Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
While its more money, it gives someone who wants to keep their car looking nice, with a bit more correction capability than a standard DA unit, while still being very gentle and easy to use, with no real danger. Especially with a nice soft, no-cut pad.
The more correction the polisher does to the finish the more clear coat wears off. Then it keeps getting corrected a few times until the hair, thin clear/paint fades away to primer. We've all seen cars like that around esp the darker ones. All it takes is one bad car wash or clearing the car of snow, etc to swirl it up again. Kind of like a cat chasing it's tail.
I like the gentle approach. One of the most knowledgeable guys on here who works on cars for a living including doing auto body will correct it once after painting. Then just focus on keeping it clean, contaminate free and protected. Unless it's a garage queen or a museum piece no reason to keep correcting it. Paint/CC thickness is more important imo. Because once you wear through it, new paint time which can cost thousands.
I remember my neighbor's 1998 black Accord that started to fade on the top services down to the primer around the 9 yr mark. When it was 3 years old or so a car wash "detailed it" with one of those big HD polishers. Not sure if it was a rotary or not. Looked great after words but at what cost. Most of the top of it needed a repaint when he sold it at the 10 year mark. He now has a bright red 08 Saturn Astra that I've detailed since new every year. The finish looks great at the 10 year mark.
This ^. A good car wash soap, clean and gentle mitt with a bucket guard and separate washing supplies for the wheels and under rocker panels and lower bumpers will go a long way in keeping the paint in great shape for many years without any polishing at all.
Automatic car washes, improper/careless washing techniques, failure to remove bird droppings and sap and not wiping the car dry are the main contributors to swirls, water spots and paint damage which leads owners to polish the paint right off the car over time.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
While its more money, it gives someone who wants to keep their car looking nice, with a bit more correction capability than a standard DA unit, while still being very gentle and easy to use, with no real danger. Especially with a nice soft, no-cut pad.
The more correction the polisher does to the finish the more clear coat wears off. Then it keeps getting corrected a few times until the hair, thin clear/paint fades away to primer. We've all seen cars like that around esp the darker ones. All it takes is one bad car wash or clearing the car of snow, etc to swirl it up again. Kind of like a cat chasing it's tail.
I like the gentle approach. One of the most knowledgeable guys on here who works on cars for a living including doing auto body will correct it once after painting. Then just focus on keeping it clean, contaminate free and protected. Unless it's a garage queen or a museum piece no reason to keep correcting it. Paint/CC thickness is more important imo. Because once you wear through it, new paint time which can cost thousands.
I remember my neighbor's 1998 black Accord that started to fade on the top services down to the primer around the 9 yr mark. When it was 3 years old or so a car wash "detailed it" with one of those big HD polishers. Not sure if it was a rotary or not. Looked great after words but at what cost. Most of the top of it needed a repaint when he sold it at the 10 year mark. He now has a bright red 08 Saturn Astra that I've detailed since new every year. The finish looks great at the 10 year mark.
This ^. A good car wash soap, clean and gentle mitt with a bucket guard and separate washing supplies for the wheels and under rocker panels and lower bumpers will go a long way in keeping the paint in great shape for many years without any polishing at all.
Automatic car washes, improper/careless washing techniques, failure to remove bird droppings and sap and not wiping the car dry are the main contributors to swirls, water spots and paint damage which leads owners to polish the paint right off the car over time.
