My experiences with Zaino, Meguiar’s NXT & Turtle Wax Ice on my 2010 Camaro

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My experiences with Zaino, Meguiar’s NXT & Turtle Wax Ice on my 2010 Camaro

Thought it might be useful to other 2010 camaro owners to share my experiences waxing/polishing my car and my personal thoughts, opinions and comparisons of the following three products:
Zaino Z-2 PRO w/ZFX Accelerator
Meguiar’s NXT 2.0 Tech Wax
Turtle Wax ICE Liquid Polish

I also happened to use the following three quick detailing sprays in between waxes and will give some thoughts about these as well:
Z-8 Grand Finale Spray Seal
Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer
Black Magic Wet Shine Spray Detailer (this is apparently no longer available, but I’ve still got some left)

Maybe you’ll agree or disagree, but hopefully you’ll suggest other products I might try that address my highly opinionated pros/cons of each of the three waxes I’ve used.

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Baseline:
I got my 2010 Camaro 2LT/RS right on Father’s Day Jun 21, 2009. I specifically asked the dealer not to do his “clearcoat wax special” whatever, and only to wash the car. I wanted to apply the first coat of wax on my car, and mostly, I didn’t want to be charged $400+ for such nonsense.

My car is an Inferno Orange Metallic 2010 camaro with the manufacturer installed Cyber Grey Metallic stripes. I’ve always waxed/cleaned the car and the stripes at the same time using the same materials, so I’ve got a good idea of what works for me on the “dark” CGM versus the “bright” IOM. I live in Florida, where I would say on average it rains maybe once a week, and sometimes a lot more, sometimes a lot less.

I have pretty much waxed the car every two weeks, and have washed the car about once every two months. The car is my daily drive, and is parked outside my house and not in a garage. That combined with the mostly frequent rain is a large part why I am constantly waxing my car. I feel every two weeks is pretty frequent, and maybe even too frequent, but I am really in love with my car.
My opinions are based on an almost 8 month span of this cycle. Infrequently, between waxing, I’ve wiped down various parts of my car with one of my three detailers and/or washed off bird poop with soap (agh! palmolive dishwashing soap) and water. When I have washed my car, it was always with palmolive and always followed immediately by handdrying and waxing and then detailing spray.
 
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Methods:
No I’ve not yet EVER clay barred my car. It’s still silky smooth to the touch, and if any crud appears on the car, I tend to wash it off pretty well. Maybe I should have clay barred it when I first received it from the dealer, but the first thing I did was drive it home and wash and wax it. My method for all three products was to
Apply the wax/polish pretty thin to the entire car, section by section, using terrycloth AND/OR microfiber towel
(hood, front bumber, right front, left front, left door, left back, right door, right back, back bumber and trunk lid – roof was whenever I felt like it)
Wait for it to settle/dry
Which was pretty easy for me, cause it takes a long time to clean them there tire mags and wheels and that’s what I did after applying the wax
Then buff off the wax/polish, section by section in the order I applied it, using ONLY a pair of micro-fiber towels

Finally, I go over the whole car pretty quickly with one of the three detailing sprays (not necessarily the same detailer product as the wax/polish I was using – more on that later)
And just for completeness, Windex’ing the windows at the end of everything.

The first, say maybe two months or so, I used Z-2 Pro, with their Zfx additive, and then followed it up with their Z-8 Grand Finale spray. The first month, (which is actually two times) I did “two cycles” of wax, where I used the Z-2 Pro with the additive, and then an hour or so later redid another coat of Z-2 w/Additive, hopefully just like the instructions at http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...de=APPLICATION
To be honest, I only did the “multiple cycles” the first month. After that, I would just use Z-2 Pro with the additive and only a “single coat/cycle” . And this is exactly how I used NXT and Ice as well. The next month I used Z-2 Pro and then moved on to NXT. I used NXT exclusively for about the next 3-4 months, and then used ICE for the last 2-3 months.

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Results/Opinions [All are MY OPINION, your mileage may vary]:

I’ll start with my “current” favorite. Meguiar’s NXT 2.0.

Pros: It goes on Very easy, dries/settles relatively quickly, and comes off REALLY EASY. It leaves what I feel is the most reflective shine, and really pops, whether or not I follow it up with one of the “quick” detailing sprays. It is the “least effort” of the waxing, removing products, and gives the “brightest” shine all by itself. It also does an EXCELLENT job of removing water spots (I guess where I neglected to dry properly).

Cons: It tends to leave a white powdery residue. While this is sort of a plus because it’s easy to tell when you are done buffing because you have removed all the “powder”, it’s a pain around cracks and the stripes, because you have to remove the powder using more than just a micro-fiber towel, like my fingernail on the creases. If you have stripes, you should understand exactly what I mean. Also, sad to say, this product LASTS THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME. Also, this tends to show swirls pretty easy, with no way of “buffing” them out. That’s where I tend to use the quick detailing sprays, even though I don’t feel like I should have to because of the decent “shine”. I have to frequently “touch detail” spots of my car with detailing spray after a few days, and dirt seems to “stick” a little more, and water “stops beading” a little earlier than the other two products. The Price is Right (around $16 at my auto store), and it’s combination of ease to apply/remove combined with it’s best shine even without quick detailing spray makes it my current favorite. I just wished it lasted a little longer relative to the other two products I use with less swirls.

My current “middle ground”: Turtle Ice Polish

Pros: This stuff goes on SUPER EASY. It’s a really “greasy” type of liquid polish that shows real well when you apply it so you don’t miss any spots. It leaves a little “deeper” shine than the NXT, and definitely lasts a little longer. Water tends to bead a little longer after waxing with this polish. Swirls are virtually non-existant, no matter how much effort (or lack therof) I use to remove the polish. With the addition of a “quick detailing spray”, I get the “pop” of NXT, and a little deeper shine as well. Also, It doesn’t powder or gunk up at seams or at the stripe creases.

Cons: This stuff can be a pain to remove. You definitely have to use a LOT more elbow grease than NXT, and I’d say the effort to remove is about 1.5 to 2x as difficult as removing NXT. Also, it absolutely SUCKS at removing water spots. You better remove the water spots first, or use a lot of detailing spray afterwords. And like I said before, it does leave a “deeper” shine than NXT but REQUIRES a detailing spray to get the “pop” that NXT gives.

My least favorite: Zaino ZX-2

Pros: By far, by far, the DEEPEST and longest lasting shine/wax of the three. When combined with their Z-8 Grand Finale spray, you get a nice “pop” as well. You definitely get a “deeper” result, and it looks like your gloss is an “inch” thick after ZX-2. (slight exaggeration)

Cons: This stuff takes A LOT OF EFFORT. The “multiple coat” cycle thing is a case of diminishing returns. It leaves lots of swirls and not so good at removing water spots. Also, without the additive, it takes a LONG time to settle and dry before you can remove it. Using it without the additive is “waxing suicide”. I do admit, it lasts the longest and gives the deepest shine. But for someone like me who WANTS to make sure his car always looks like it was just waxed, and enjoys waxing his car every two weeks, this product is just WAY too much work for me. It has the worst of NXT (leaves powdery residue) and the worst of ICE (lots of elbow grease to remove). It’s time consuming to remove. Would I still use it over normal turtle wax, Armor All or any other Meg wax? Absolutely. It’s good stuff, that’s for sure.

Now for some quick asides for the detailing sprays, and things I “keep learning not to do”.
1) NEVER wax a dirty car. Aside from the dirt actually scratching your car, it makes it a real pain to remove the wax AND the dirt.
2) Try and remove water spots BEFORE waxing. Sometimes, I am tempted to just “wax” the water spots out, and NXT does it the best, but more often than not, it’s easier to clean/detail them out before waxing
3) It WILL rain 50% or more of the time the day after you wax. Don’t live in Florida, the weather is IMPOSSIBLE to predict.
4) Stay away from Meguiar’s “Ultimate Quick Wax”. This isn’t a detailer, and there is NOTHING quick about removing this wax. It doesn’t leave a great shine, and it’s a pain to remove.
5) Black Magic Wet Shine Spray Detailer (and I suspect most others) is a fine “in-between” wax solution for cleaning/shining your car. Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer is even better, and I use it most of the time. Z-8 Grand Finale is SPECTACULAR in every way. Great shine, removes water spots and is really handy and easy to use. Too bad it still costs $20 a bottle. Someone recommend me something as good as this stuff, and I’ll try it immediately. I’ll also let you know if it’s as good or not.

In conclusion, here’s my chart:
(It’s hard to explain the difference between deep and pop. Both are highly “reflective”, it’s just deep is my interpretation of how “thick” the shine appears, and pop is sort of how “shiny” the shine appears.)

Product Ease of Use Deep Pop Cost My Rank
NXT- 10- 7- 9- $17- 1st
ICE- 7- 9- 7- $16- 2nd
ZX-2+add- 4- 10- 5- $14+19- 3rd

The use of quick detailing spray evens out the field for all three products, putting all of them at nearly the same pop ratio (for me). So for finished results including detailing, ZX-2 ranks out on top, followed by ICE and NXT. Part of the reason of this post was also to factor in “effort”. When I factor in “effort”, since I wax my car every two weeks, NXT currently comes out on top for me.

Hope this was helpful,
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[ddunerider]

:bangdesk: I agree.

[Sherwood SS]

Great info, thanks for the post. I have been wanting to try NXT for my next wax, and now I will for sure give it a try.

[drtwo]

Excellent feedback! Very appreciated!

[2LTRS]

I won't touch Zaino products anymore because the process is to involved for what works for me. For over the counter products I like the NXT 2.0 as well.. Its super easy to use for a quick wax. However I longed for more than just a quick wax product, so I've migrated to the Adam's world.. Professional detailing grade products, not much more price wise than OTC products, and ease of use compared to other professional products.

Great write up!

[scythezo6]

I havent used any of the above listed waxes. I won't use zaino because I just don't have that kind of time. But I have had great results with Meguiar's gold class wax. This stuff goes on real easy with a polisher and comes off just as easy. Like with most waxes you have to be careful around panel edges (pesky fender/fron facia border or on the mirror) so you're not cleaning dried wax the next day. I use a random orbital polisher to apply the wax to the horizontal surfaces in a front-to-back sweeping motion follwed by an opposite sweeping motion (imagine making a checker board pattern). Same with the vertical panels then do the tough spots by hand, let dry meanwhile wiping down rims and shining tires. Then buff off the wax with the polisher in opposing sweeps. I'll go over the whole car with Meguiar's quik detailer using a very light mist wiping in straight lines. My car comes out very very nice this way and its relatively easy to and takes about 30-40 min with the polisher. The shine and wax last for a good while too and I still get great beading weeks after using it on my DD.

Thanks for the info. Its always good to get this info to help others choose waxing methods and products.

[HeavyD]

Wow, great review! Thanks for all your information! That was perfect!

[2010 SSRS]

Nice

[garcmol]

Good comparison, but I can tell you that the products you are using are not creating the swirls (as you mentioned with Zaino) on your paint. That mostly has to do with what you use to wash, dry, buff or polish the car with (your towels/cloths, etc). Your water spots will not go away with wax. The best you can hope for is covering them up, but even that is short lived.

If you wax every two weeks and wash once every two months, I assume you're using some kind of waterless wash or detail spray in between? This method seems backward to me because I do the opposite with some exception. Wash weekly / wax monthly (or more).

My friend, if you get into claying your car, I guarantee you will see a "pop" in the finish like you've never seen! Even with using the products you mentioned, you will see a finish that will amaze you. Put your hand in a freezer bag and lightly move your hand over your paint. If you've never clayed your car before you WILL feel all those tiny bumps. Hell, you'll probably be able to hear it! Clay will remove that and leave it silky smooth. This method is best tested right after you wash the car. Don't do it on a dirty car, lol, defeats the purpose and you could scratch it.

Again, good write-up and comparison. I'm not gonna pitch what I use or try to push another product. I just know that with a couple more steps you could really make your car stand out. I love how IOM stands out! Just my .02

[drtwo]

I fear that the zaino-ites will be in here soon and won't stop tormenting you...

Again, I love your writeup!

[Moose]

Originally Posted by drtwo

I fear that the zaino-ites will be in here soon and won't stop tormenting you...!

No...that won't be happening.

If they do, and it leads to arguments, etc., we'll deal with that when we cross that bridge.

As you all know by now, I'm what you call a "zaino-ite", and while I agree with some comments, and disagree with others, "to each their own".

Back on topic, thanks for the write-up.

[clg_98ta]

If you're applying a coat of wax every 2 weeks, you're going to have quite a buildup before long. I think thats way too often.

I used to use wax on my cars years ago, applying it no more than 2 times a year. In the last 10 years or so, I've only used polish (like Zaino), and probably apply it 2-3 times a year. When I do apply wax or polish, I give it a very through wash and allow it to completely dry before starting.

Between polishing, I'll wash the car pretty much whenever it gets dirty. The shine is still there.

The thing I like about Zaino is that you can apply multiple coats, after only a couple hours drying time. It always amazes me how much glassier it gets after each coat.

[rico-2SS]

Very good write up
I have been using the Zanio and may try some others
This was great and I actually got a bottle of Meg. Det. Spray for Xmas. Nice to hear that mixing products didn't hurt it in any way.

[DangerZL1]

I haven't used Zaino in a long time, but I've never used another polish that was as easy to remove as Zaino. I also never noticed any powdery residue. However, I recommend NXT to anybody who asks, because you can purchase it almost anywhere and it's so easy to use and remove.