I wash mine with Maguires:- http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/Store/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=car+wash & polish with Auto Glym:- http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/autoglym/super-resin-polish-325ml.aspx
Autoglym gives a lovely finish. Mer now and then, you can use it on a wet surface, and even on glass, but not the windscreen.
I used to use all the expensive high end waxes. Mother's. McGuire's, etc,... Then somebody recommended Nu Finish. It technically isn't even wax. It's a wax-like product. I remembered it from cheesy commercials when I was a kid. They rubbed a spot of it on a dull car in a junk yard and *poof* it suddenly had a shiny spot. They claimed you only had to apply it once for a full year of protection. It could withstand 16 soapy car washes and look! The water still beads! I never believed a word of it,... until I tried it. All true. It made the dull 35 year old paint on my Cadillac look showroom new. It's not even expensive! I will never use anything else. http://www.amazon.com/Nu-Finish-Liquid-Car-Polish/dp/B000BPSW7C
Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Some time ago Which ran a test on car polishes and it came out best. It also easily rubs off the rubber trim if you accidentally get it on it.
Random auto-wax related factoid- Did you know common car wax (perhaps not 100% carnauba) will remove permanent marker ink from non-porous surfaces? Even Sharpie ink will wipe right off as if it were a dry erase marker. Not to hijack or anything. Just thought I'd share that bit. Might come in handy some day. Carry on.
OK people, so far barring the odd one or two posts, everybody has mentioned polish. 90% of 'wax' on the Market is not wax. It is a polishing compound with a small dose of wax added. What polishing does is it uses fine grains to 'scratch' off tiny layers of wax/lacquer/paint to give the effect of a shine. if you have never waxed properly then all your doing is trashing your paint job. You must ALWAYS wax after a new paint job and then once a year. When you wax you should uses carnauba wax 100%, it's bloody hard work but so worth it. Once it has been waxed properly then you can polish it as much or as little as you want. Don't forget the wax is your barrier between the outside world and your paint/metal work! So for wax, carnauba 100%, dodo juice, mequires Then polish, dodo juice, mequires I would never touch auto glym or probably any of the other rubbish at halfrauds. Carry on.....
ok..heres my list wash it any car shampoo dry it with micro cloth clay bar I use megs wash again and dry polish with megs number 82 on a da machine polisher show glaze wax with super natural costing a wopping £100 odd quid but last for ages and no signs of any swirl marks and minor imperfects are gone 8) these photos are after the first time its loads better now
Olive-bay is spot on. Really and truly that's what you should do to all vehicles. By damaging what I mean is constant use without proper waxing will remove your lacquer followed by your paint. I'm sure you have heard of T cut? Well polish is basically the same just more diluted. What T cut does, and other compound polishes such as g3, is remove a tiny layer from the top coat. The reason for this is the paintwork gets scratches and fades in the sun, removing the damaged layer reveals a clean shiny layer underneath. But, after sone time you will eventually get through to paint and if you keep going down to primer then metal. Dont get me wrong this will take a long time to happen but prevention rather than cure is my motto
oh but i'd never touch t cut its bad for the top coat in my opinion, its ok to use a rubbing compound if you are blending in..but thats it a clay bar will remove all contaminants stuck to the surface of the paint ie tree sap, road salt/dirt etc etc.