Am wondering what the crowds preference is for paint care.
Am contemplating shining up the magna, but am worried as I have never had a car with clear coat before. My clear coat does have a few gaps (5c coin size) that I have patched with clear nail polish for now to stop the rot.
I am considering Autoglym super resin polish, as it has great reviews everywhere.
Has anyone had a bad experience with this product, or is there another product that is more widely preferred?

PS...autoglym 1L on ebay is cheaper than 500mL at a particular barn for auto's sale price.

Its a preference thing i think, as long as it isnt a $5 bottle of polish (even then some aint to bad lol) me, i use meguiars car wash, then i use meguiars rubbing compound once a year, meguiars polishing compound and gold class wax every 6 months. followed by their window cleaner

I seal my paint work with HD Poxy, its a polymer synthetic sealant, brings out the natural colour of the car unlike alot of synthetics, and lasts a hell of a long time unlike natural waxes. I get it from Woody Wax.com in Melbourne.

However its not just the sealant you need to look at, if you havent clay barred a car before I would do that to, this removes contaminates from the surface off the paint leaving the paint work smooth like glass. You also need a good wash too, if you put some sealant on your car and use the cheapest nastiest wash you can buy, or use the car washes as opposed to hand washing you will be stripping off your hard work in no time. Never use something like dishwashing liquid as thats designed to remove anything, so you put sealant/wax on, use dishwashing liquid, it will all be stripped right back.

I use either,"HD Pink Soap" or Meg's "Gold Class" wash, these both do a good job as removing dirt and grime but at the same time condition the paint work/sealant.

When drying I recommend using a drying towel or a microfiber towel, spray a panel with some detailing lubricant like Mothers "Showtime", Meg's "Quick Detailer" or HD's "Final Touch" and then use the towel to remove the water and the detailer. The reason you do this is it helps to towel moving nicely, not drag and these products help build up layers or protection ontop of the paint work of sealant.

This is the gloss from my car before I put sealant on it, sealant's especially the "HD Nitro Seal" I used bring out an amazing gloss to the car, however I got this gloss from washing the car, claying it and cutting back some of the paintwork all "High Definition" products, amazing what you can achieve when you set yourself a proper cleaning method.

http://i937.photobucket.com/albums/ad217/peaandham_bucket/IMG_6563.jpg (http://s937.photobucket.com/user/peaandham_bucket/media/IMG_6563.jpg.html)

Thats awesome pea!!! Hoping you can do my car next.

It does look good but how often would you need to do it to keep it looking like that? My car is dirty after just 1 weeks driving on the fwy! If you wash it weekly how long before you have to reseal it?

Thanks for all the assistance, it appears that there is an entire world of options.
Peandham...that is an excellent job matey...you can do mine anytime!

I more question....If you were currently out of a job and living skint, (like me!) where would you invest the majority of your money...ie polish, wax, sealant or???
Car is in the weather 24/7, and I live 57 steps from the sand on the beach...

The sealant/wax ensures dirt doesn't stick as easily, so if your car is dusty generally a nice blast on the freeway would normally blow the dust off. When it rains the water beads and basically just rolls off the car.

If you use a wax every second month or so I would recommend redoing it. If you use a synthetic sealant, I would recommend every 3 months or if you applied 2 coats you should get 6 months full protection out of it, however sealants/waxes, still hang around for a long time.

Guys im no pro detailer, im just a hobbyist, I spent alot of my time toying around with new and different things whether its audio, mechanical, detailing or things not involving a car, car detailing was one Im glad it looked into but with that said I dont normally leave myself any free time :(

jdisnow, sealant, defiantly sealant, the good thing about woodywax.com is I know the guy and they provide some of the best service you will get, but the pricing is very good for what it is, I would buy their HD Poxy and use that, it helps prevent the paint work from taking a beating from the sun and other elements.

Edit: But also working in the trade paint industry, id also say invest your time in washing down your house so the salt doesn't start corroding the paint work on your house. :)

I more question....If you were currently out of a job and living skint, (like me!) where would you invest the majority of your money...ie polish, wax, sealant or???
If you are on a tight budget check out the Poorboys World range from www.waxit.com.au. I use the White Diamond polish/glaze and the EX-P sealant on both my old TJ and my 380 and am very happy with the results.


It does look good but how often would you need to do it to keep it looking like that?
Like peaandham said every 3 months for a sealant is a good balance between keeping the car looking good and your spare time/sanity. A spray wax after washing does assist in prolonging the life of your sealant/wax.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47869&d=1389510686

Thank you all for the help!