Not to bump off the OP's question too far, but when it comes to preventative care, maybe investing in a professional Optimum Opti-Coat (or Opti-Gloss now, I think) might be productive. Kinda a lazy man method, but combine that with proper washing, you might be better off in the longrun.

I haven't used it on my paint but their lens guard works wonders. I've also read pretty stellar success stories.

I accept I will get scratches/swirls/scuffs in my rear hatch are. It will happen. Are you interested in a show car or a nice looking useable car op?

Don't get me wrong I want a perfect paint but it will get damaged one way or another

Yes and no. Yes, it will pickup damage but the AMOUNT of damage can be significantly controlled. This is where the preventive maintenance comes into play. I try and drive the crap out of my car everyday if there is no snow on the ground. Yet, you will be extremely hard pressed to find ONE swirl mark on my car. You may find a random streak of a scratch here or there but swirl marks are caused by accumulative damage. That's repetitive malpractice repeated over and over again. If that is a practice that you subscribe to then yes, you will constantly be dealing with damage on your paint. But when you practice good paint handling skills, your car can be as dirty as mine is in this video and still be swirl mark free. As you will see in this video, I haven't driven it in a while but check out that paint when I do a close up. Not one swirl.

its my daily drive, and i hate this stupid cities weather, rains atleast once or so on a fri/sat/sun and those are the days i drive, i hardly take it out during the week.

i wash it once a week, takes over 2 hours, i start with the wheels and tires, than exhaust tips, i have a separate sponge for the tires, rims, and exhaust that i use to clean, and another handy tool that reaches in the dish of the rims, than i use my hose gun attachment to wet the car all around, and try to get most loose debry off, than i use the foam gun, let it soak in and fall off the car and loosen debry, than i soak the car off with water, than i refoam the car with the foam gun a 2nd time and i use a mf sponge to clean, than a final rinse, than i take off the attachment and only use the garden hose to do that ( not sure what you call it, i forgot ) sheathing thing to get most of the water off, than i dry it with my meguiars mf waffle towel, i use it lightly with almost no pressure on teh towel. oh ya... when i use the mf sponge, i clean it off perfectly after each panel i clean

but i just hate seeing my 2-3 hours go to waste when it rains, the wax would help me out alot right now, as its close to winter and cold enough not to be able to wash my car outside, let alone to the whole detail thing right now in the cold outdoor.

thanks all for the helpful info, ive seen junkmans vids a while back, super helpful, i was looking him up after i posted this thread

nice looking useable

i cant see any swirls unless you look really carefully and the paint looks really nice and shiny, and complimented by some other Z owners who have seen it in person, wait a min.. when was the last time i looked at it that closely......, because after the 2-3 hours of washing, i get so damn excited to drive it around and show it off lol

i use meguiars gold class btw and sometimes the meguiars wax shampoo one, i forgot the name, the bottle is in the other room its a yellow color.

also forgot to mention, im buying an electric leaf blower, i will be using that to drive the car, than super featherweight dabbing with the towel.

i HATED seeing all those water drippings after you wash the car, take it out and park and see all the drip marks from the water in the mirror and where ever else it came from, so the leaf blower will reduce the chance of future marks and no more drippings.

just recently ive been washing the car 2-3 days before i want to actually drive it, but it get a tiny layer of dust, that im sure blows off when i drive it, but i hate it, so i cant wait until the blower comes in.

thanks for the helpful info, ill be checking out the vids

Try watching 4 hours go to waste when you wash your car 2-3 times a week. At least I work for myself so I can justify the tim off with my boss. :D

if i wanted to just hand wax the car right now, which brand will give me the best beading or a brand that is of fav to Z owners, my Z is black. ill worry about the polish and other stuff after winter. although i dont really think my car needs a polish atm anyway. oh and which pad should i use for the hand wax.

also i almost to mention, which pad or whatever should i use to wash the car with, i really dont like the mf sponge i have atm, its not bad, but im sure theres better out there.

If you want to know what wash medium to use, watch that video I just posted. As for wax, there are 5000 different products out there that you could use. Once you look at that video, you will see what I use and what it did for my paint. You shouldn't be worried about how a wax beads water, you should only be worried about how it protects your paint.

true, thanks man, gona watch it now

Removing Swirls
 

I removed a tremendous amount of swirls,(from the PO), using Meguires Ultimate Compound and a $40 orbital buffer. Not an expensive dual action buffer. The Ultimate Compound is very mildly aggressive. It does take a lot of time. A LOT of time on each area for good results.
Good luck. It can be done.

huh, i didnt know random orbitals can be had for only $40 :tup:

usually at those prices they were direct drives only a few yrs ago. those can burn through clear rather easily.

A orbital polisher is NOT going to burn through anything remotely close to "quickly". Their design ensures that. Also, those Chinese Cheesecake Factory polishers that go for $40 dollars.... well let's say that you get what you pay for. Funny how HF won't post the negative reviews that you see all over the web.

This is exactly what I was searching for.
2 hours, pen, paper? looks like I'm going back to class to get my Z to shine at its best

There are a ton more of my videos with just as much information where those are posted. ;)