I have a black 1988 Volkswagen Cabriolet that I treat with as much as care as I would treat a child. Although my car was at some point repainted, my vehicle’s clear coat is nowhere near as thick as it should be in several areas, and I rely heavily on car waxes to protect my paint where my clear coat cannot.
After becoming increasingly frustrated with products that did not leave behind much of a protective wax layer no matter how many coats that I applied, I took the advice of my father and tried Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax. Taking note of the fact that my father’s 1994 Nissan Pick-up Truck has a glossy shine that’s practically showroom worthy, I went out and bought the product for around $17.00 at Walmart. Besides, there was another reason that I was interested in buying the NXT Generation Tech Wax. If you’ve ever watched Barry Meguiar, owner of Meguiar’s car care products and host of the show Car Crazy, it only takes a few minutes before you fall in love with Meguiar’s jovial personality and develop complete faith in the integrity of his product line.
Upon opening up Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax (I opted for the paste the first time), I immediately was hit with its delicious, slightly fruity aroma. I also noticed that the wax came with a green and purple foam application pad. After the obligatory check of car cleanliness (you should never wax a dirty car), I grabbed the applicator pad and swirled the fruity fragranced paste onto my Vdub.
The ease of application was great, as the paste was the perfect consistency. In the past, I’ve used other paste waxes that were way too dry and pasty and not very waxy, which made for tough application and removal, but this wasn’t the case with the Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax. It smoothed right on, and dried fairly quickly. Using a separate and clean terry cloth towel for wax removal, I buffed my car to an amazing deep, rich gloss. Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax promises to leave your finish “amped up with a deep, wet-look shine that is unbelievably intense.” Let me tell you, this product delivers on this claim for sure.
However, as gorgeous as my Volkswagen looked, the next test was to see how well the Tech Wax repelled water, dirt, and dust. Because I have rims on my car that are slightly wider than my fender flares, my driver and passenger side doors and rear quarter panels are especially vulnerable to being sprayed and plummeted with sand and rocks from the road, as well as mud when it rains. I applied to full coats of wax to my car, and did a little dance in hope of invoking rain.
As I would expect of living in Connecticut, it rained a few days later. I knew that I had quite a layer of wax on my vehicle based upon the way that the water beaded up like crazy. Next, I took my car for a ride in the rain. I did try to avoid enormous puddles, but if my car did happen to get splashed, I didn’t fret. After all, I wanted to see how well Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax would perform in normal driving conditions.
Since I was unable to see how well the Tech Wax repelled dirt with a soaking wet car, I this time started praying for the rain to stop, since once rain in Connecticut starts, it never seems to end. A few days later, the sun emerged from behind the clouds and I opened my front door to admire my gorgeous car.
To my surprise, my car was absolutely, amazingly, insanely…filthy. It literally looked like I had gone mud bogging. Now, I know that my rims are partially to blame for this, but this was ridiculous. After all of the time that I spent waxing, I figured that mud would maybe slide right off my car, or that I would see less of it. Since I didn’t want to strip any wax that might still be on my car, I decided to clean it using only a soft rag and my hose. The water from the hose beaded right up, so I knew that there was still wax there. After wiping with water and the hose and then drying with a chamois, my car looked better. I can’t say it looked great, but it did still have a bit of a shine to it. But still, I wasn’t happy. Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax was better than other waxes I had used up until this point, but it still wasn’t what I was hoping for. I continued to use the Meguiar’s Tech Wax, even trying the liquid formulation, for several more months, waxing about every 2-4 weeks. Over time and with many subsequent wax applications, the wax’s mud and dirt repelling power did improve slightly.
This was all fine and dandy until my best friend recently bought me Dupont brand Teflon Spray Wax. I believe that the wax was on sale at Lowe’s Home Improvement Store for around $7. I was skeptical of its ability, since I was equating cost with effectiveness at this point. However, all of my skepticism went right out the door after the first application of Dupont Teflon Spray Wax.
While Meguiar’s Tech Wax has a much more pleasant aroma, the Dupont Teflon Wax smelled pretty decent, as well. I really don’t know why I care about the scent; I suppose I’m mentioning it for comparative purposes only. Anyway, since the Teflon Wax is in a spray bottle, it is admittedly much easier to apply than the Meguiar’s NXT Generation liquid or paste wax. Also, despite the fact that it is sprayed, it is still a thick formulation, showing no signs of being watered down.
While application of the Dupont Teflon Wax is much easier, removing the wax, compared to Meguiar’s, is not. The Teflon Wax dries quickly to quite a hard shell, and you have to use a bit of elbow grease to remove it using a dry terry cloth towel. However difficult the wax is to remove is made up for in brilliant shine. While I was terrifically impressed with the deep shine of the Tech Wax, the Teflon Shine was far more brilliant and deep. I could clearly see my reflection in my car, and it was as smooth as glass. The Teflon Wax left my car looking far better than any wax ever. Again, though, the real test was how well it repelled dirt, pebbles, and mud. I only applied one coat due to being pooped out, and waited for rain.
As I mentioned above, rain is frequent in CT, so I didn’t wait long. I again took my car for a long drive and waited for sunlight. Stepping out of my house in the morning, this time I was shocked, but in a different way than I was last time. My car was definitely a little dirty, but it was probably only about 20% as dirty as it was last time with the coats of Meguiar’s Tech Wax. It rained about equally as hard both times, and I drove pretty much the same route, too. I was truly amazed. I took the hose and sprayed my car off, this time not using a rag to wipe my car down. I wanted to see if the Teflon truly repelled like it claimed to, and I have to say that it unquestionably did. Since then, I have applied the Dupont Teflon Wax every 2-4 weeks and my results have only dramatically improved. While it does seem more difficult to remove than other waxes that I have tried, it is every bit worthwhile.
I would recommend the Dupont Teflon Spray Wax to anyone, and especially those that live in a climate with ever-changing weather conditions and plenty of rainfall. My father has since started using the Dupont Teflon Wax as well, but feels that the Meguiar’s NXT Generation Tech Wax gives his red truck a richer, redder color while the Teflon Wax gives it a more orange tone. I suppose that results may depend on the color of your car, but either way, it’s worth the try.
