The best waxes and sealants?

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imported_akimel

New member
Based on the goodly number of testimonies I have read over the past year and limited personal experience, here are some suggestions for the "best" carnauba waxes and synthetic sealants under $250 (retail):


Carnauba Waxes:

$10-$15: Meguiar's M26 Yellow Tech Wax, Collinite 845, Optimum Car Wax

$15-$20: Natty's Blue, Natty's Red, Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax, Collinite 476, Harly Wax, S100

$20-$30: Collinite 915

$30-$40: Lusso Oro, P21S

$40-$50: Pinnacle Signature, P21S 100%, Victoria Concours Red

$50-$60: Blackfire Midnight Sun, Chemical Guys 50/50, Chemical Guys Pete's '53, Wet Obsession

$60-$75: Dodo Juices

$75-$100: Pinnacle Souveran

$100-$125: Dodo Juice Supernatural, Zymol Glasur

$125-$150: Swissvax Saphir

$150-$200: Wolfgang Fuzion, Zymol Concours

$200-$250: Swissvax Concorso/Best of Show/Smaragd

$250+: You must have very deep pockets!


Synthetic Sealants:

$10-$15: DuraGloss 105, Mother's FX SynWax, Jeff Werkstatt's Acrylic Jet Trigger, Zaino Z-2 Pro

$15-$20: Meguiar's NXT, Mother's Relections, Finish Kare Hi Temp Synthetic Paste Wax (1000p), 1Z Glanz Wax, Jeff Werkstatt's Acrylic Jet, Poorboy's EX-P, Zaino Z-5 Pro, Ultima Paint Guard Plus (4 oz.)

$20-$30: Blackfire Wet Diamond, Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze, Opti-Seal (8 oz.), Meguiar's M21 Synthetic Sealant,

$30-$40: Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, Menzerna FMJ, Chemical Guys Jet Seal, Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection

$40+: Why is it we are willing to pay so much more for a carnauba wax than a synthetic sealant?


Cleaner Waxes

$5-$10: Meguiar's ColorX, Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, Mother's Carnauba Cleaner Wax

$10-$15: DuraGloss 501, AutoGlym Super Resin Polish

$15-$20: Optimum Poli-Seal, Jeff's Werkstatt Prime

$20-$30: Meguiar's M20 Polymer Sealant, Klasse All-in-One, Zaino Z-AIO, Jeff's Werkstatt Prime (Acrylic, Carnauba, Strong), M66 Quick Detailer Polish (gallon)

$30-$40: Meguiar's D151 Paint Reconditioning Creme (gallon)


The above products can often be found on sale at various websites, sometimes at significant reductions. The comparative pricing is inaccurate in some cases, because specific products come in different sizes: for example, Ultima Paint Guard is listed in the $15-$20 bracket and Opti-Seal is listed in the $20-$30 bracket, but the former is sold in a 4 oz. bottle and the later in an 8 oz. bottle--with both a little product goes a long way. D151 is listed in the $30-$40 bracket, but it is only sold by the gallon (though Auto Detailing Solutions does sell a 32 oz. sampler for $14.95). I have not attempted to "equalize" products by pricing them by the ounce. Also remember that "more expensive" does not always mean "better." Shipping costs must also be taken into consideration.
 
Glad to see you put the Fuzion on, I just purchased a two for one deal (3oz) and like the stuff a lot.
 
Great list Al! Hopefully I can eventually use lots of these! I caught the detailing bug and I think this just made my craving to always try the next wax even worse! :D
 
I think a more practical comparison is cost per application to normalize the information. Pastes waxes and sealants like 4 Star/Black Fire/Wolfgang usually use less product than liquid waxes like M26 ounce. Fuzion includes a refill too.
 
Bunky said:
I think a more practical comparison is cost per application to normalize the information. Pastes waxes and sealants like 4 Star/Black Fire/Wolfgang usually use less product than liquid waxes like M26 ounce. Fuzion includes a refill too.
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I do not disagree, but I do not have the experience with the various products to accurately compare "cost per application."

Good point about Fuzion and the refill. I shall move Fuzion down into a lower price bracket. Thanks. I was tempted to move Souveran into a lower price bracket, too, because of annual (bi-annual?) BOGO.
 
akimel said:
I do not disagree, but I do not have the experience with the various products to accurately compare "cost per application."

Good point about Fuzion and the refill. I shall movse Fuzion down into a lower price bracket. Thanks. I was tempted to move Souveran into a lower price bracket, too, because of annual (bi-annual?) BOGO.
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It's a slippery slope on how to price waxes if we don't go by the normal listed prices.t

For example, if a product has a bi-annual BOGO and normally retails $100, so it has a BOGO of $50, is it a $50 dollar wax that people pay too much for the other 350 days of the year? So is it rated as a $50 dollar wax or a $100 dollar wax? Or a $50.00 dollar wax that has a lot of mark up?

Or do we charge by how much the ingredients in the wax are worth? How much it costs to make? Would just about every wax then fall in the same category?
 
Good points, Todd. The only "objective" price for these products is the published retail price. Sale prices come and go and one never knows for sure if they will return. Of course, if a product is always "on sale," then the sale price in effect becomes the retail price. I do not know if this obtains for any of the above products.

I would love to know what the typical mark-up is for waxes and sealants. Given the deep discounting that one sometimes sees, my totally speculative, unfounded guess is that the mark-up for carnauba waxes (excluding the Zymol and Swissvax products, whose mark-ups must be astronomical) is between 150% and 200%, perhaps even higher. I would also guess that the mark-up for synthetic sealants is less.

Am I getting warm? :)

What is a product worth? It's worth whatever I'm willing to pay for it.
 
th0001 said:
It's a slippery slope on how to price waxes if we don't go by the normal listed prices.t

For example, if a product has a bi-annual BOGO and normally retails $100, so it has a BOGO of $50, is it a $50 dollar wax that people pay too much for the other 350 days of the year? So is it rated as a $50 dollar wax or a $100 dollar wax? Or a $50.00 dollar wax that has a lot of mark up?

Or do we charge by how much the ingredients in the wax are worth? How much it costs to make? Would just about every wax then fall in the same category?
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I would keep the list the way it is. I want to know what my initial investment cost is going to be. Even with a BOGO or a free refill, I am paying full price of the single unit to get my hands on the product.

I can look at value separately.

:)

Mike
 
akimel said:
Good points, Todd. The only "objective" price for these products is the published retail price. Sale prices come and go and one never knows for sure if they will return. Of course, if a product is always "on sale," then the sale price in effect becomes the retail price. I do not know if this obtains for any of the above products.

I would love to know what the typical mark-up is for waxes and sealants. Given the deep discounting that one sometimes sees, my totally speculative, unfounded guess is that the mark-up for carnauba waxes (excluding the Zymol and Swissvax products, whose mark-ups must be astronomical) is between 150% and 200%, perhaps even higher. I would also guess that the mark-up for synthetic sealants is less.

Am I getting warm? :)

What is a product worth? It's worth whatever I'm willing to pay for it.
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You are 100% correct in the fact that a product is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it, or when enough people will pay for it to support maximum profit in the bell curve.

I cannot pressume to know the mark up of other brands and products, other then what we sell, but I can guarantte you that you can buy a hand crafted wax with the finest ingredients that rival those of ANY wax out there (regardless of price) for less then $70.00 with Midnight Sun, batch 24.

However, the fact that Blackfire has at least as high quality ingredients as any other wax, and is offered at such an attractive price year round obviously means that it will likely never have a BOGO. It's hard to cut more off the price when its such a great value to begin with. Of course we could raise the price year around then give more attractive deals ;) .
 
Mikejl said:
I would keep the list the way it is. I want to know what my initial investment cost is going to be. Even with a BOGO or a free refill, I am paying full price of the single unit to get my hands on the product.

I can look at value separately.
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Concur, and BTW, great list!:biggrin:

IMO, with the economy and the marketplace the way it is today, most manufacturers cannot control the prices that their products sell for, beyond the obvious cost of making the finished product. You will not last long, if you are buying product and selling it for less than you paid for it. The only fanatical manufacturer that will chase to ends of the Earth to find someone selling their products below MSRP, is Rolex, and even they can't do it 100% of the time.

As for value, a very important consideration, but one that's too subjective for me.
 
I seen it very often when manufacturers rise up the price, and then "kinda put it on sale", to show you, watch, I have it on sale...
As far as waxes, it all comes down to how good is good, and how best is the best, and how much you are willing to pay for that very best...Vintage is probably one of the best, if not the best waxes out there, but not many are willing to cash out over $2k on a wax, even if it comes with a lifetime refill...
Blackfire Midnight Sun is one of the best waxes I've used to date, and I absolutely adore it. Ice over Fire combo gives you phenomenal results, and those who haven't tried it, should try it, especially considering 15% off and free shipping.
 
I have the Fuzion from the frozen batch, I have the Pinnacle signature series 2 and to tell the truth I think the Pinnacle has a better look, maybe not as durable? I am dying to try the Blackfire sealant and nuba, I just have too much wax to invest in any more right now.
 
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