Well I have been an avid user of Meguiar's products. Their products are economical, affordable and simply just work.
They offer 3 sealants. Sealants are different than a carnauba wax. Carnauba's offer that warm deep glow. Their weak point is longevity. They typically last 1-3 months depending on the surrounding environment. A sealant on the other hand offers more longevity and protection. They typically last about 4-6 months. Again this depends on the surrounding environment.
Meguiar's offers three sealants. There is NXT 2.0, which is their first introduction into the synthetic market. Ultimate Wax then followed, which is longer lasting than NXT 2.0. It was the longest lasting form of protection until a new product was introduced in 2015 by the name of Paint Protect 365. It claims to offer 1 years worth of protection. One thing to note is that on the professional side they offer M21 Synthetic Sealant 2.0. This is the pro version of NXT.
Paint Protect 365 is claimed to "bead water like crazy". I wanted to test this claim against M21 and Ultimate Wax and see how they behave.
I took my OEM hood and prepped that and taped it off and applied each product.
These are the products.
This is the hood taped up to apply each product to it's area. From left to right the hood is set up as follows.
Far left - used a 15% IPA wipe down to remove M205's polishing oils. This will be a control area #1.
M21 - The next section has a coat of M21 on it. I didn't remove M205's polishing oils.
Paint Protect 365 - The middle section has a coat of 365 on it. I didn't remove M205's polishing oils.
Ultimate Wax - The next section has a coat of Ultimate Liquid Wax. I didn't remove M205's polishing oils.
Far right - used a 15% IPA wip down to remove M205's polishing oils. This is control area #2.
I chose to remove the tape lines. Well not entirely true. There are small areas underneath each section that I left tape on to give me an idea of where the tape line was. I did not notice any darkening of the paint from each product popping out right in front of me. It's hard to tell on a light color. Gloss/shine levels also appear to be the same on a light colored car. This is good news for someone that owns a light colored car. This would probably be different on a darker colored car. As we all know gloss comes from the prep work and this has hood has been prepped with D300 on a thin foam cutting disc and M205 on a thin polishing foam disc (will post this review up later).
Meguiar's claims to let each product cure for 24 hours prior to getting the surface wet and also prior to topping with a carnauba product. Meguiar's also claims to let Paint Protect cure for an additional 7-10 days prior to getting it wet to get the most benefit of the products beading properties.
So the hood had sat undisturbed for 15 days. Here are some beading photos and some videos. These were taken with my iphone.
I used the mist setting on the nozzle for these photos.
Here is the unprotected side
Here is the beading of ULW
Beading of Paint Protect 365.
Beading of M21. Looks a little like Paint Protect.
Some more beading shots from a different angle
ULW
M21
Paint Protect 365
Based on beading alone, I would give ultimate wax the win on this. Meguiar's is known for having their products be a sheeting type behavior rather than beading type. The reason for this is to avoid water spots which is the biggest concern to the average person. All three products sheet water off the surface very well. All three products should be applied thin.
One thing to note is that I did put Paint Protect 365 on the hood of my grand prix which sits outside 24/7. Some have claimed that Paint Protect was gone after 1 month. I can honestly say that it was at the 4 month time frame and it was still beading strong and sheet very well. Will it last a year? I don't know as I have polished it off the hood and moved onto another product. I did notice the beading for Paint Protect 365 got better as time passed.
Due to the drought here in California, I did not finish the testing of all 3 products on my OEM hood. I did wash it 10 times with Meguiar' Hyperwash Soap and all three products were still on the paint and holding up strong.
Here's the pro and cons of each product. I can't really comment on Paint Protect as I only evaluated it for 4 months. In my opinion it's an ok product. M21 and Ultimate Wax would still be my choice as they perform very well.
All can be layered. But one thing to note is that the behavior seen will be that of the topper. I would recommend to leave Paint Protect 365 untopped with any other wax or spray wax to not hinder it's performance. Ultimate Wax and M21 topped with M26 Hi Tech Wax is a great combo. All three should be given a minimum of 12 hours prior to topping with another product.
NXT/M21:
Pros:
A little goes a long way
Easy to apply and remove. Very user friendly.
Provides good protection.
Average longevity for me is about 4-5 months
Provides good shine
Affordable
Cons:
Needs to haze like a traditional wax. This is not really a con but it can be for some people
M21 is purple and can be hard to see on dark colors
Will stain trim
Ultimate Liquid Wax:
Pros:
A little goes a long way
Easy to apply and remove
Provides good protection
Average longevity for me is 5-6 months
Provides good shine
Can be removed within 3-5 mins from a panel. Will not haze like a traditional wax.
Will not stain trim
Cons:
It has been known to streak on darker colors if applied to thick or if applied at high temp/high humidity.
Paint Protect 365:
Pros:
Can be reomved after 3-5 mins from a panel. Will not haze like a traditional wax.
A little goes a long way.
Will not stain trim. It will actually enhance it and protect it. It will not restore severely faded trim.
Cons:
Oily product
Can be difficult to remove
Will not add shine
Originally Posted by JDrach
