Once again, I spent most of this past weekend working on our LeMons racer. The car is coming along nicely, which is good, because we race next weekend! The brakes are working, and in fact we drove the car for the first time on Saturday -- just down the street, mind you, but we all took a turn, and I had a grin a mile wide. (Oh, and I apologize, but I still haven't updated the photo gallery. Soon, soon.)
So what does this have to do with Turtle Wax? Well, after I visited Turtle Wax a few months ago, they sent me a care package which included a product called Black Box, a cleaning and waxing kit made just for black cars. As I was wrenching away on Saturday, it occurred to me that our Lemons car was black, sort of, so why not give it a try? I honestly didn't expect this to be a fair test; the finish on the car is in pretty bad shape, and as I learned when I was writing my article on how to wax and detail a car, there's only so much you can do with bad paint. Although, as it turns out, there's actually quite a lot you can do with bad paint, if you have the right tools. Find out how it went down in my Turtle Wax Black Box review. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Aaron Gold
I know I’m getting cynical in my old age (well, middle age really but I feel old at the moment) and my expectations from commercial products is quite low these days. It is refreshing to hear about a product that actually delivers on it’s marketing hype. Let’s hope this is the start of a new trend! The next time my car needs a spit shine I think I’ll give it a go myself instead of shelling out $100 to the local shop for a wash and wax.
Thank you. My poor 2001 lexus IS300 sits outside all day in the sun because I do not have parking in my office. The black paint has suffered. Regular wax helps, but I miss the way the car used to look. Will try this as soon as I can find it. My wife’s solar yellow MR2 spyder she bought two months before I got mine looks brand new except for a minor scrape. She keeps it in the shade whenever it is parked. Amazing difference.
If you have a black car that needs some lovin’… this product works amazingly well.
I was blown away by how clean the BMW got. It is almost TOO clean and we may have to put dirt and grime on Aarons handiwork…
Would love to see before and after picks of the whole bmw.
There will be “after” pics at the race… however keep in mind that the car no longer has windows, an interior or body trim, and that much of the paintwork is covered in crime scene tape, so I don’t know how much there will be to see.
Aaron
The black tint seems a bit gimicky to me but I’m a cynic. If you’re rubbing it off, leaving just a microscopically thin layer of wax on the surface, I don’t see how a bit of tint will make any difference.
Is this product for restoration of beat surfaces or is it for nice clearcoats as well? Does it compare well to a polish like Zaino?
When I first heard about the wonders of black box and then visited the site and read all of the great reviews, I was sold on this product. The price was right for what I wanted to see happen to my new car. I had gotten quite a few nasty scratches on my car from the snow blizzard of 2009-2010 and wanted to repair those scrathes. I also wanted to give my car that deep, wet look.
I decided to purchase the product. It was just over 20 bucks. It took me 8 hours to apply to may car. VERY VERY VERY TEDIOUS!!!! It lightly replaced color to the scratches, but doesn’t it restore it to brand new. I was completely drained after applying the product and the shine that I received was no different than what I get from using a regular bottle of wax. I went through almost all of the product in one application. I must say that I’m not impressed!
Stick with your regular bottle of wax!
I have a 1998 jeep grand cherokee limited that is black, it is a gorgeous vehicle and Black Box has helped to keep it that way. I’m a professional car detailer and it doesn’t take me very long at all to use the product. I use it almost every day and then use an electric buffer. turtle wax products and armorall products are the greatest thing since pop corn in the detailing world.
I picked up this product at an autoparts store to try on my 04 Acura TL and it was amazing in the diffrence from start to finish, the only part i didnt like was the finish wax. It was difficult to remove and I didnt see any improvment in the outcome after i applyed the 1st step.