Prep is everything. Wash with Dawn dish detergent to start and then clay. I use Zaino's clay but that's because I sell it. It works good, but mostly clay is clay, it's just clay with embedded very fine abrasive. After that decide if you need to clean up the finish, oxidation needs to be cleaned up, swirls depends on your tolerance. Then pick something. If it's wax based, it will likely give a nice shine but not last very long. Some of the synthetics will last up to a year if they aren't parked outside much. Some products will do a decent job of hiding swirls, sometimes for a week, sometimes much longer.

But truthfully, a lot of modern paint is so good that you almost don't have to do anything but keep it clean. Clay when it needs it will keep it looking and feeling much better, if you've never clayed a car, the first time will be an eye opener.

There's a lot of people out there flogging the same stuff in different colored bottles and claiming even more amazing results. And there's a number of suppliers who will put anything you want in any bottle you want for your own personal line of car care products.

And like someone earlier said, Zaino is really good. But no advertising, just word of mouth so you don't hear about it so much and you can only buy it online directly from Zaino or from one of the very few remaining distributors, like me.

Ira

 

From my understanding of this rabbit hole I think that by having at hand a product that gives a dark gloss, one that gives a wet gloss, one that gives a glass gloss - and I think there is some others that lean more toward icy gloss and so on and so forth - will allow you to layer the wax according to your own preference, like a sauce recipe if you will. I know some guy did mention somewhere that he was even mixing waxes together, something I did not try. I imagine at some point you can look at your wax job and say : hmm, I would like it to look more wet, then a product like the wolfgang detail spritz I used or maybe another one can deliver a wet look to the car.

 

This is how the hhr looks with pledge on it. No prep, nothing except keeping the car clean with water. I am not using soap. As expected it gives a glassier and smoother look. But it also has flatten the lines. That's the tradeoff. I will keep using it as a trim restorer.

 

HHR with autofinesse glaze. I am not pretending I am applying these products the best possible way, that would probably be to polish the car first and then apply the glaze, but there is no mention on the instruction about doing anything but having a clean and dry surface. I used a tiny amount on a microfiber Viking Care Car pad applicator and I have let it dry for about 10 minutes. I always use the finger swipe test https://www.detailingwiki.org/protec...he-swipe-test/ . So, the glaze gives a different visual appeal than the other wax I tried so far. It perfects the reflection to a high degree. After that I think I will have to use the Silverwax again for a tonus/muscular effect. Here is the hhr after applying ultraglaze :

 

I just reapplied silverwax and the lines/curves reappeared in all their glory:

 

where did you get the tail light and running broad from , how much? Do you have a pic of the running broad lite up. Also I want to buy window visor deflector in CHROME any idea where to find tried ebay, Amazon

 

Mine are all original. But I like to look on carid website, although I never purchased anything there, they seem to have pretty much of everything : https://www.carid.com/2007-chevy-hhr-taillights/

 

Adams Waterless Wash. Very clean shine.

 

Looks great!

 

My go-to used to be RainDance® paste wax.. I could wax parts & store them for years, & when needed, I would get them & simply wipe off the wax.

They did away with it decades ago, I bought up a small stores' last of their inventory of it. I have about 1/8 of a can left. I think my mower will get a good coat this winter.