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I decided to post this when I could not find another single, comprehensive thread from customers new to the full range of Meguiar’s products, whether for either a new or old car. And in my case, it was going to be both.
Why did I pick Meguiar’s (M)? 3 Reasons: Favorable past experience with M marine products, they offer a ‘system’ of products (and so I assumed cross-product compatibility), and they promised ease of application (which wasn’t true of the central Cleanse product in my previous Zymol product line). Every M product I’m reporting on is new to me, so let’s see what works - and what maybe doesn’t - from a new customer’s perspective.
BTW many thanks to a number of you here whose posts helped me with product selections.
New vehicle: 2011 Toyota Tacoma V6 SR5 in Silver
Condition: As new as it gets, since I bought it while it was still aboard the ship and received delivery the day after its debarkation. With only minimal ‘holding lot’ exposure, its surface seemed pristine. My basic goals were to protect the paint and, more broadly, begin keeping it looking ‘new’, indefinitely. (We tend to keep vehicles for many years but like them looking ‘fresh’)
Wash: Soft Wash Gel – lots of suds, pleasant and easy to use, but this product was little challenged by minimal soiled surface. I will compare it with Gold Class in the future.
Paint Cleaning Prep: Cleaner Wax – easy to use. The keys were to use very little (total of 3 oz or so) and letting it sit overnight (during a humid Florida summer) before buffing. Some additional soil was removed (pristine looking or not). Altho’ it is recommended by M, using one applicator for this entire job makes no sense to me, since accumulated soil material just gets ground into the next area being cleaned/waxed. I used a soft cloth for application, rotating regularly, and buffed with microfiber cloths. Whistle clean results with no hard manual labor involved (one of my key criteria). Perhaps 1.5 hours of labor.
Paint Waxing: NXT 2.0 which I chose with little certainty for which (of the 3) base waxing products made the most sense. Again, used very little (3 oz or perhaps even a little less), with applicator (appropriate, in this case I think) and left to ‘dry’ overnight. Very easy to apply and also remove with microfiber cloths. Initial results very pleasing & time required again 1.5 hours. Paint’s surface feels exactly like glass…well, clean glass.
Plastic Headlight Lens Protection: PlastX – too soon to know about long-term effectiveness. Not at all pleased with difficulty I had in removing it from small adjacent ‘chrome grill’ and painted areas - had to use Cleaner/Wax to get it off. Warnings about incompatibility of adjacent materials (mentioned with many M products) is concerning, given I’m waxing a car and not doing surgery.
Exterior Vinyl, Rubberized and Black-Treated Items: Zymol’s Vinyl Conditioner – I had some left and it is an extremely effective, long-lasting treatment for vinyl and rubberized materials. I couldn’t find M’s Natural Shine Protectant, the M product I was hoping to trial, when shopping locally. We’ll see what I think of it when my Zymol bottle empties.
Tire Treatment: Endurance – I chose this hand-applied product to avoid overspray onto my garage floor, which I just painted. Cumbersome to apply on rough truck tires and with only marginal results in ‘blackening’ of tire’s surface, I was underwhelmed. However, the results I got have stayed with the tires for several weeks now. I’ll shift to a spray product in the future, out on the driveway, as applying by hand isn’t worth the effort, I’m thinking.
A few general observations so far:
Used vehicle: 2002 Civic EX Coupe in Silver
I’m starting on that car next, but also still moving into our new house…so I’ll post my impressions of a somewhat different choice of products - for a very different vehicle – here soon.
Jack
Why did I pick Meguiar’s (M)? 3 Reasons: Favorable past experience with M marine products, they offer a ‘system’ of products (and so I assumed cross-product compatibility), and they promised ease of application (which wasn’t true of the central Cleanse product in my previous Zymol product line). Every M product I’m reporting on is new to me, so let’s see what works - and what maybe doesn’t - from a new customer’s perspective.
BTW many thanks to a number of you here whose posts helped me with product selections.
New vehicle: 2011 Toyota Tacoma V6 SR5 in Silver
Condition: As new as it gets, since I bought it while it was still aboard the ship and received delivery the day after its debarkation. With only minimal ‘holding lot’ exposure, its surface seemed pristine. My basic goals were to protect the paint and, more broadly, begin keeping it looking ‘new’, indefinitely. (We tend to keep vehicles for many years but like them looking ‘fresh’)
Wash: Soft Wash Gel – lots of suds, pleasant and easy to use, but this product was little challenged by minimal soiled surface. I will compare it with Gold Class in the future.
Paint Cleaning Prep: Cleaner Wax – easy to use. The keys were to use very little (total of 3 oz or so) and letting it sit overnight (during a humid Florida summer) before buffing. Some additional soil was removed (pristine looking or not). Altho’ it is recommended by M, using one applicator for this entire job makes no sense to me, since accumulated soil material just gets ground into the next area being cleaned/waxed. I used a soft cloth for application, rotating regularly, and buffed with microfiber cloths. Whistle clean results with no hard manual labor involved (one of my key criteria). Perhaps 1.5 hours of labor.
Paint Waxing: NXT 2.0 which I chose with little certainty for which (of the 3) base waxing products made the most sense. Again, used very little (3 oz or perhaps even a little less), with applicator (appropriate, in this case I think) and left to ‘dry’ overnight. Very easy to apply and also remove with microfiber cloths. Initial results very pleasing & time required again 1.5 hours. Paint’s surface feels exactly like glass…well, clean glass.
Plastic Headlight Lens Protection: PlastX – too soon to know about long-term effectiveness. Not at all pleased with difficulty I had in removing it from small adjacent ‘chrome grill’ and painted areas - had to use Cleaner/Wax to get it off. Warnings about incompatibility of adjacent materials (mentioned with many M products) is concerning, given I’m waxing a car and not doing surgery.
Exterior Vinyl, Rubberized and Black-Treated Items: Zymol’s Vinyl Conditioner – I had some left and it is an extremely effective, long-lasting treatment for vinyl and rubberized materials. I couldn’t find M’s Natural Shine Protectant, the M product I was hoping to trial, when shopping locally. We’ll see what I think of it when my Zymol bottle empties.
Tire Treatment: Endurance – I chose this hand-applied product to avoid overspray onto my garage floor, which I just painted. Cumbersome to apply on rough truck tires and with only marginal results in ‘blackening’ of tire’s surface, I was underwhelmed. However, the results I got have stayed with the tires for several weeks now. I’ll shift to a spray product in the future, out on the driveway, as applying by hand isn’t worth the effort, I’m thinking.
A few general observations so far:
- I’d rate overall ease of use of these products to be excellent, altho’ it doesn’t get any easier than a new car. Longevity of the protection remains a key question for me but is unknown.
- M must now have 100+ product listings so, to help its customers, objective descriptions, product differentiation and comparative results by M would be very helpful. However, their product descriptions IMO mostly employ inflated hyperbole that read like real estate ads. Thankfully, several key Forum contributors pick up some of the slack. M could do much better in this area.
- One example of this is that M’s product descriptions insofar as I could tell ignore that we all have ‘chrome’ parts on our cars and other finished pieces (car grills are a good example of these various pieces) that are just treated plastics, not painted surfaces. What’s recommended for those pieces? M seems silent on the matter. I used NXT 2.0 on them, and an M tech adviser later agreed with that.
- M products are carried all over my city (Jacksonville, FL) but only a few of its many products are carried by any one store, even the auto stores and China Inc. (Walmart). Once I decide on what works best for my particular vehicles, I’ll probably use M’s E-store, pay the shipping and avoid the store hopping. But it took 10 days for M to fill my first E-store order; best they do?
Used vehicle: 2002 Civic EX Coupe in Silver
I’m starting on that car next, but also still moving into our new house…so I’ll post my impressions of a somewhat different choice of products - for a very different vehicle – here soon.
Jack
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