Grzldvt1

I own a detailing shop in Silicon Valley, so here we go....
For paint correction and 2+ years of awesome protection, here is what I do...
You can buy a Porter Cable DA Polisher at Home Depot for $120 and order a 6"backing plate from Autogeek, or do a search in your local area for detailing supplies. Many pro detailing supply shops carry the backing plate and sell to the public.

Then go to Esoteric Car Care
Order 3 - 6" Rupes Blue Compounding Pads, 3 Rupes Yellow Polishing Pads, Jescar Correcting Compound and the Sonax Ex 04-06 Polishing Compound, - Small bottles
Order 8 of the Yellow general purpose Microfiber towels.

Use the Blue pads with the Jescar, and the Yellow pads with the Sonax, use 1 pad on the hood and top, if a colored top and the front bumper, second pad on the front fender and doors, third pad on the rear fenders, and rear of the car.
The reason you use multiple pads is due to the fact they get loaded up with compound/polish and clear coat. Using a single pad over the entire car will actually create as many problems as it supposedly solves as you near the end of your buffing cycle. Using a single pad will still improve the finish, and produce good results, but if you are looking for stunning results that makes your car stand out, this is the investment to make.
You can use the single pad and clean it based on the above panels, but make sure it is completely dry. You can spin it on 6 on the PC for a minute to help get it dry.
Use one MF towel on the same areas as the pads, they also get loaded up with product and if you leave residue behind, your top coat will not adhere properly.
When you begin to buff, it is not a race, going slow is the ticket. You need to let the pad and the product work on the finish. Rapidly running the buffer over the surface just spreads the product and will not do the job it is supposed to do. In a 2ft x 2ft area I will take about 2 minutes, first up and down, then side to side, if curves then at angle and always finish up and down on vertical surfaces, front to back on horizontal surfaces. Speed on the PC for compounding is 4.5, for polishing 3.
Your results will be simply stunning."
If all of this is too many $$$, I would order the Meguiares M105 and the M205, with the above pads, and follow these instructions - M105 and M205 instructions
Depending on your budget, I would try and go with a ceramic, Gyeon Q2 Syncro is what we use from Esoteric., but the other Gyeon coatings are awesome.

I am trying out Polish Angel products, but the jury is still out.

At the end of the day, soak your pad(s) and towels in Tide Free and Gentle, or better yet Gyeon Towel Wash. Use a soft brush to clean the surface of the buffing pads and set aside to dry.
Microfibers should be washed all on their own, and if your water is not softened add a 1/4 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle as it is filling and let it soak for 30 minutes. When drying use the gentle cycle and dry them to just barely moist. Too hot or too long and the Microfiber will be melted and the towels ruined.
Hope this helps.... Ask questions!!!!
iI have no affiliation with Esoteric, just use them for my detailing supplies because they are in the upper end of quality supplies and equipment.
My detailing shop(Deep Reflections Auto Detailers in Los Gatos, CA) does Ceramic Pro, Gyeon, Kamaikaze and Zaino, in order of pricing. New web site coming....

2000PFRC

Hi, I really like Meguiar's Tec Wax it is a Polymer wax for all of the Polyurethane paints used on newer cars. It has pretty good staying power and leaves a very slick finish. If you get a couple of good waxes in over a couple of months time it will last at least several months with the car being kept outside. My other car is a testament to its effectiveness, I am a faithful fan of this stuff.

jdlev

WW's got here end of the week, and absolutely love them! Make cleaning those rims a breeze which are a total pain to do by hand.

After that, used Mother's clay bar kit followed by Meguiar's M21 Mirror Glaze synthetic. First time I've really been able to get a good look at the car after hand polishing it for about 3 hours.

Found a lot of little paint correction chip marks I hadn't noticed before that weren't fixed all that well, so eventually want to properly repair those.

The other area that needs attention is just in front of the rear wheel. It looks like there are some adhesive coverings that need some attention. There's road grime on the fender and the (i'm guessing vinyl?) covers just behind the doors. Not sure what would be best to clean that area with? Read good thing about car pro's iron x, so might try to remove the grime with that...so far nothing else has worked though it's just been basic cleaners and goo gone.