After years of religiously using a #7/#26 combination on my vehicles, I decided to try the NXT/#26 process that is often discussed on this forum.

The "victim" was my wife's brand new Ford Escape. The color is Gold Ash Metallic, which is similar to a very light version of the F-150's Arizona Beige. The paint was flawless to begin with, since part of my purchase agreement involved me taking possession of the vehicle as soon as it was delivered to the dealership. No exterior detail of any kind was done by the dealer -- in fact I drove the vehicle home with much of the plastic "shrink wrap" still in place on the exterior body panels!

I considered claying the paint to start out with, but after checking it's condition, decided this step was unnecessary.

My process involved:

* Thorough wash and dry of the exterior.
* One coat of NXT - wait 24 hours.
* Second coat of NXT - wait 24 hours.
* One coat of #26.
* Detail of the balance of the vehicle as I normally do.

The end result was that I actually thought the vehicle looked slightly better after the two coats of NXT, versus how it looked after the final coat of #26. If anything, I think the #26 might have actually detracted from the final appearance of the finish!

I am wondering if this has to do with the color of the vehicle -- a very light metallic gold. Perhaps this is a color that simply provides the best results with just the NXT product? The NXT seemed to have a very "hard" shine to it, which seemed to work well on this vehicle.

Any input, guys?

As far as other observations go, I really liked how easy the NXT was to completely remove -- a very nice feature of this product! As far as a drawback of the NXT goes, what was Barry smoking when he came up with the scent of the product? It reminded me of insect repellent! I have to say the sweet smell of #26 was a welcome relief after two days of smelling the NXT!

 

Great review. Glad the NXT worked out...

As for the #26, some like it, some don't. Before you draw final judgement (which may or may not change), give the #26 a day or two to really sit on the paint.

I've stated numerous times publically that I think the look of #26 and other carnaubas look better after a day or two on the paint. Why, I'm not sure but, it's a personal opinion.

It may not though. I can't say that I've seen anyone give the NXT #26 combo a whirl on your color but, then again, maybe they have. As we all know, pictures posted on the net are very difficult to judge because of so many different limitations.

Keep me posted. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say; good or bad.

RP

 

Yeah -- I've noticed that myself on my own vehicles. Can't wait to get back home from business travel to see if there is any difference in my original assessment!

It may be kind of hard to see right now though -- this is the time of year when the pine trees drop their pollen here in the Houston area -- everytime I turn around my vehicles are covered with this yellowish-green residue!

Buy hey -- I guess it's better than "snards"!

 

It's way better than snards, cause trust me, I have come to hate them!



But on the other hand I cannot wait until they are all gone so that I can use that combo on my truck!

 

I found the #26 to be a great topper on the NXT. However, I waited almost a week before I applied the #26. I then followed up with #16 later that same day. I have a very durable shine that you can almost see how thick it is. A very deep gloss, and I even have a silver truck.

On a side note, I was having some new synthetic oil put into my truck this week and the mechanic I took it to knocked over an oil drum into the side of my truck. I was so pissed, but the mark it left on my truck just gently rubbed right off...not sure if this was due to the heavy layers of product I have on my truck (NXT x2, #26, #16) but I sure think it helped!