I want to wax my Altima, but I'm unsure if I should do it or take it and have someone do it. Because when I had the SUV I let someone do it for me and it got on the trim and parts fo the bumper and stained. It did'nt look good so should I just take it somewhere and pay someone to do it?? Or I heard about getting car wash that already has wax in it. Has anybody used it and how is it?

Wax? what's that? Hell, I don't even wash my car yet alone wax it.

But anyway, a good carnauba wax would work good. If you do it yourself it'll be hand done. If you take it to a detail shop they will use an orbital buffer. This is nice if you have any scratches. It's also quicker.

If you do it yourself remember to do it in the shade or on a cloudy day. You do not want to wax your car in the sun. Also remember to do one body panel or section at a time...wax on, wax off.

Thnx Jason!! I'll remember that.

I've used a combo of meguiars paint scrub (can be difficult to find) and zymol car wax on my vehicles. Works well and always looks good.

--Nichole-get some "California Gold" Carnauba wax and some YELLOW foam application pads . It goes on easy and 15 minutes later comes off easy-I remove it using natural cotton diapers and it's a no scratch deal. I've used it on my corvettes and my Black cuda's and dodge 4wd trucks-it's great!!-- --JIMBO

So what do you wear if you're using the diaper to remove the wax?

--Yo Bluesky, Just like my TS clearance in the Navy "you have to have a need to know" --JIMBO

use Zymol...works great...When some you wax and by accident you get some on the body side moldings...how or what do you use to get them back to being black versus having that annoying white always appear?

dont answer this question didnt realize someone posted a topic about this...who would have though that peanut butter works...hmm!

Use Mothers Pure carnauba. It' s a little more money but it's the best and comes off easy. If you need to remove oxidizing, use cleaner wax.

P.S here's a tip. If you get wax on the bumper, try a little wd 40 to get it off.

I just bought a bottle of that new Turtle Wax "Ice" this weekend that is supposed to not leave any white residue on anything...Will post about how it performs when I use it....

Zaino is by far the best. I've used every major kind of wax, polish, protector etc and nothing comes close to Zaino.

You will pay a little more and have to order it, but well worth it. This stuff actually works best when applied in direct sun and when teh paint is hot. Then it just powders off and leaves the best shine and lasts a LONG time.

I second this...just Zaino'd my wife's '94 Honda Accord and it looks spiffy. She actually noticed and commented on it, which is rare.

The X is next and I'll post on the result.

Best is subjective...for example, the carnuba's are best if you go off road, as the finish is harder and most scratch resistant...whereas the shine that you can get from the silicones can be impressive and last a long time...and repel acid rain and guano, etc very well.

So - for an Altima that you drive on the street, and the impression I get that you are not going to enter it in a Concors de Excellance type of thing, I'd say a silicone that goes on easy so that you do it on a regular basis is best (2x/yr).

Perhaps "best" is subjective but this wax comparison is an interesting read.

yay zaino wins!
that stuff is really good. I had it on for a long time, wash the car alot and the wax is still there

Very interesting article. Man, I would feel like an idot paying $140 for wax.

after waxing/polishing my dads cars for years as a kid using California Gold, Mothers etc, I now know Zaino is the by far the best.
The amount of effort is so minimal compaired to other products.

I only use it on my cars 2- 3 times a year, and wash them all the time. Zaino lasts a long, long time.

This is a VERY subjective topic.

I use Meguiar's exclusively. It is used on our daily drivers as well as our show cars. I will not use anything else, for the reason of ease of use and great shine and long lasting.

I know others that use Zaino, Mothers, Zymol, Turtle wax and others and all look very nice. Everyone ends up using what they feel is the best.

My father only uses Turtle wax on his antique cars.

Would you think that its really necessary to buy the Zaino ZFX ? They say its needed for the first time I don't want to get to confused waxing the X but it should help the mud to fall off

Zaino all the way. You can't beat it. I've been a die hard Zaino user for 4 years now.

The key to Zaino is preping the surface. If you don't strip all old wax and clay bar the vehicle, you will not get optimum results. If you do not use 100% white cotton towels, same thing.

There's a reason Zaino tells you how to apply the product and what to use to apply it.

Yes, the first time is a PITA, but once you get through that it's easy as hell to maintain it.

My 01 BLACK X was NEVER garage kept. And it still looked brand new when we traded it.

The 01

Our Altima

My Mustang.

For over the counter I like Meguiar's NXT. It's pretty easy to apply and remove and looks great. You can make it look even better with a carnuba on top. On my cars though I use do a glaze to remove scratches from drying and such, then a carnuba. It doesn't last more than a wash, but looks awesome for a week or so and really keep the car clean. A close one is meguiars hi-tech yellow wax, but that one is a bit hard to remove, if you can find a safe way to thin it down, it would probably be easier to work with.

This first one is after 2 days of rain and driving down a flooded over street with cars splashing dirty rain water and such all over it. I haven't even touched the car and she still looks good. The rest are cleaned up pictures, yay carnuba

who wants to have tow ax there car everytime you wash it? With zaino it lasts much much much longer and looks great. Super easy to apply also.

Because the end results are better than Zaino and it's only like 20 minutes extra on top of the wash. Usually takes like 30 minutes total, I've done it on all my cars for years now. It all depends on what you are going for.

Consumer Reports' ratings of car waxes just came out. Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax was highest rated followed closely by Turtle Wax Carnauba Car Wax. Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax scored excellent in all categories (gloss, durability, ease of use, cleaning, scratching/hazing, and compatibility with plastics) except ease of use where it scored good.

Zaino and NXT are not wax.