I have to disagree somewhat. I have used a lot of different cleaners/polishes and if you put in the time, it will turn out better than any other polish. It is more costly, and if you try to take shortcuts, it will just look like any other polish. But if you work at it, it will give you that extra shine that other 'waxes' don't, IMO.

Personally, I don't find it much work. I find it easier than the Mother's or Meguire's I used to use in that it only takes me about 10 minutes to apply it, and a little more to remove it (unless I am going for a real deep shine, in which case it will take me a series of a few 15 minute sessions).

All in all, what I like is that is you keep doing more and more, it actually gets better and better. With a wax, it's one coat, and that's about it.

 

i think the only time consuming part is the beginning stages.
clay barring and putting on multiple coats.. (like what i did).

but now.. all i gotta do to maintain that sh¡t is throw on a coat, forget about it, come back later and wipe it off.

couldnt be easier

 

The dawning, the clay, the wash, the dry, swirl remover, polish, gloss enhancer, there's one coat in 2 or 3 hours. Thank god that's only the first time you need all that prep work. Now I can wash, polish and gloss enhance in next to no time, except for waiting awhile for the polish to set. Zaino is the best and makes a daily driver look great too.

 

I am truly glad you are happy with it.

Unfortunately, my experience has not been the same.

I did not cut any corners when I tried my Zaino. I actually gave it way more effort and “second chances” than any other product I have tried. Heck, as much as I paid for the stuff I couldn’t easily toss it in with the rest of the tried but failed product pile.
I fell for all the hype here at CZ28 and other places. I had high hopes that Zaino would make the job of maintaining my black car much easier. But, like a lot of things, paint appearance is totally subjective. What appears “flawless” to some is full of swirls and spider webbing to me. That “showcar” that some claim is “perfectly straight” clearly has wavy bodywork visible from 50 feet away. Only a relative few fall into the category of appearance expectations similar to mine. Most of those don’t realize how much time they actually spend on their car, and how it is not too much different than the time spent typically spent using other products.
Again, I must emphasize that we are talking daily driver here. 18k miles a year. In the rain, shine, snow, ice. The works.
Nothing looks better than fresh paint. There is no product out there that can improve on it. I was spending LOTS of time trying to keep my car looking showroom new. I was already using high quality cotton towels, cotton wash mitts, clay bars, and all the other stuff an **** person like myself wants to use to keep their ride looking top notch. I forked over the big $$ for Zaino and shut the car in the garage for 2 weeks cleaning, prepping, disassembling (wing, ground effects, hood “vents”, sidemarkers, taillights) and following the Zaino application process to the letter. As I recall, I put 5 coats of Z5 followed by 3 of Z2. Maybe one or two more coats of Z5. I wanted to hide the minor spider webbing that was starting to appear from washing and drying since the last time I had buffed and polished the car. Supposedly, the Z5 was going to save me the trouble of repeating that arduous task. Granted, the Zaino shine is great, but the Z5 had very little impact on the appearance. I was sorely disappointed. I could get nearly, if not exactly, the same look with 1-2 passes of Klasse in ONE DAY!
To be fair, I garaged the car again the next weekend after a wash followed by Z16. I taped off a section of a fender and applied 4-5 more coats of Z5 with 2 coats of Z2 over that. Removed the tape and compared the two areas. There was no discernable difference in the spider webbing. Talked to my Zaino dealer, and contacted people here in the Appearance section for help. Aside from suggesting I use the Zaino car wash (Z7?) no one could find fault with my methods, materials, nor suggest a solution other than more Z5. I bought some Z7 in hope this would be the answer.
My conclusion at this point was that my efforts were a total waste of time, hard work, and wasted product. I started over. Washed the Zaino all off with Dawn. This time I buffed and polished the finish to perfection. I washed the car with Dawn twice to make sure no residue, oils, or other product remnants remained. In full sunlight not a swirl or spider web could be found. Aside from the wonderful factory orange peel and a few touched up rock chips, there was not a flaw in the finish. Began the Zaino process all over, but skipped the Z5. Five coats of Z2. The car looked fantastic, although in fairness it had already looked fantastic before applying the Zaino.
That very week, a bird shat on the car while at work. According to the Zaino enthusiasts, the bird doo should practically fall off on it’s own. Z16 soak and only about 75% came off. I decided to wash it off after the drive home to reduce the possibility of scratching the paint. Even with the wash, it still came off no different than if it had been on a freshly waxed car. Not truly a big deal, but one more small crack in the Zaino armor. Over the next month I had plenty of opportunities to test the Zaino finish. I had to wash the car at least 3 times a week to remove the bugs and road debris that accumulated on the car from my daily commute. Nothing but Zaino products were used. There was a noticeable loss of gloss/shine on the sides of the car where road spray had hit it from a couple of rain showers after only week one! By the end of that month the Zaino was already exhibiting wear comparable to what I would expect from using Eagle One “Wet” finish protectant. A twice monthly application of Zaino is no different than a twice monthly application of synthetic "wax" except Zaino costs 8x as much! Use Z16? I'd have to buy a case a year!
I emailed Sal Zaino with explicit details of my efforts and results in hopes that he could help. He sent a blah, blah response the gist of which boiled down to me needing to call him. Call? I spent big bucks on this stuff and now I have to call long distance on my dime to talk to you? With the time zone difference I would only have a few minutes to do so before I would need to leave for work. I emailed back asking for a few suggestions or pointers based on my previous email, explaining my difficulties in having the time to call and willingness to try any suggestions in the until I had time off from work to make the call. I also asked if I could call outside of their business hours. Response? If it is important enough to me, I will make the time to call him when he was there. I think you blew enough smoke up my butt in the email, Sal, I don’t need to waste anymore $ and time for you to do it over the phone.
The Z1, Z2 and Z5 remain unopened since that time. I used up the Z7 and Z16. I think the Z16 is really great! I’d probably use it if I could just buy it in the store at a reasonable price.
In all honesty, that experience and the continual battle against the wear and tear of my commute has sucked away a lot of my enthusiasm for maintaining the finish on my car. I haven’t even put a speck of wax or polish on it since February ’03. I’ve just enjoyed driving it.
Later this summer it will get a ton of work. Touch-ups, wet sanding, buff and polish. The last thing to go on will be Klasse. Klasse holds up under conditions that Zaino can’t touch. We have a black Chinook helicopter at work that recently came back from two years in the jungles of South America. The last thing that went on it before it left the US was Klasse, and it still looks great!

 

Did u use ZFX in the zaino application ? Any more info on klasse ??

Fwiw I love zaino and havent experienced any problems with die back of the shine or etching poop . Maybe the bird ate some acidic fruit before it let loose

 

Well, I can't fault you for not being thorough.

Fortunately, my car is pewter. Only my roof top is black. I am as finicky as you are if that I see flaws where other people see near perfection, and saying such, I don't think I could own a black car! Black cars look better in the shade as they say.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone really get rid of those fine spider web marks. Zaino or not. But I consider that now pretty much acceptable. Except for fresh paint, I can't imagine seeing perfection.

As for stains/etching, nothing can prevent that IMO except either preventing the stuff from getting on your car or removing it fast. Sometimes its just bad luck. I've had tonnes of sap and bird crap hit my car in the past and it has never done any damage - except once. For some reason, last summer a small amount of sap got on the black surface of my car and immediately etched the paint. The sap on the pewter cleaned off easily, but most of where it hit on the black paint etched. Small, but there still.

So, IMO, Zaino is by no means magical and can't prevent/eliminate swirl marks and etching, but it does allow me to get a deeper shine than all other polishes I've tried. I like it, but I don't hype it.

I guess so many people hype things on the web that it can sometimes be frustrating. I'll have to look up that Klasse stuff.

Btw, thanks for being so thorough in your explanation. I hope that was a cut/paste from a previous email...

 

As I recall, ZFX came out after my experience.

Klasse is an acrylic polymer that predates Zaino by a decade or so. Not the newest technology, but it works for me. Some consider it to be too shiny for the amount of depth it provides. However, if your paint is in very good condition to start, this is not much of an issue. I've only used it on clear coats and polyurethane single stage coatings.

This website gives good info on the product line.
http://www.premiumautocare.com/klasse.html

I was not overly concerned with the bird doo. I am on the flight path for a local farmers flock of pigeons, so the car ends up as a target every couple of months. After 4+ yrs I am used to taking care of it. I was disappointed that it stuck to the Zaino as it did. There was no etching of the paint, so perhaps I should be thankful. So far, after all the years of poop abuse I've only had one that etched the paint. A little 2000grit took care of that.

Nobody could ever come up with a reason that the Zaino would fade after a dousing of road spray. It literally stopped beading up after one exposure (morning drive in the wet, sat at work, washed in the afternoon) the week after my final application. I Z16'd it and the gloss came back, but the very next rainy drive-same issue. Klasse doesn't do that, not even Eagle One Wet does until after 3-4 weeks of winter driving.

 

YES! It was a cut and paste! After getting hounded so often about how I MUST have done the application wrong I just filed that response away. A lot of people just assume I don't have a clue, but I've been detailing cars for myself and others privately and professionally since 1988. I was also a painter for a number of years; from Mercedes to Freightliners.
In my experience, some products do not work the same across different paint types/brands. Paint is essentially a plastic, and it is porous to some degree, so it should not be surprising that finish protectants may behave differently on a variety of finishes.

Thanks for the kind words....

 

I must confess I'm a happy consumer of Zaino and I too have a black car. I have a number of bird poop markings however

you certainly sound knowledgeable. I can only say I prefer Zaino as compared to the other common waxes such as Mothers etc. BUT I'm not so closed minded as to not consider alternatives. Thanks for your insights.

 

don't think I've ever seen anyone really get rid of those fine spider web marks. Zaino or not. But I consider that now pretty much acceptable. Except for fresh paint, I can't imagine seeing perfection.


i guess you havent seen twitch's car?

his car is flawless. literally.