These are the other VM substitute products that i have:
Meguiar's #81
P21S GEPC
Klasse AIO
Wolfgang Prewax polish
In my experience with these products, including VM, Vanilla Moose provides by far the most effective swirl-hiding capabilities, and it even has some protective capabilities. For my black lexus is300, i've began using VM exclusively and haven't topped with wax because in my experience the wax (i used s100) will remove some of the filling. It is also the easiest product to use out of my arsenal, and leaves behind the least amount of hazing/streaking.
I know a lot of people look down upon fillers and liken it to cheating, but it sure makes life with black cars much more tolerable. I mean, what difference does it make if it is so difficult to distinguish between pure swirl-free paint and paint that's covered up? The only reason why I can see a need to remove them is because of possible (and as far as I can see, unproven) incompatibilities with sealants. In this case, one has to decide what is more important to them; aesthetics or durable paint protection. Of course, one can have both by completely removing swirls every time they appear at the cost of increased labor to remove them and at the cost of paint thickness. The filling that VM does for me reduces the need for more aggressive paint-removing polishing; the last time i had to PC the car was about a year ago, and that was only 3M SMR with a yellow pad, which removes very little paint. I find that the filling diminishes after 3-4 washes (which is 3 - 4 weeks for me), which is about how long it takes for me to want to wax again anyway.
I have yet to try VM on trim and glass as others have mentioned
Aside from my PC-polishing products (finesse it, SMR, pads, etc), if I had to stick with only one product, VM is it.
I really do wonder why it got such negative reviews .. After writing all this, I think i'll submit a copy of this.