Best Wax or Polish (spray or liquid) for black 2010 Prius

I feel your pain. Back in the day, I had a new 1990 Honda Civic Si with a smokin' black with cherry pearl paint finish. My first and last black car.

Meguiars scratch remover in liquid form works very, very well. I originally bought it for my motorcycle windscreens but eventually began using it on both metal and plastic painted surfaces with equal results. You'll need a couple of good coats of wax after that. Brings back scratch CD/DVD's too. Also good results with their polishing compound for bigger scratches (not thru the paint) followed by the scratch remover, then waxes.

Lately I've been amazed with this product: Glare :: Home.

The folks at Barrett-Jackson auction use it. Can't really get a better recommendation than that. Actually, yes you can. The Honda motorcycle accessory division (parts, clothing, chemicals, etc) labels it and sells it under their brand name. Not cheap at $25 a bottle but the good stuff usually isn't. I applied it to my sandy beach metallic prius after only about 4 months of ownership. I couldn't believe it actually improved the look of "new" paint.

I recommend a small hand orbital polisher for application followed with hand buffing.

Here's a couple of quotes about Glare I found from reviews on other forums:

"Besides flying airplanes, one of my favorite hobbies is testing car wax. Waxes I have tried include Meguiar’s Gold Class, Meguiar’s NXT Generation Polymer wax, Klasse All in One, DP Detailers Pride Premium Surface Shield, Zaino, Liquid Glass, Griot’s 1-year Sealant, Mothers Reflections, Nu Finish one-year car polish, and Glare Professional Polish in the last two-years. I have been to the Meguiar’s Car Care School twice. Once in Oceanside, CA and the second time at their World Headquarters in Irvine, CA. I bought the Meguiar’s Orbital Buffer and their #83 polish and countless other products from the good folks at Meguiar’s. All their products are A #1 in my book. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the ultimate Car Guy Barry Meguiar and his TV show Car Crazy.

Now, having said all that, I have waxed all three of my cars with Glare Professional Polish plus a Toyota Corolla from a visiting relative. Yes, if you come to visit us, you will get your car detailed. Of all the waxes I have tried I would rate Glare’s Professional Polish #1. It goes on easy and comes off even easier. Instructions said to use it on your glass and I did. I thought it made the windows easier to see through. Rub your hands on the glass and they just glide across the surface. Glare was also the slickest to the touch of all the waxes I have ever tried. The aviation community and Boeing like the product because it reduces parasite drag. Glare doesn’t have any but most all Polymer waxes are laced with a petroleum product that produces the wet look we all like. It doesn’t take long for those petroleum products to evaporate from the car so manufacturers have come up with a host of products to restore that wet look. Wrapped in a sheet of glass is the best way to describe the look produced by Glare, which enhances the look of Black, Silver, and White cars. Those three colors in particular need another clear coat in order to pop.

In summary, I loved the product. I like the way it looks. Depending on washings and the like, they say it can last up to 5-years. I can’t go that long between waxes so I will do mine once or twice a year. It has rendered all the other waxes on my car care shelf obsolete."

and this one:

"I bought the harley polish and the swirl remover and was not impressed at all with these products. So unimpressed I sprung the $90.00 for the Glare Spider and Professional polish after reading some posts here and WOW this product is UNFRICKENBELIEVABLE. To anyone out there that has a Vivid black bike,you have try this stuff. Follow the directions and you will be amazed at how nice your bike looks. It looks better than new. I had alot of swirls in my paint and my hardbags were pretty scratched as well. You cant see one scratch or swirl on the bike now. Im a customer for life!!! "

As usual, YMMV. Good Luck!!!

 

My 06 HD is black (never again! )
I like Meguiars, although you have to be careful with their "Ultimate Compound".
There's about a zillion products out there that all probably work fairly well, including any number of wash-n-wax blends.
I always hand wash, so I can't help you out with the robo-washers.

What you really have to be careful with is to make sure that whatever you use to wipe your car with (sponge, brush, rag) stays grit-free. As you're already finding out---if you even think about scratches, they'll show up on your paint!

Old timey motorcyclists use (of all things) Pledge Lemon Furniture Polish between washes. I've never tried it on a car...but it works phenomenally well on the bike and it's waaaaaaaaay cheaper than the Gucci stuff that they sell at Auto-Zone.
You just have to watch out for the bees....no kidding!

Good Luck!!!!

 

You look younger than I expected.

 

edit - sorry just saw that you use touchless car wash. I heard that most micromarring is from wash process. Do they rub the car down when it comes out of machine?

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Griots Garage is an excellent resource for top quality car care.

Those spider web micro mars are most likely due to improper washing - harsh brushes at automatic car washes ...

or even wiping too much with a dirty mitt or sponge. I don't know much you know about car washing.

Use to big buckets, 5 gallon size. The other bucket is for rinsing your sponge or mitt. I recommend a very light colored mitt to easily show dirt that has been picked up after first pass washing over that section. If mitt/sponge shows dirt, rinse that sucker in the bucket. Change out the rinse water if needed.

Sheet off excess water before drying, maybe some leaf blower if you wish.

Decent drying towel (microfiber waffle weaves are popular, synthetic chamois, whatever) is for getting bulk of water up in a section.

Make use of a spray / quik wax on a buffing cloth to buff out a section, then go to the next. Car will look pristine after a wash and you get some wax back on which invariablly comes off a little when washing.

Clay before you wax, as needed. The next level would be polishing before waxing. I don't polish. If I did, it would be so mild. Not sure I like the idea of shaving down some clear coat to make it look even, but I could be misinformed.

Something like Meguiar's 2.0 Tech Wax should work just fine on the car, or whatever else is your favorite.

synthetic waxes / sealants are best for daily drivers. Carnauba waxes are for show or more frequent waxing.

 

Zaino Z-5 Pro, but skip the Z-2 for the last coat as I've found it too reflective and not as deep compared to using Z-5 alone.

Glazes/waxes may provide better look/depth/swirl masking but they won't last at all in the South Florida sun.

I'd still wash it myself if you truly want to minimize swirl marks.

 

Whoa. I bought a bottle of Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 for a small scratch - it marrs clearcoat badly, not clearcoat safe ....

To restore a marred finish, you would polish. I've no experience with that, but, that's the process.

Like said above, handwashing best for minimizing swirls.

 

I've seen reports that NuFinish Scratch Doctor doesn't cause the marring seen with Meguiar's Scratch X, but I suspect that the marring is caused by not breaking down the diminishing abrasive enough. Zaino PC Fusion also causes severe marring if not broken down enough (and don't do what they suggest, cover up the marring using their Z-5 or Z-2).

 

The best usually means $$$. Try checking the local Wallymart. The one near me was clearing out their supply of Autoglym HD for $10 - I bought 2 for myself, and there were 4 left.

Google Autoglym HD. It's a boutique wax used by a lot of detailers and has a good rep for not streaking/swirling.

Used to be a $50+ item (for a tiny jar). When the mart first carried it, they sold it for $35, but its apparently is too upscale for their product line so their dumping it. $10 for what was a $50+ wax seemed like a good deal to me.

 

The best wax or polish will not be spray or liquid. I use One Grand Blitz wax, which is a long lasting, high quality carnauba wax, which also has very easy application/removal.

 

Try P21S 100% Carnauba wax. Its like $100 but it be good.

I haven't tried it because I is has no money.

 

The P21S is awsome stuff and you can get it for alot less that $100. Check autopia or autogeek.com. Before you apply it you should use the P21S cleaner. You Prius will shine like a piece of glass.

 

I've tried P21S, and I like One Grand Blitz much better. Easier application/removal, and much less expensive.

If you're wedded to it (can't imagine why, since you said you've never tried it ), you can get it much cheaper at the local Harley dealer--called S100. The same exact product (even the same jar), just private labeled.

 

Carnauba would be the way to go but it won't stand up to South Florida sun at all. Zaino Z-5 Pro would a good compromise in terms of durability and you can even apply carnauba over it only to find it disappear into thin air.

 

Musta been me. Came back from Mendocino. Guess a dog scratch right door a bit.

Bought some meg's Scratch X 2.0 , autozone, rubbed on, marred all around the scratch. PO'd.

Got refund. Still have NuFinish Scratch Doctor. It removed the marring and minimized the scratch.

Quikz (sp?) was the best, but more expensive.

 

Meguiar's Tech wax 2.0 works pretty darn well for me. Trick is layer it on thin. If too thick, hard to buff off and leaves dust residue. The instructions say ..

apply a thin coat of wax

Maybe someday will try the botique stuff, Zaino and all, but not much into mail order.

 

My last car was black and at 134k miles the paint still looked pretty darn good, actually. The day I cleaned it up to sell it the thing still looked pretty mint (last year--it was a 2000 Maxima).

Black definitely shows errors, but it also hides rust extremely well, if that's a concern. Personally, I'd avoid a white vehicle unless I got a great price on it. My minivan now is white and the rust shows up wonderfully.

 

After my first, and last, black car, I had a string of silver ones. My Prius is the lovely dark blue and it's showing every scratch and swirl almost as bad as black.

I've always had great luck with products from Griot's Garage. I had a detailer friend recommend 3M products as well.