Thread: Car wash soap
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Old 05-03-2005, 07:24 AM   #10 (permalink)
marlinspike
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Car: 1985 Mercedes-Benz 380SE 5.7
Join Date: May 2005
Member Number: 2207
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Posts: 2,500
A lot of people with newish cars really like Meguiar's, but the test of car care products IMHO is to see how good they can make a crap car look. After 20 years as a daily driver, spending the past 11 years of those 20 ousted from the garage, and with my being too young to take care of the car until just a few years ago, the paint on my 1985 MB looks pretty bad (right now it is in for collision repair, the front half is getting some new panels and a paint job, but since I don't have much money right now - poor college student - the rear half is just getting some wet sanding, but the front was bad enough that even wet sanding wouldn't have brought it back). So my car wouldn't look good with any of the things I could buy at an autoparts store, Meguiar's included. So I started ordering stuff and here is what I've found:

Best car shampoo: Sonax gloss shampoo, but it's no longer legal in this country. The second best is P21S bodywork conditioning shampoo (NOT the p21s total auto wash...that's a poorly translated product sometimes marketed as a car wash but in fact it's real purpose is to strip wax off black rubber and to prep a surface to be painted)

Best wax: Best gloss comes from P21S carnuba wax. It's also the easiest to apply and remove product ever. Sadly, if you park outside you'll have to wax every month (but indoors it will last 6 months). If you need better longevity One Grand Blitz Wax is the second best I've found, but P21S is WAY ahead in the depth of shine department. (I have yet to try the pinnacle stuff and griot's garage stuff though)

Best pre-wax paint cleaner: P21S gloss enhancing paintwork cleanser. This is just a cleaner. This is not for removing swirl marks or anything like that

Best wheel cleaner: P21S, they make two, one gel is for caked on stuff, the other more liquidy is for not-caked on stuff. (I have yet to try the griot's garage stuff though)

These products made my paint which was so bad that guys I know who do bodywork told me to experiment with it "because it's not like it could get any worse" look like this
http://Davidson.smugmug.com/gallery/431057/1/17306654
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