Mitchell and King waxes

[Scottwax]

I got an e-mail from JJ_, a member of autopia last winter. He wanted to know if I would do some testing of a custom carnauba wax he was formulating. His concern was how well it would hold up in a much warmer climate than where he is in Scotland. Always looking to try new products, I said I`d be glad to try out whatever he wanted to send me. He said his company`s goal was to provide waxes for a few hundred dollars that would rival waxes costing thousands.



Every month or so, I would get an update on the progress, and was told in the middle of March the samples were ready for shipping. I got my package on Tuesday, just in time for a round of severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes to pound the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So I tried it on some of the scale model cars I have first. Looked pretty amazing on the red one!



Finished a bit earlier than expected today, so I washed my car with ONR and then applied the wax they sent me, called Rannoch. No meaning to that name that I can determine beyond it being the name of the street their business is located on.



You can apply it directly by hand or with a foam applicator. I find that I can use less product by applying using a foam pad, so after a couple panels by hand, I switched to foam. I applied it a section at a time, then removed it before the wax fully dried. As easy to use as Souveran or Fuzion. The look is very rich and wet, even on my less than showy desert mist metallic paint (gold! ;) ). Not sure if my car is the best to test durability on as it has been Opti-Coated and not much sticks to it. But it should give me an idea of how it beads, at least for the next few weeks. I do have a few customers in mind whose cars I would like to apply it to and monitor before I start charging extra for it, should it live up to my initial impressions. I really haven`t used any high end waxes like this one before. Fuzion is the most expensive wax I`ve used.



This wax, at current exchange rates, is 267 pounds or about $440. Is any wax really worth that much? If you feel you really need that last 10% improvement in appearance, I guess to a lot of people it would be. And in the world of high end waxes, $440 isn`t that much in comparison. Given the color of my own car, it would be hard to justify the much higher price over something like Opti-Seal, Carnauba Moose or Collinite 476. But if I had a darker colored car, I possibly could, given that even though the entry fee is high, broken down over the expected 40-50 applications I should be able to get out of it, at $10 an application its less than 3 gallons of gas.



I guess the "is it worth it" explanation is similar to how I justify spending $$$ on a road bike. People think I`m nuts for spending what I did ($1100) to put together a bike that would retain in the $2500-3000 range based on the weight, gruppo and wheels. Sure the initial investment is pricey, but I`ll ride a good bike more often, faster and further and when you break it down over the number of miles I ride (19,000 over the last 5 years), its pretty cheap per mile.



Now, on with the pictures. Taken with my cell phone. New digital camera soon, I promise!



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/M_and_K_Rannoch_Wax2.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/M_and_K_Rannoch_Wax1.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_front1.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_frontend1.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_side2.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_rear2.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_side1.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_front2.jpg



http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s445/ScottwaxH/cars5/2004_Honda_Accord_MK_rear1.jpg

[C. Charles Hahn]

Wow, you really can tell a difference versus the bare OC; the car has that telltale carnauba "glow" to it. Nice!

[JJ_]

Thank you Scott, will be interesting to see how it performs in your weather. Sadly we are lucky to see 20 Degree`s most years here. haha!

[DM101]

Very nice !! Great on that color!! Looks like it could compete with my Zymol Vintage. Where can you get this wax???

[Dan]

Looks great, can`t wait to see it on red, yellow or black.

[WaxManRonnie]

Wow, you really can tell a difference versus the bare OC; the car has that telltale carnauba "glow" to it. Nice!



But worth $400+? That won`t help me sleep better at night. And my wife would kick me out.

[Dan]

But worth $400+? That won`t help me sleep better at night. And my wife would kick me out.



It might in fact be worth $400. I do like when vendors offer sample size pots, to me that shows confidence in the product and expect the consumer to come back for the full sized package.

[C. Charles Hahn]

But worth $400+? That won`t help me sleep better at night. And my wife would kick me out.



It`s all a matter of perspective. Would I personally spend $400+ on a pot of wax? Not hardly, unless I came upon a client that really, really wanted that sort of specific product used on their car. And then said client would be paying accordingly.



Doesn`t mean it doesn`t look good, regardless.

[Garry Dean]

The pics look good, Scott. It looks as though the wax works well.



Apparently there is a market for a wax at that price range or one would not bother putting it there. Good luck with it JJ.

[JohnKleven]

I have a couple of samples of their stuff, and I spoke with Jon over the phone about their product. Looks promising, but I haven`t had too much time to play with it yet. Your post has definitely peaked my interest though, and will be trying it soon.

[Scottwax]

The pics look good, Scott. It looks as though the wax works well.



Apparently there is a market for a wax at that price range or one would not bother putting it there. Good luck with it JJ.



True, I`m sure the actual ingredients aren`t particularly expensive, but research, testing, and marketing to a pretty small group of people who would be interested in this type of wax does cost money. And really, in the realm of high end waxes, these waxes are more modestly priced. Like I said, for my own car, with a less than spectacular color, it wouldn`t be worth it. But I do have some red and black cars coming up this next week, want to try it on a couple of them to see if the look it gives would be one that people would be willing to pay a premium price to have on their cars.



From a purely business standpoint, I can see a high end wax that isn`t excessively expensive being a good upsell for me.

[JJ_]

True, I`m sure the actual ingredients aren`t particularly expensive, but research, testing, and marketing to a pretty small group of people who would be interested in this type of wax does cost money. And really, in the realm of high end waxes, these waxes are more modestly priced.



From a purely business standpoint, I can see a high end wax that isn`t excessively expensive being a good upsell for me.



Thanks Scott, you hit the nail on the head the wax you are looking at took around 25/26 months of intense research and development. The wax you are testing is limited to 30 productions a year. Each one individually numbered etc to make sure it is kept to 30.



I have always had an interest in this level of detailing and it just grew from there, I am still JJ_ of autopia :)

[derek37]

True, I`m sure the actual ingredients aren`t particularly expensive, but research, testing, and marketing to a pretty small group of people who would be interested in this type of wax does cost money. And really, in the realm of high end waxes, these waxes are more modestly priced. Like I said, for my own car, with a less than spectacular color, it wouldn`t be worth it. But I do have some red and black cars coming up this next week, want to try it on a couple of them to see if the look it gives would be one that people would be willing to pay a premium price to have on their cars.



From a purely business standpoint, I can see a high end wax that isn`t excessively expensive being a good upsell for me.



Scott, how would you upsell a high-end wax? Do you sell it on the clarity? durability? Now I`m all for upselling, do it all the time but when I do, the services offer benefits which are easily explained to the client. Unless it`s someone who has deep pockets or are convinced(by your selling skills) that this wax will make a noticeable difference, I`m just at loss at what I could say to convince them. Any thoughts? Anyone?

[Scottwax]

Scott, how would you upsell a high-end wax? Do you sell it on the clarity? durability? Now I`m all for upselling, do it all the time but when I do, the services offer benefits which are easily explained to the client. Unless it`s someone who has deep pockets or are convinced(by your selling skills) that this wax will make a noticeable difference, I`m just at loss at what I could say to convince them. Any thoughts? Anyone?



I let them know I have an exclusive, high carnauba content show quality wax that will take their finish to the next step. For the same reason someone might choose a Ferrari over a "lowly" ZR1 Corvette or Nissan GTR, there are those who will be interested in a wax that the average person cannot walk into a store and buy.

[JohnKleven]

I applied some Rannoch last week on a black Audi RS4. I was very impressed. The wax seemed to go on differently than other waxes, buffed out easily and made a very noticeable difference in the gloss and depth. I will see this customer again for maintenance washes, so I will let you know how the durability is.