Pro Detailers in Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara is also good Uses products not only from Meguiar's, but also Klasse, Auto Glym, Merzerna, Osren, Poorboys and Soft 99 Fusso Coat.

I'm personally a fan of Meguiar's, but I also use products from Kit, Turtle Wax and Perma Glass as well

Posted this in another thread... but relevant here as well! What I use for my car maintainence

Actually you don't need "high-end" brands of waxes to do the job

Soft99 Meta Clean is a very good, economical (Read: cheap!) cleaner wax that is highly suitable for DIY purposes. Beats Meguiar's cleaner waxes Recommended to apply a layer of pure wax on it for lasting effect though (Such as Meguiar's No. 16) or use booster wax (Such as Meguiar's NXT Generation Spray Wax, Turtle Wax brand spray waxes).

Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax is RM 19.90 in Tesco, RM 19.99 in Giant, and <RM 25 in ACE Hardware and Eneos, don't remember exactly how much. I got mine for RM 19 at my car accessory shop The can is square, chrome coloured with a lid that has a sponge in it, but I recommend using Meguiar's applicator pads instead.
Meguiar's No. 16 pure wax is RM 74 in ACE Hardware Ikano. The can is round and blue coloured.
Meguiar's NXT Generation Spray Wax is RM 60 at Eneos, not sure how much is it in ACE Hardware or HomeFix.

A note though, the spray wax is pretty hard to buff off. Soft99 however, is a dream to buff off

Edit: All these are courtesy and credit of Pro Detailers- who recommended me the stuff and taught me how to properly use them

This post has been edited by Yukaeshi: Oct 18 2007, 10:06 PM

Yes, some of the products are over hyped. I've only so far used the NXT Generation Spray Wax and ScratchX. The spray wax as I've mentioned is pretty hard to buff off, while ScratchX doesn't produce instant results (So don't get your hopes up too high- not many products do that, you just have to be diligent and determined).

Meguiar's applicator pads are good though, and from what I heard, their car washes and interior cleaners/detailers are too.

Just for comparison, the stuff that I use for DIY car maintanence/detailing:
- Kit Car Wash & Wax shampoo
- Kit UV Guard for interior (Lasts very long and very shiny effect)
- PermaGlass RainZ Dura (Aerosol type)
- PermaGlass Tyre Bumper & Trim Shine (Going to finish this up and get a new one, maybe TurtleWax Wet'n'Black since this one is not long-lasting and fades very fast)
- Meguiar's ScratchX (Used as 'base' before waxing and after washing and drying)
- Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax (Highly recommended wax!)
- Meguiar's applicator pads (For applying ScratchX and wax)
- Microfibre cloths (For buffing and wiping)

1. Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax is THE wax to use if you are waxing your car. If you read my posts properly, I stated that NXT Generation Spray Wax is just a BOOSTER wax that can help enhance the wax (In this case, Soft99), and it's not so good because it's very hard to buff off.

2. ScratchX is a product designed to eliminate swirl marks and light scratches. Applicator pads are the sponges used for APPLYING products.

3. Yes, they are all suitable for any colour paints.

4. Kit UV Guard is liquid, and you can apply it to your whole interior- dashboard, side panels, etc. I have leather seats so I apply it to the seats as well.

5. You can either use a normal household windscreen cleaner or opt for car-specific windscreen cleaners such as from TurtleWax.

The steps that I take to maintain my car:
1. Wash car.
2. Dry car.
3. Apply ScratchX, buff off.
4. Apply Soft99 Meta Clean wax.
5. Wait 5-10 minutes.
6. Buff off.

You can opt to repeat steps 4-6 again, making it two layers of wax. I usually wax my car with Soft99 Meta Clean between 2 weeks to once a month. Not going to use the spray wax for now because so very hard to buff off I send my car to polish every 6 months.

These are essentially what you need to know about home detailing/basic car care and maintenance.

This post has been edited by Yukaeshi: Oct 19 2007, 03:50 PM

Yeah, I always wax the car after applying the ScratchX As for it being abrasive, I don't use it too often. While I wax my car every 2 weeks to one month, I tend to use it every one or 2 months.

Buff in car care/maintanence terms basically means to rub/wipe off. Once you apply a layer of wax and leave it for about 5-10 minutes, you wipe if off, and that's called buffing.

Car clay is something like "plastisin".

I don't think you can use normal clay/"plastisin" to do your car... later end up being oily. MAYBE can use BluTak but better not count on it because it's kind of oily too Best to get car-specific clay.

I'll try to post pictures up. Lately it has been raining so no time to go do my car also

Yeah la... car also need to take care like women have to take care of the face one (I'm a woman)

The NXT Generation Spray Wax is RM 60 at Eneos, non abrasive to new paint and suitable for all colours, but hard to buff off. Wouldn't exactly recommend it if you're looking for a wax Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax does a better job and is cheaper (<RM 25, RM 19.90 cheapest)- the shine is excellent, the feel is smooth and beads water excellently Plus easy to buff also. Good for any type of paints.

This post has been edited by Yukaeshi: Oct 20 2007, 12:37 PM

Tedious ah Just that lucky got my fiance la... I apply the wax, then after 5-10 minutes he buff off for me... hehe.

I've recommended Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax for the past few pages already... it's non abrasive and does not cause swirl marks unless you buff it off with normal cloth That's why should always buff off with microfiber cloths.

Meguiar's Gold Class and NXT Generation liquid waxes are not too bad, but the spray ones are quite useless so to speak I still prefer Soft99 Meta Clean liquid wax personally. It's recommended to me by a detailer and I have no regrets at all using it. My car is also black- it made my car look shiny and smooth.

Really ah? Aiya, forgot where I posted it already Yes, I mod my car also. More onto external mod and the only "internal" mod done so far is drop-in air filter, nothing much. Rims also not yet change

Raining so heavily lately want to detail car also cannot. Later do already rain heart pain only

Sometimes your car will also be "scratched" by dust particles trapped in sponges used during car wash. Also, if you use too high pressure water to wash/rinse your car, the water may "push" particles of sand/dust that is already on your car and cause minor scratches.

Meguiar's car wash mitt is RM 50 if I'm not mistaken. There are other brands of car wash mitts out there though, can check them out.

Car wash mitts are the best obviously. They may not completely prevent scratches, but it definitely can be minimised/avoided. The 2 bucket water (One for car shampoo + water and the other clean water) is also recommended

Yeah... at this current weather even I can't do my DIY detailing Car's really dirty now because of that too

Polish is not the same as wax, don't be mistaken! Polish should be done every 6-8 months, but a new car shouldn't be polished (Wait at least 6 months after getting a new car) as the paint may be still "soft" and polishing will remove a layer of the paint. New cars need time for the paint to "settle in".

I bought a huge microfibre cloth at ACE Hardware, it's about 40cm X 60 cm and for only... what? RM 5.xx if I remember correctly Don't know if they still have it now though. So far only the MidValley branch has it, not the Ikano one.

IMHO I think the polish done after repainting/brand new paint is different. Like kevinlim said it's too make the paint even and give it a glossy finish. But if the owner polishes it too soon after getting it might strip a layer of the paint. Plus from what I heard now car paints are "thinner" or "softer" than before, so need to care properly also...

Detailing my car (special price- car club panel) takes about RM 350-RM 400... yet even I can't afford that yet sadly So need to make do with DIY maintanence in the meantime... lol.

Hmm... I don't really experience residue on my car windows... usually after car wash + wiped dry it looks good. Perhaps you could try using a squeegee or a silicone blade to remove the water like for house windows? Alternately, as suggested, newspapers or car-specific window cleaners are good options too.

My windscreens and windows does get some "residue" after applying windscreen treatment though