The best product for protecting (not necessarily shining)

[comma]

I've been going back and forth on what I want to use on my Jeep.

I had settled on meguiar's gold wash, clay bar, then cleaner wax. Then possibly down the road Collinite.

But I really don't want a super shiny jeep. I just want the best protection. That is much more important to me than shine/polish, etc.

Does the shine just come with the territory?
Are there products specifically for protection only?

I hope this makes sense.

[Evan.J]

What do you want in your search for protection?

Durability, scratch resistance, hydrophobic properties and cost?

[comma]

What do you want in your search for protection?

Durability, scratch resistance, hydrophobic properties and cost?

Well I kind of assumed protection, when it comes to waxes, etc. included all of those things.

If they usually don't, I want something that "protects" from all of that.

I don't really care about cost. Just something I can do by hand.

[Flex3k]

when your adding protection shine or gloss comes with it if your looking for the best protection the best thing will be obviously paint protection film clear bra or ppf for short that can be extremly expensive but its truly the best protection you can get your 2nd best protection for the paint will be a coating there are plenty out on the market for us consumers especially on autogeek and other sites they can be a bit triclky to apply but they work extremly well a good coating that is super easy to apply in my opinion would be opti coat they recently changed the name its called opti gloss coat 2 years claimed protection and yes gloss definetly comes with it included 3rd would be a sealant like collinite 845 or blackfire wet diamond they work well but plan on spending time on applying it over and over again the most iv gotten out of collinite was 3 months tops and 4th would be liquid or paste wax again another product that needs to be applied often to maintain a protected surface all these products bring gloss in the picture but thats not a bad thing unless you dont like a shiny car or jeep in your case last would be something like plasti dip it will provide protection cause its almost like ppf but is more like a paint that can peel off when your tired of the look they come in plenty of different colors mostly matt colors i personaly think a jeep in matt black is bad ass check them out good look with your choice of product :props:

[MarkD51]

I'm guessing you're talking about the inexpensive Megs Cleaner Wax in red pint bottle. It's not at all a bad product, in fact works fairly good IMO, and you can't beat the price. But if you're looking for something that's really going to give you long lasting protection, I wouldn't count on this product to last too long at protecting.

Bang for the buck, for long lasting protection, you'd probably be very hard pressed finding anything that will last longer than Collinite #476 Super Doublecoat Paste Wax.

Properly applied on clean prepped paint, I would say a minimum of 7 months protection. Downside, little in the way of paint cleaners in this product, there's no abrasives, or cleaners-detergents in it.

Upside, 5 years from now, you'll still probably have this same can of wax, and your paint will be holding up.

Just one suggestion, you may get many others.

[expdetailing]

Paintbrush and wheel bearing grease...

[Ryan509]

Blackfire Total polish & Seal. Did a truck in june and still beading strong

[comma]

Thanks guys! After all my research I am still pretty stuck on using collinite 845.

Somewhat unrelated question (I might need to start a new thread) but do I need to use a cleaner wax before applying a main wax like 845 if I'm using a clay bar?
And how do I tell if I need to use a cleaner wax or not?
Will it harm the paint if I don't and just seal right over with a regular wax?