Wax polish. Good and bad.
Discussion
For £50 I would go out and buy Dodo Juice Lime Prime and one of their coloured waxes + some applicators and microfibre cloths. I have switched to using their products from Zymol Concourse wax which is around £150 a tub because they gave a better result. http://www.dodojuice.com/dodo-juice-range.html
Choosing a wax is like choosing a house...what do you want. Do you want winter protection, then choose Collinite 456 or 915...but use a couple of coats.
Do you want a wet look in the summer, then use something like Klearkote Moose wax layered upon Chemical Guys Pete's 53.
Dodo Juice make both soft and hard waxes for different coloured cars and pricewise there are very good value. The results are outstanding but do need topping up every month.
Victoria wax is excellent and costs around £20 for a decent sized jar which will last many months.
Stepping up a level look at Swissvax products or Zymol and if you want a whole system to work with then Zaino will really deliver results to your paintwork, when used correctly.
Do you want a wet look in the summer, then use something like Klearkote Moose wax layered upon Chemical Guys Pete's 53.
Dodo Juice make both soft and hard waxes for different coloured cars and pricewise there are very good value. The results are outstanding but do need topping up every month.
Victoria wax is excellent and costs around £20 for a decent sized jar which will last many months.
Stepping up a level look at Swissvax products or Zymol and if you want a whole system to work with then Zaino will really deliver results to your paintwork, when used correctly.
To back up and add to Belleair's comments - understanding the difference between the two terms wax, and polish is fairly important.
Assuming the paint is not in need of major correction, then a wax or sealant will be what you're wanting to use, to add a sacrificial protective layer against the elements.
Of the waxes mentioned, the best bang for the buck will come from Collinite, although to be fair to Dodo and Victoria, and others, Collinite is really a hybrid polymer wax with carnauba - hence it's superb longevity for "a wax".
That said though, carnauba degrades over typically a 3-4 month period, in regular exposure to the elements, and it is considered best to remove it all and reapply a fresh base layer once again.
As for sealants, Zaino is another excellent product, but can be a bit over awing with the combination of Z2 with ZFX for quicker curing times, and Z8 for a weekly top-up. All that doesn't come cheaply. Equally, it gives of its best when the paintwork is at its best, otherwise it highlights the swirls and scratches present on the paintwork.
To that end, the superlative and daftly underpriced Autobalm is pretty much where the absolute most for your money is at - it'll mask defects (all bar the more severe of course), lasts an absolute age, and has an element of wax-like properties about itself - namely depth of colour (darker colours mainly) and wetness.
To achieve similar results, you'd need to look at Dodo Lime Prime Lite (a glaze) or Meguiar's #7, possibly Clearkote's Vanilla Moose Glaze Hand Wax (even though it's not a wax!), with Dodo/Victoria Concours over the top.
Forget about worrying if a particular colour charged Dodo hard wax is better for your car - you'll never tell the difference between them other than maybe a pure (non-metallic, non-pearlescent) white, and even then, it'd be extremely subtle and entirely subjective.
Now, having covered that little lot, moving on to polishes......Autoglym Super Resin Polish, Dodo Lime Prime (not the Lite) are your best bets for hand correction with a decent foam pad like a Sonus Applicator pad (Black and Yellow foam either side of a supportive red foam).
From there, you can decide what to put over those to protect the paintwork, once you've worked the microabrasives and buffed it off.
Should also point out, before even worrying about which wax/sealant/polish to use, your paintwork will probably feel a bit rough, and a good going over after rinsing with a good clay bar (doesn't get any better than the Autoclays, for me) will make more of a difference than spending 2-3x more on a particular brand of wax/sealant.
In fact, price is no indicator of anything really, since both Autobalm and Collinite are the two longest lasting, yet the cheapest of the "boutique" brands, and a more expensive wax doesn't buy you a better look - that comes from the prep (read refinement) of the paintwork, with maybe a 5-10% attributed to the LSP chosen (last stage product).
So, no LSP (aside from any masking of defects it may provide) will turn average paintwork into a concours looking one, no matter how many £££ you throw at it.
Assuming the paint is not in need of major correction, then a wax or sealant will be what you're wanting to use, to add a sacrificial protective layer against the elements.
Of the waxes mentioned, the best bang for the buck will come from Collinite, although to be fair to Dodo and Victoria, and others, Collinite is really a hybrid polymer wax with carnauba - hence it's superb longevity for "a wax".
That said though, carnauba degrades over typically a 3-4 month period, in regular exposure to the elements, and it is considered best to remove it all and reapply a fresh base layer once again.
As for sealants, Zaino is another excellent product, but can be a bit over awing with the combination of Z2 with ZFX for quicker curing times, and Z8 for a weekly top-up. All that doesn't come cheaply. Equally, it gives of its best when the paintwork is at its best, otherwise it highlights the swirls and scratches present on the paintwork.
To that end, the superlative and daftly underpriced Autobalm is pretty much where the absolute most for your money is at - it'll mask defects (all bar the more severe of course), lasts an absolute age, and has an element of wax-like properties about itself - namely depth of colour (darker colours mainly) and wetness.
To achieve similar results, you'd need to look at Dodo Lime Prime Lite (a glaze) or Meguiar's #7, possibly Clearkote's Vanilla Moose Glaze Hand Wax (even though it's not a wax!), with Dodo/Victoria Concours over the top.
Forget about worrying if a particular colour charged Dodo hard wax is better for your car - you'll never tell the difference between them other than maybe a pure (non-metallic, non-pearlescent) white, and even then, it'd be extremely subtle and entirely subjective.
Now, having covered that little lot, moving on to polishes......Autoglym Super Resin Polish, Dodo Lime Prime (not the Lite) are your best bets for hand correction with a decent foam pad like a Sonus Applicator pad (Black and Yellow foam either side of a supportive red foam).
From there, you can decide what to put over those to protect the paintwork, once you've worked the microabrasives and buffed it off.
Should also point out, before even worrying about which wax/sealant/polish to use, your paintwork will probably feel a bit rough, and a good going over after rinsing with a good clay bar (doesn't get any better than the Autoclays, for me) will make more of a difference than spending 2-3x more on a particular brand of wax/sealant.
In fact, price is no indicator of anything really, since both Autobalm and Collinite are the two longest lasting, yet the cheapest of the "boutique" brands, and a more expensive wax doesn't buy you a better look - that comes from the prep (read refinement) of the paintwork, with maybe a 5-10% attributed to the LSP chosen (last stage product).
So, no LSP (aside from any masking of defects it may provide) will turn average paintwork into a concours looking one, no matter how many £££ you throw at it.
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