Meguiars Gold Class Clear Coat Wax (Paste)

Price Paid:  $9.00

Summary:
This is one of the few Meguiar's products that I have a love/hate relationship with. I basically keep a complete line of Meguiar's products. Like all Meguiar's products it produces a rich, deep and brilliant shine. It does have polishing compounds. This is an advantage for haze. But I have an older car that had an Oxydized finsh when I use this product more color comes up than when I use a pure wax. Being a combination product I found that it is not quite as good as a glaze. The Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze adds special paint nutrients and also seems to seal the finish better on my Red car with the finish problems. Meguiars #5 New Car Glaze is also good for well maintained cars under 5 years. After I use the glaze and completely clean it off. No more color comes up. Color still comes up with Gold Class Paste.

Meguiars #26 Hard Yellow Wax with Carnauba has no abrasives. Color doesn't come up. This product is also far more durable. I can go 4 months in the winter when it's too cold, and there will still be some protection. I did a Gold Class coat this spring and it was completely exhausted in 2 months. Another Car with the #26 still beaded pretty well.

Personally, I'm limiting this product to colder weather applications where it's ease of application outweighs its durability. But I won't use it otherwise.

Strengths:
This wax has polishing compounds with very mild abrasives that clear up haze well. It helps avoid a two step process. It is the best paste wax to apply by machine. It is also easy to apply when temperatures are lower. This is a good wax to apply for those who don't want to do a glaze/sealer first then a wax on top.

Weaknesses:
Durability. Consumer reports recently listed gold class liquid as being in the middle of the pack for durabilty. For a paste wax I would have to list this as low for durability. Avoid on oxydized finishes where paint pigment comes up.

Similar Products Used:
Meguiar's #26 Hard Yellow with Carnauba. Rain Dance, Nufinish 2001, TR3, various combination cleaner/wax products. Great shine, not as durable as it should be. Others hold up longer -- especially #26

Price Paid:  $8.00

Summary:
I like this product, but I have mixed feelings about it. I think that this product is a much better quality than Meguiars best selling cleaner/wax. As a combination cleaner wax it does a good job. If your car finish is in good condition with some very light scratches it quite honestly will make the finish better than new. I had 2 cars, one I used the two step method of a glaze/sealer, then a conventional wax, and on the other I used the gold class was only. The first time they looked very good. I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

Durability was another matter however. The glazed/Carnauba Wax treatment lasted much longer, and what's made a difference, it kept that just finished look longer. But the 2 step approach took longer to apply.

Best use, use this as a first coat, then use #26 Hard Yellow Paste on Horizontal surfaces for better durability and longer protection. Vertical services in my experience just don't suffer the abuse that the roof, hood and trunk do.

Strengths:
This is one of the best combination products I've seen. Good for those who want to save labor.

This product leaves a beautiful deep shine and my 10 year old car looked better than new Toyotas at a dealership I went to recently. For looks it is everything Meguiar's said it is.

Applies well by machine.

The abrasives break down when applied so they limit their cutting action. You can't ruin your finish by using this product.

Weaknesses:
It is a combination product. While it leaves a nice finish it doesn't seal the finish as well as a glaze/sealer, and isn't as durable as Meguiar's #26 Hard Yellow with Carauba.
It is not for oxydized finishes. Use the Meguiar's Surface Prep or show car Glaze if the finish is less than very good quality.

Durability. Consumer's reports, while listing this as a very good product, placed this lower in durability. My experience has found this to be true. I generally do a second coat of Paste by hand after appling Gold Class by machine.

This is not designed for oxydized finished where abrasion needs to be minimized.

Don't use this product if you only wax once or twice a year.

Similar Products Used:
Nufinish 2001, TurtleWax, Prestone, Kitt, Kitt and Nufinish say you only need to do it once a year, but I haven't found that to best preserve the finish. Meguiars applied every 6-8 weeks works best for me.