Wax is wax, some are a little better than the others but never by a whole lot. The bottom line is, they all wash off after you wash the car a couple times. Also ask yourself, what do you want the wax to do, what does the container CLAIM it can do...and after you use it, what does it really do? Waxing does several important things for your paint.
When you wax the car (always after washing it and no other time) - the wax helps remove the surface roughness in the clear coat that results from normal wear caused by dirt, the sun and moisture. Im sure you've felt the paint on cars that have never been waxed, it feels like fine sandpaper and is very hard to remove and make perfect again. Monthly waxing can help eliminate this condition.

Also im sure you have seen cars on the road with worn paint that looked chalky and dried out with all its gloss gone. A car that has never been waxed has paint that is just wearing out from all the oils in the paint drying out. When you wax the paint it restores some of those oils back in.

Alot of waxes make wild claims in their ads and on the paint container about "protection wash after wash" etc. I have tried dozens of brands of wax over the years, and i have found that none have really been radically better than any of the others regardless of what the maker wants you to believe.
In my opinion the key to keeping your paint looking good is not what wax you use but how often you wax it. For any car i value, i make a point to wax it at least once a month (and if i cannot do the whole carfor some reason i always do the top surfaces at least - hood, roof, trunk).

Also if your paint is really good shape with few or no chips, you may want to consider installing the 3m clear bra protectant film to the hood and front of your car, installed it is about $300 but probably worth it if the car is in near-new condition.

 

I have to say that all waxes are NOT the same.

You have to choose whether to use a natural wax (aka carnauba) or synthetic wax (aka sealant). Natural wax usually gives a little deeper shine and is great on dark colored paint. Synthetic waxes usually offer longer lasting protection than natural wax. I've never seen a protectant last longer than 9 months, but many synthetic waxes will last 6 months. Klasse is a popular synthetic wax. Klasse doesn't make water bead like most waxes, so the only way to tell is pretty much just feeling the paint. With synthetics the fact that water doesn't bead doesn't really mean anything as far as protection. With a natural wax, water beading is a good way to tell how your wax is doing. Small tight water beads means good protection.

Wax can be easily applied by hand. Just wipe on, let dry, wipe off. Polish is what requires work, and is where a good buffer makes a difference.

Proper paint prep affects how good your wax looks and protects. Clay and polish is recommended before waxing. Read the How to Detail sticky.

 

wax i like

A few years back I went to a site called carcare.com or net or something.
Many useful items on car care. What I've learned since then from trial and error.

I like Maguires number 26 (ithink that's the number) Car wax, in the $20 range for a bottle, but worth it. True natural carnuba wax. This wax goes on easy and polishes out very easy compared to hard tutle wax types. it seems to last several months.

Before waxing your care for the first time, wash by hand using a lot of water and clean clothes. Use a drop or two of a mild dish detergent. The dish detergent actually dissolves any existing wax you may have on your car so you better be ready to wax right after. Wax with the maquires and follow the directions. I have an Expedition and a tundra so I do use a buffer for the large smooth sheet metal that exist. I go over the corners and sheetmetal creases by hand so as not to rub out the wax like a buffer can on edges. If you are doing a car or smaller vehicle with creases and curves in the sheet metal just do it by hand. Save the money and the weight of toting that polisher.

Keep an eye on the wax and beading. depending on your driving conditions you may want to re-wax within 2 months. This time when you wash your car by hand before waxing, instead of using dish detergent use a washing solution specifically for washing cars, 2 bucks for a bottle. This is mearly a sufactent that will help losen and remove dirt without dissolving existing wax on the car.

After a couple of years re-wash with deterdent and start again.

For cars that the paint has been neglected on do the same except between detergent wash and wax use Maguires conditioner polish number 9. I might have the wax and polish numbers mixed up but the bottles are clearly labeled polish or wax.
The polish will actually smooth out the paint, i.e. knock down the peeks in the paint that have been created form pitting of nature. It will help decrease oxidation and I believe the paint actually sucks something out of this stuff like a conditioner. Wax after this step and that old car will look like "NEW MONEY"

TC

Just did a little research before posting this. Go to carcare.org I think that was the place I went to. Look at the articles and info there.