I agree with Brandon1. Preparation is probably THE most important thing and I've said that many times on here. If you don't prep right, it won't necessarily be bad, but it won't be what it should have been - and most often not even close!!!!
On a new vehicle, wax selection it's less of an issue because the paint is still pretty new and glossy. But with proper preparation you can use just about *anything* and it's going to look pretty awesome. The big differentiator is *how long* it will last. I'd put Zaino as a first preference on months old clean pain since you wont' have much work to prep.
Carnubas, being a natural wax, will vaporize more quickly over time and the hotter the climate, the faster they will vaporize. If you were up in canada, carnuba would be like iron most of the time. In southern florida or texas it's going to be gone in under two months.
Synthetic sealants usually will last much longer and often can be put on in direct sunlight which you'd never want to do with most "real" waxes. They tend to be easier to put on and take off too.
I don't recommend applying in sun as it still dries out pretty fast when you're applying. It's still a lot better if you can use small dabs of polish and wax and spread it as far as you can with a mechanical orbital to avoid dark streaks.
I've never used Collinite, but I've used just about everything else (even if it was only twice out of the bottle and never again because it didn't work as well as the other million things I've tried but I still had to give it a shot because that's just the way I am - always looking for "best").
The only thing I've not liked at all was that clear, synthetic turtle wax. I've even applied that to clean paint I just polished and waxed a week earlier and it was a disappointment. Not sure who they're trying to target with that stuff. I wouldn't even bother going that route. I tried it twice and that was twice too much.
There are two things about "best".... The first is when you're using a wax/sealant does it have some cleaner in it so that you don't have to do a completely separate step of polishing (sooner or you'll have to do a bumper to bumper polish only though along with a claying). If you can do that every three months then you'll keeping stuff from sticking to the paint and becoming embedded in it permanently.
Some pretty great local waxes with good protection but not much cleaning ability are Mother's Synwax and Meguiar's NXT tech wax. Mother's will leave a brighter shine but it pretty lousy at cleaning road crap off though it's probably the easiest stuff to take off (even easier than Klasse All-in-one which is one of the easiest!). It will leave an amazingly bright shine on light colored cars though. It's so easy to use that the difference between washing the car and putting on a coat of protectant can be as little as a half hour and the difference in appearance can be as much as 50% better between the two.
For cleaning AND polishing I don't think you can beat Klasse all in one. That is pretty amazing stuff - fills in quite a bit of swirls and hairline cracks - and it's one of the easiest to take off even if you gob it on when applying by hand (to clean off tree sap or whatever got stuck on the paint).
For the longest lasting "wow" shine (and I don't mean wow but WOW), I'd used Zaino. Of all the waxes it's probably the easiest to maintain an amazing finish as long as you find that you don't have to clean the paint too much. You can use that every six months and their spray every wash and you'll have a just waxed appearance forever.
But actually, their spray alone over any other brand of wax\sealer\polish looks wonderful.
I think they're still the benchmark. If they made a wax with some amazing cleaner in it also I think it would be the end all wax for the "normal" guy. Otherwise it's more for the "appearances nut".
If you look on this site, you could probably buy anything they sell and you'd be happy. Not that I recommend you get it from them - there are a lot of closer sources, but they pretty much carry great products. .... not just products. They don't carry anything that you won't be delighted with and you can just find it here in the states.
eShine Canada- Canada's Car Care Leader.
If you want a bar no holds shine, I'd use Zaino.
If you want a "I want almost the same but a little less work", I'd use Klasse all-in-one. Putting their sealant over that is just icing on the cake but more work that really makes it more like using Zaino anyway.
What really helps keep a great shine is some form of touch up spray with every wash. After washing you just spritz and wipe with a microfiber towel over everything and it will look like you just waxed the car and it will be *very* noticable.
That's probably the biggest "secret" to a great appearance. The regular touchups. That's one of the reasons I'd recommend an easy to use cleaner wax that you could use every three months than one that is a lot harder to use every six. It's easier to keep the paint clean and shiny.
But use a spray every other week at least. It will make a HUGE difference in keeping the "just waxed" look whatever you do. That's what really makes Zaino stand out - the wax is good, but their spray is *great*.
Oh, here's a tip if you use Klasse All-in-one. And remember easier means you'll use it more often which is much better than less often. But you can put a couple of capfulls in the water you use to wash the car and it will apply! Or you can mix it up in a spray bottle of water and apply a very light coat that way.
Again, more protectant in weekly after-wash spray form on
properly prepared paint is more important that and will have more dramatic results than the "killer wax" will.
I haven't tried mother's synwax in a bucket of water to see if sticks when I wash the car, but if it did, I'd use that every couple weeks to keep the shine on the vehicle simply amazing. That's pretty bright stuff. Just not as durable as alternatives unless you apply it about as much as wax.
So "light" more often will have a better appearance long term than "heavy" much less frequently and you'll have a brighter, cleaner vehicle most of the time because you'll do it. You can usually use a solvent based polish by hand during a wash to clean off spots and then touch up with wax quickly afterward - that's easiest on the paint in the long term.
Oh, one downside to cleaner/waxes. You can't layer it. Layers of pure wax or sealant on top of themselves is like laying fine layers of finish on wood. The more you can layer, usually the finer, deeper, and glossier the finish. And in almost all cases, thicker is better..... (within reason)
Alan
ps. One tip if you're in a dusty environment and can't/don't wash your vehicle very much. Fresh waxes tend to stay more dust free for some reason over sealants - but again, they vaporize faster over sealants. So you'll need to polish/clay more if you let them wear down too far and stuff gets to the paint.
It's all a tradeoff on what's most important to you and what you're willing to do and how far you're willing to go to maintain the look you want on paint.
If you are going for locally available products, then Duragloss #105 total performance polish or Synwax by Mothers. If you are ordering online, I would say Klasse AIO followed by #21 Meguiars synthetic sealant. #21 is one of my favorite products. I have used almost every wax under the sun, Zaino, klasse, collinite, etc. All of them have strong points, you just have to try them to see what you like better. As an above user posted, dont belive everything you hear (ppl think zaino is cure-all for some reason).
I can tell you this, when you go to choose a wax/sealant, a sealant will give you more durabilty while still retaining the wet-deep look everyone is after. A good carnauba will still protect, just not as good as the average sythetic. People say carnauba has a deeper shine, I dunno about that, I have always found todays sealants to give alot of nubas a run for their money. Whatever you choose, follow up with Duragloss Aquawax for some extra protection and slickness. And as always, waxing paint that has not been properly prepped wont help in the slightest. You probaly need to clay (to remove bonded contaminates) and polish the paint (polishing is actually what creates the wet-look shine, and removes swirls/spots) for it to look it's best.
Let us know what you end up choosing, and post some pics.
