Okay I'll throw my $.02 in:
Products that I use / have found to be good:
1) Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash & Wax - The car wash greatly reduces the number of spots you get after washing and won't strip your wax. The wax does a GREAT job of filling in / reducing the appearance of scratches, swirl marks, etc. and is super easy to apply. You'll definitely want to apply the wax in the shade though, as the same ingredients that fill the scratches will quickly become white powder in sunlight. And I've also found the NXT wax to do a good job of re-darkening the hood insert.
2) Meguiar's Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel - Also known as "grape jelly," I've found this gel to last much longer than other tire black products, including Meguiar's own Hotshine and NXT Generation Insane Shine products. The other plus is that (at least to me) it produces a lower sheen than the other products, which gives the tires more of a naturally black look (as long as you don't cake it on). TIP #1: Always use the gel-from-a-bottle tire treatments, as the aerosol type will almost inevitably blow residue on your cladding and/or paint. The aerosol types are also well-known for being less adhesive than the gels, sometimes resulting in "throwing" the coating off the tire while driving. TIP #2: Pick up tire "swipes" from Auto Zone / Advance Auto to apply the gel rather than a rag or cloth. They're made of absorbant foam so application is much less messy.
3. Mr. Clean Car Wash Kit - I was absolutely devastated to hear that Mr. Clean was discontinuing this product because IMHO it's the best thing out there for eliminating water spots period. Basically the kit consists of a gun and (Brita?) water filter that you use to rinse the vehicle after washing it with normal water. Don't bother with the Mr. Clean car wash, it's nowhere near as good as the Meguiar's car wash products, although the thickness of the Meguiar's stuff means you can't use the soap-from-the-gun feature.
4) Eagle One Glass Cleaner - Most glass cleaners are alcohol based, with the obvious advantage being the cleaning action you get from alcohol. The downside is that those products dry/evaporate VERY fast, making it difficult to give the glass a good wipe-down before it disappears, leaving behind a residue that you'll see when the windows fog up or at night with your headlights on. Eagle One's glass cleaner is water based (I think) which means it sits on the glass until you're doing wiping it down. It requires more or less the same amount of elbow grease as the alcohol based products, but it leaves your glass remarkably clear.
5) Mother's Back to Black - My experience and RickOKC's tests seem to confirm that although this product attracts dust, it darkens the cladding better than most anything out there. It does wash off in the rain, but I've found that if you apply it thick enough, it will last for several weeks even in the rain without streaking. TIP: Use B2B as preventitive maintenance for your cladding, not just after each wash. When you see streaks occur, use a small amount of B2B on the streaks to blend them back in with the overall cladding color. I've also found that B2B does an amazing job of removing gas stains from under your fuel door. I spilled a LOT of gas on the cladding a few months ago (I was at one of those old gas stations that doesn't have the auto click-off feature) and after slathering B2B on it the stain was completely gone. At the time I thought I was covering it, but even several washes later, the stain has never returned.
Okay so maybe that was more like $2.00.
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