It's not mentioned in the thread, but I have to add the wax that I've been trying for the past two months: Turtle Wax Ice.
Now I know, it's not Mothers, or McGuire's, or Zaino. I've been using NXT and Gold Class for a while now. But, a friend of mine told me I should try the Ice, and the part that sold me on it was that you can get it on plastic and rubber trim, and it doesn't leave white residue behind.
So What, you say? Well, it is a nice feature, and I thought it would be good enough for my MINI at least, which has black plastic fender arches that show wax horribly and are really difficult to clean due to their texture.
Anyway, the wax is easy to apply as you'd expect, and the shine is deep and rich. But the amazing thing to me is the staying power of this wax. I went to wash the car today after two winter months, and the water beaded up and ran off as if I had just waxed the car. Now granted, the car is garaged, and I don't drive it every day. Still, to go through typical winter weather and come out with this sort of staying power is pretty impressive.
I made a short video so you can see how the car looks and how the water beads up and runs off, even when the hose is really running:
Turtle Wax Ice demo after two months