Turtle Wax "Black Box" review

[ThirdgenTa]

So I heard about this product on the internet and searched forever for reviews on it. I found a bunch of people posting on different forums asking how well people liked it. There were no responses so I decided to try it myself.
I drove on over to the local pep boys and picked it up for $20 plus 2 micro fiber towels.
I actually waxed my car on Saturday with some mothers wax (also clay bar) and I was not impressed whatsoever. Tons of swirl marks everywhere.
BTW this product is for black cars only!!!
All in all I think this worked pretty well. You will see the pictures.
The only downfall is it is a real pain in the ass to do and I will tell you why.
You have to put 4 different products on your car. So it's pretty much like waxing your car 4+times. So set aside at least an hour or two to do this.
You also need to do this in the shade and when the car is cool to the touch.
Another tip is to make sure you buy a minimum of five clothes to take this stuff off. Wear latex cloves too. This stuff is like ink and if you get it on your hands, it's not that hard to get off except when it gets under your fingers. The reason I tell you to buy plenty of towels is because the cloth turns black within a few feet of taking this stuff off. I had to keep flipping it like 100 times.
It actually got most of the swirl marks out of the paint. We will see how long it lasts for.
Here it is with mothers wax and then a wash. These are crappy quality pics, but if you look real close you can tell that the paint is kinda dull and the scratches etc..

After "Black Box"

Has anyone else tried this or am I the only one?

Click to read more...

 

[Turk]

Never heard of it. Seems like you got damn good results though.

 

[asainchris]

Looks minty!

 

[Mickey]

Eeww... Fixed the paint but didn't fix the car. JK It actually looks really nice. I still don't think it will remove rust holes. But nice...

 

[The Broken Regal]

this is when i'm jealous of black cars...

 

[02BlueGT]

My car is almost black

 

[LSx S10]

Hmm...I might have to try this

 

[98GTPDriva]

So I heard about this product on the internet and searched forever for reviews on it. I found a bunch of people posting on different forums asking how well people liked it. There were no responses so I decided to try it myself.
I drove on over to the local pep boys and picked it up for $20 plus 2 micro fiber towels.
I actually waxed my car on Saturday with some mothers wax (also clay bar) and I was not impressed whatsoever. Tons of swirl marks everywhere.
BTW this product is for black cars only!!!
All in all I think this worked pretty well. You will see the pictures.
The only downfall is it is a real pain in the ass to do and I will tell you why.
You have to put 4 different products on your car. So it's pretty much like waxing your car 4+times. So set aside at least an hour or two to do this.
You also need to do this in the shade and when the car is cool to the touch.
Another tip is to make sure you buy a minimum of five clothes to take this stuff off. Wear latex cloves too. This stuff is like ink and if you get it on your hands, it's not that hard to get off except when it gets under your fingers. The reason I tell you to buy plenty of towels is because the cloth turns black within a few feet of taking this stuff off. I had to keep flipping it like 100 times.
It actually got most of the swirl marks out of the paint. We will see how long it lasts for.
Here it is with mothers wax and then a wash. These are crappy quality pics, but if you look real close you can tell that the paint is kinda dull and the scratches etc..

Looks good, but I have a few concerns...

A Clay bar and wax will NOT remove swirl marks. A clay bar merely removes paint contaminants, such as bugs, tar, rail dust, etc. It makes the paint smooth like a baby's butt. Wax will not remove swirl marks, but a polish can remove them. A wax may have "fillers" in it to temporarily hide swirl marks, but give it rain or a car wash and those fillers disappear and the swirl marks reappear. You can't remove almost all of the swirl marks by hand either, unless you are moving your hand at several thousands rpms. A machine polisher is the only thing that can truly eliminate them.

I also don't like the fact that the product costs $20 (mid-range), but it's a bear to get off the car and it is a 4-step process. Besides one of my sealants, all of my other sealants and waxes (cheapest I have is around $25) come off effortlessly and I use one microfiber per coat. It should not take several microfibers and it scares me that it comes off black.

You also mention it is a 4-step process. What are the 4 products? If it is the same thing over and over, you are being redundant because if it is a wax with fillers, you are just removing and reapplying over and over. Ultimately, polishing it the toughest, but most rewarding part. Sealing and waxing should be the easiest.

 

[MuffHugger]

do want

 

[ss454]

It should not take several microfibers and it scares me that it comes off black

 

[ThirdgenTa]

If it goes on black why would it come off a different color?

 

[Mickey]

I don't know shit about detailing, but that hood looks flawless.

 

[blowngp01]

Looks like it was worth your time. Haven't got to use it yet as it just came out this month. We don't even have it in our stores yet, but i can't wait to give it a shot and see if its really all that great. (By the way i work at Turtle Wax)

 

[skeezer]

seems like a lot of work for a hand job

 

[ThirdgenTa]

Looks like it was worth your time. Haven't got to use it yet as it just came out this month. We don't even have it in our stores yet, but i can't wait to give it a shot and see if its really all that great. (By the way i work at Turtle Wax)

Which one do you work at? My company does the door for a lot of the stores.

 

[ThirdgenTa]

seems like a lot of work for a hand job

What the hell are you talking about?

 

[RebelGTP]

seems like a lot of work for a hand job

What the hell are you talking about?

 

[PANDA]

Wash the car and let me know how it looks...

 

[AlmightyBirdman]

Looks like it did its job . In all honesty I hate Turtle Wax though. Their "Ice" line is a joke. I've always been a Meguiar's fan.

 

[ThirdgenTa]

Washed it, looks the same

 

[LSx S10]

seems like a lot of work for a hand job

4 different coats all applied by hand, thats a lot of work!

 

[Oreif]

Things to be careful of when using "tinted" waxes or Pre-Wax stains like what this "Black Box" product appears to be. If the paint has metallic/flake finish you will lose that look. Many cars are base coat/clear coat finish. Because of this, Turtle wax's "colored wax" back in the 90's had some issues. The wax hid a lot of imperfections and made the car look great for a week or so but as it wore off the car looked very blotchy because the "color" ontop of the clear coat thinned, and changed hues. To keep it looking great you had to wax it more often. (Read: buy more wax more often)

On my car being that it is 23 years old, about 50% of my car is still the original 1986 factory black paint. Only the body panels that have been modified were re-painted. When I bought the car in 1995 it had swirls and scuffs in the paint. I clay-barred the entire car then used the Meguires 3-step process:
Deep Crystal Body Scrub
Deep Crystal polish
Then finally the Deep Crystal Carnuba wax.
(I'm going to try the NXT wax this years since I have 2 bottles that I got free from car shows last year.)

Now every spring I run the polish over the car then the wax.
In the fall I just give it a coat of the wax. (before putting in storage)

During the summer I just wash and use the "Final Inspection" spray and a light buff.
(The "Final Inspection" works a lot better than the "Quick Detailer".)

You can see pic's in my album:
http://www.thechicagogarage.org/forum/album.php?albumid=16

Personally I have used numerous wax's and polishes, I prefer the Meguiar's products. They seem to last a decent amount of time and are easy to use to achieve a great shine.

 

[blowngp01]

The one in Chicago Ridge, IL and sometimes the one in Orland Park, IL

 

[ktraver97ss]

It seems to be one of those colored waxes and the other steps are just a paint cleaner and a glaze(which is a filler also). It gave you a nice shine temporarily, but like panda said it will most likely wash off after a couple washes and some rain. The best way to remove these imperfections permanently is a good random orbital polishing and a synthetic paint sealant to make it last. The next most important thing is to make sure you are washing it properly to ensure you do not put new scratches back in the finish.

 

[Mickey]

It seems to be one of those colored waxes and the other steps are just a paint cleaner and a glaze(which is a filler also). It gave you a nice shine temporarily, but like panda said it will most likely wash off after a couple washes and some rain. The best way to remove these imperfections permanently is a good random orbital polishing and a synthetic paint sealant to make it last. The next most important thing is to make sure you are washing it properly to ensure you do not put new scratches back in the finish.

I was waiting for you to chime in.