint sealant which makes the water bead for a good few months...having owned several Black cars before i can vouch for this combination....but as has been mentioned cleaning products are a deeply personal thing!

Chris:thumbup:

After doing extensive research on the net and taking into account costs of the products, I know only use Meguiars products.

They are reasonably priced, instructions on their website are spot on (including their recommendations) and applications of their products I find are easy to apply.

In short, if you are just a normal bloke wanting a good finish on their car, Meguiars products are hard to beat.

Whatever you do though, throw away that sponge that you are used to using and get soft woollen mit they recommend, what a difference it makes.

I have used their body scrub first followed by cleaner wax, it was a doddle to use and the wax smells lovely as a bonus. (don't smell the body scrub- it's awful).

I know use their NXT products, top marks.

Their endurance gel for the tyres is also first class.

If you know of anyone visiting the states ask them to but if for you, as what we pay in pounds they pay the same in dollars - therefore nearly half price.

Give it a try and you wont be disappointed, you will buy your first Meguiars product and then you will go back for more--- I did.

Haven't bothered using them yet but got Meguiars Shampoo and Zymol Creame Wax at a good price. Will have a go once the weather picks up a bit.

I have used AutoGlym for pretty much everything for some time. However, having heard how good Meguiars is I am going to give it a try once my AutoGlym has run out. Just got my first Meguiars product the other day; which was the leather cleaner/conditioner but I have not tried it yet.

I used to only use Auto Glym but got steadily more and more disheartened with it as time went by, I dont think they've updated any of there products over the years, they still give good results but require so much effort to use!!

Having had a quick go with a mates meguires stuff on his car I have fully kitted myself out with it, but haven't used it yet (it's too cold - i'm such a girl) the results are much better than Auto Glym and its so much easier to use.

I've bought the Clay Bar kit, The NXT Wash, the Spray on Wax etc etc.

AutoGlym car shampoo, and Swissol Saphir wax every 3/4/5 washes (usually wash every 2nd or 3rd week)

I use Meguiars NXT Car Wash and Swissol Wax every third wash. The Swissol is FANTASTIC but I'm not sure its worth £39.95 a tub. I'm going to try NXT wax next its less than 1/2 the price. I might try Gloss Guard too over the wax

When I do a full on session I use

1. Meguires clay bar

2. Zymol HD Cleanse

3. Zymol Glaze (Vintage in summer & Destiny in winter)

4. Top up with Zymol Field Glaze

I used to wash with Zymol Auto Bathe but I'm using the cheaper Zymol Autowash now with similar results.

Tyres - Meguires endurance gel

Worth the money - hell NO but it sure lasts a long time (3 years to date and I've used only a third of my waxes) and the results are fantastic!

Personally I use Mer.

Its easy to put a capful of the polish in with the wash to get that wax top up, and the wax itself can be applied to a wet car and is relatively to wipe off

Just curious, but why do people like the Meguiars stuff so much, is it particularly easy to use?

I got a Meguires bucket for Xmas with wash, wax, tyre dressing etc in it. The wash as very good indeed, doesnt dry streaky and its really easy to leather off afterwards.

Polish is pretty good aswell and the tyre dressing is the best ive used so far. Little foam applicator pads make putting the polish on a doddle.

Nice and shiney using Meguires...

Just curious, but why do people like the Meguiars stuff so much, is it particularly easy to use

Because its damned good and good value for money.

Most of the "good" waxes give similar results. Some seem expensive on initial purchase (eg my Swissol was £35) but last a long time (use mine on 2 cars which I wax regularly and I've had it 18 months). Waxes on the whole are easy on / easy off as long as they have the canubba wax in them (the more of it there is, the easier it is to take off).

It's a personal choice thing as I said at the beginning.....

Thanks folks for that, like I said used the maguires gold shampoo but tended to use mer polish and noticed swirl marks, will give either nxt or caranuba wax a go after washing next, will also get the scratch x for any probs in future!

Lots of info in the guides section here www.polishedbliss.co.uk

Do Swissol still do detailing?

I forget the guys name but he used to come on here and would come and tell you how to use all of the Swissol products etc on your own car?

Thanks folks for that, like I said used the maguires gold shampoo but tended to use mer polish and noticed swirl marks, will give either nxt or caranuba wax a go after washing next, will also get the scratch x for any probs in future!

Mer claims it is caranuba wax based on the bottle I have :S

i use meguires soft wash sampoo found it suds well and is at a good price,

The paint work is meg tech wax bottle, found it the best and real easy too apply with the pad provided but i dont recommend the top up wax spray found it takes nearly as long with less brill results,

i use megs microfibre cloth to buff off with great results every time,

Tyres is meg tyre gel definitly the best ever used and the longest lasting.

try Knightsbrooke Autodesign - knightsbrooke.co.uk. They sell Harly wax cheaper than anyone in the uk and its better than p21s. They also sell clay bars and einszett products, which ive been reading about and get better recomendations than meguiars!

i've just done mine with a diamondbrite kit off ebay. 2 stage: 1 oily one to remove crap (i t-cutted any scratches out first) then a second sealant to go on afterwards. bonus is stage 1 will also clean your plastic trim, and stage 2 can be applied over plastic trim as well as your paint so you don't get polish marks. the paint now looks like glass, it's excellent and very easy indeed to apply.

can't see me going back to a polish now - whole kit including scotchgard type stuff for the seats was under 20 quid on ebay...