The worst of the year?

scottabir

New member
So I am wondering if anyone bought any products this year that turned out to be a complete waste of money, and have you scratching your head going why did I ever buy this?
 
Automagic's Awesome Gloss.

It "blooms". Wipe it all off, to a nice shine, then 2 days later it looks like you missed 20%! Very embarrassing, among other things.



Jim
 
Black Magic Gel Tire Shine, it is evil for a black car, it slings everywhere and it's a nightmare to remove the silicone, lesson learned and went back to Vinylex for the tires.
 
I did good this year. I can not think of anything I bought that I regret. Well, Griot's polish actually. That crap worked alright but stained trim like a mofo!
 
GC trim detailer - totally useless!

Scratch X - seemed OK til I found Autopia, #9 & DACP etc...

GC wax - ditto above!

Body scrub - ineffective on anything other than very mild contamination



I am learning though - I hope!
 
MEguiars Hot Shine tire spray. The absolute worst tire spray in the world. It looks like crap and lasts for about 15 minutes.



I'll stick to my (believe it or not) armor all tire foam. Great durability, nice sheen (not fake gloss), and easy to apply, no sling.



-Tom
 
ScratchX, totally useless especially after I discovered PC, DACP etc.



Most tyre (sorry USA I mean tire!) dressings, nothing seems to last very long at all.



Wonder wheels (pre Autopia) totally corroded my brake calipers & wheel nuts but amazingly didn't damage my wheels.



Most window cleaners I have bought (except one) that are worse than just plain water.
 
armoredsaintt said:
Black Magic Gel Tire Shine, it is evil for a black car, it slings everywhere and it's a nightmare to remove the silicone, lesson learned and went back to Vinylex for the tires.



I absolutely agree!



Black Magic is, by far, the worst tire dressing I've ever used!



And the ironic part is, the bottle specifically states "Won't Sling".....



And worse-yet. When it "dries", it's GUMMY! Attracting all kinds of dust, dirt, etc. The fact is, IT NEVER DRIES! Just a gummy mess.



Don't waste your money.
 
First let me just say that this is a good product, and that I regret it in the sense that it's something I bought that I will likely never use again, but I don't regret that I tried it (unless I could somehow have gotten the knowledge of trying it without actually having shelled out for it).



But the $80+ I dropped on Z2, Z5, Z6, Z7, and ZFX was basically a waste in the sense that I don't like it and likely won't use it again. The Z12 was very nice, though.



It was very shiny, but it had no gloss. My paint didn't look red when you looked down it. It looked like a mirror. I bought a red car because I like red... It's possible to have high reflection and still see the red. I'd prefer it to look like a sharp reflection off a red pool than off a mirror.



It beaded a lot, but the beads don't move off the paint. So the car would get a lot more water spots (which seemed harder to remove than with Blackfire) and would be dirtier after driving in the rain.



It seemed to get a lot more crud stuck on the lower body. There were more times I needed to use bug & tar products or spot claying to remove little stuff stuck to the rockers and lower doors. With Blackfire it was very rare that I had to do this as everything came off in the wash (using the same #00 for both).



I also think it is a pain to apply. I much prefer being able to apply Blackfire right on top of a polish, still get months of durability, and a lot more depth and pop. On my wife's car, I find Klasse or MPPP to be much easier to apply, and both have great looks.



It wasn't a bad product, but I seriously can't imagine using it again. I really hate getting rid of stuff, so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Maybe I'll just keep it around just in case. You never know when you'll change what you want from a product and start using something again that you previously put aside.
 
Meguiar's Rich Leather Wipes (what was I thinking??)



Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Spray (absolutely the WORST product regardless of category!!!)



Poorboy's EX (now I know why it can be applied right on top of polish)



I want to say Poorboy's Spray & Wash, but I won't because as a very very 'light wash' to remove light dust, it works OK. However, as a wash substitute (which is what it claims), it doesn't even come close. How is this different from a QD??



Safe Scrub Bug & Tar Sponge (no way in hell this stuff doesn't scratch your paint)



Griot's Polishing Cloths (damn, can you get any thinner??)



There were a few others which I can't think of right now.



I'd also like to mention a few products that worked out pretty well for me:



1Z Perls shampoo (does everything it claims to do)

Sonax Bug & Tar Spray (excellent product!)

Wurth Dent Puller (took some practice, but is starting to work out ok now)

Sonus Acrylic Spritz



BTW, these products were purchased at the Autopia Store, which has always been a great place to shop.



And finally,



Klasse AIO/SG (actually been using this for years now, but sorta 'rediscovered' it...thanks to the generousity of AutoGeek.net)
 
Zymol Cleaner Wax (bought before finding Autopia)



Meguiar's Leather Wipes



Meguiar's #26, not because it didn't work and look good but didn't give me the look I wanted.
 
Luster said:
I absolutely agree!



And worse-yet. When it "dries", it's GUMMY! Attracting all kinds of dust, dirt, etc. The fact is, IT NEVER DRIES! Just a gummy mess.



Don't waste your money.



Your exactly right, it never dries and gets gummy, I had to scrub my tires 3 times to remove that crap with a citrus degreaser. Water based products is the way to go, it doesn't last as long, but it attracts less dirt and etc.
 
Yeah, I'll second that on the Zymol Cleaner Wax (bought before I found this site)



And, dare I say, Crystal Guard Quick :cool:





But thanks to those who recommended Klasse/Sonus.
 
I third that, Zymol cleaner wax is horrible, how did they get rated #1 in a test, the tester must have been blind or the check Zymol wrote him was still in his pockets :) This is just a Zurtle Wax product.
 
I have thrown my truly bad products away so they don't occupy space on my shelf any longer. I can honestly say I have not come across any products recently that were outright "bad". Certainly hasn't always been the case but there are some fine products out there if you (we) do a little research prior to laying out $$. :up
 
armoredsaintt said:
I third that, Zymol cleaner wax is horrible, how did they get rated #1 in a test, the tester must have been blind or the check Zymol wrote him was still in his pockets :) This is just a Zurtle Wax product.

Well, I'm sure every product could get a #1 rating if they organized the test just right. You want a decent report on wax tests? Get the real thing from GuruReports. Has tons of useful info and analysis -- not just the ratings.
 
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