Originally Posted By: bourne
Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
Taking notes here. Likely buying a new car soon, and with it, a polisher. I haven't done anything to the Subaru yet this year because of the stupid smashed bumper someone gifted to us.
Harbor Freight has a $59.99 DA buffer from Chicago Electrics that everyone has been raving about on Autogeek and Autopia forums. Get a 5" backing plate from Amazon for under $10 and get yourself some 5.5/6.5 inch Lake Country CCS Flat pads. If the vehicle is brand new, I would just worry about paint/clearcoat maintenance. Some Black/Red/Blue polishing pads will work just fine for you. If you get Blacklight ( and I recommend you do, makes an excellent base for your WAX as an LSP ), it has some micro abrasives anyways to fill/fix any light swirls etc anyways. Get yourself a gallon jug of Hybrid V7 as well ( believe me, buy the gallon because if you get the 16oz you will just have to buy more of it later ). Griot's Garage makes an excellent value for money clay. Get some Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine, you can use this for maintenance washes, clay lube and Quick Detailer in various strengths. By far the most economical clay lube in the market as well.
Products that I personally use are :
1) CG Citrus Wash and Gloss ( great for stripping wax or daily washes in different concentration ratios )
2) Gilmour Foamaster II Foam Gun
3) Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine
4) CG/Griot's Garage Clay
5) CG Silk Shine Dressing
5) CG Leather Cleaner+Conditioner Combo
6) CG Diable Wheel Cleaner
7) CG All Purpose Citrus Cleaner
8) CG Black Light Hybrid Radiant Finish
9) CG Butter Wet Wax
10) Wolfgang Fuzion Hybrid Polymer Wax
11) CG Hybrid V7 Sealant+Quick Detailer Combo
12) Various Microfiber towels and applicator pads
13) Pro Grade spray bottles ( really cheap at Sam's Club )
Thanks. I've done plenty of lurking over at Autogeek, and almost bought a Griots DA a while back. Just had way too many things get in the way of doing what I want to do on a weekend. Now I get to deal with replacing my car...or limping it down to a mechanic today now that I have a free day. Detailing...maybe next month.
Regarding the HF DA, are they holding up? The allure of the Griots for me was the lifetime warranty. Grab a good AAP coupon, and you can knock a good chunk off the price, although you can almost buy 2 of the HF ones for the price of one Griots.