I know you can't really go wrong with Meguiars or Mother's, but I was curious if anyone had any experience with the products that autogeek.net sells? I had never heard of Wolfgang, Pinnacle, or DP before.

 

I recently switch over to Pinnacle products that I got from Autogeek. Now, when I ordered this stuff you should know that I had just received another order of Zaino products a few weeks prior to placing this order. After using the Pinnacle products and a Dual Action polisher, well, I have not touched my Zaino products and I have no reason to.

I have been detailing vehicles for over 20 years now. I have used everything from Turtle Wax, Meguiars, Mothers, 3M, etc etc. They all have their pros and cons (well except for Turtle wax, that stuff just sucks). I am really impressed with the Pinnacle Souveran Paste wax. Goes on easy and comes off easy. Now, this is a show car finish, so there is a downside to this. It only lasts 4 to 6 weeks. When compared to Zaino, sure, it doesn't last as long, but it looks a lot better than Zaino.

 

Thanks for the response. That is good to know about the pinnacle not lasting as long. I have been very satisfied with Meguiars products so I'll probably stick to those for right now. I have heard great things about Zaino, but it just seems too expensive for me right now. I plan on showing my car when I get the time, but for right it is mainly just my fun car. I have another car that I take to work.

With 20 years detailing experience, what are you thoughts on Meguiars vs. Zaino? Is Zaino only a polish or does it have protective qualities too?

 

I have Pinnacl and Wolfgang wax. Quality stuff and I liked it alot better than Meguiars

 

Just an FYI. I find that the Meguiars NXT stuff only lasts me 4-6 weeks as well. I guess I just wash my car too much

Zaino's does have protective qualities. As for the difference between Zaino's and Meguiars..... Zaino's takes a little getting use to. It is really hard to tell if you applied enough but easy to tell if you applied to much. It lasts longer than Meguiars and keeps the true colour of the paint showing through. Most waxes help hide slight blemishes (small swirl marks) but Zaino's doesn't unless you get Z5 Pro and apply it first. I recently tried their suggestions on how to remove swirl marks using my friends black BMW. I did one have of the hood using Zaino stuff and the other have using Pinnacle products. After using Z-PC, 5 coats of Z5 Pro and 2 coats of Z2 on one half of the hood and the other half I used Pinnacle Advanced swirl remover, Pinnacle Advanced fine polish and 1 coat of Pinnacle Souveran wax, the Pinnacle side looked like glass. The Zaino side still had slight swirl marks. I should also add, to do the Pinnacle side it took me 1 hour. To do the Zaino side it took me 4 days because of how long you have to wait between coats (even using the ZFX Flash cure). So although Zaino lasts long, I wouldn't use all of their products. I have to detail my car next weekend. I am going to use all Pinnacle again but might apply a coat of Z-CS Clear seal over top to see how it looks.

 

Z-PC doesn't work all that well, you say? That's interesting. I've tried the Z5 / Z2 combination in the past and found that it doesn't hide swirls real well, even though Z5 is supposed to.

These days....between Porter Cable polishings....I use Poorboy's World Black Hole and Meguiars NXT 2.0. This combo hides light swirls well. Especially with two applications.

NXT 2.0 is supposed to last longer than the original, but I wouldn't know. I usually do the above every 6-8 weeks anyways to fill in swirl marks (outdoor parking bites). In the spring I break out the PC and polish the car for a day and a half. Mid-summer I might do some light polishing in problem areas.

 

I think Zaino works best if you start from day 1, before you have any swirls or scratches.
It seems to highlight everything including imperfections.
It is not good at hiding things.

 

Right now I'm using the Meguiars 3 step Deep Crystal cleaner, polish, and wax on my car. I have used it for a while on my other cars and I've been happy with it. It seems more affordable than the Pinnacle or the Wolfgang products. Looking at those products though, it seems like there are a bunch of different polishes and sealants.

Which Pinnacle and Wolfgang products would be the most similar to the Meguiars 3 step system I'm currently using?

 

Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover, Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish, Pinnacle Signature series II carnauba wax. A nice thing about this wax is that an application lasts 2 - 3 months.