Newbie here...I like/use Griots Garage!

[Roger R]

Just wanted to say hello to my fellow detailing enthusists out there! I, like you, enjoy detailing their ride. I`d like to start off saying that I used to own a 2000 Contour SVT (my first new car) and owned it for 5 years. In those 5 years I can safely say I detailed the car 150 times. It was my daily driver for the first 3 years, so it saw every Michigan winter through 2003. I have small propane heater that I used to keep it clean/detailed/waxed throught the winter. For the first 4 years I was using only Mequiars, but my Mom of all people sent me a catalog for Griots Garage. After speaking to Ben on the phone for 45 mintues, mind you this was after I placed my first order, I was hooked. For over a year and half I`ve used their products and find them to be a high quality, resonably priced ugrade to Meguiars. Whats everyones take on their products?

[TGates]

First of all, welcome to Autopia :) I know their car wash is pretty highly regarded among some users here, but I do not hear much talk about their other products. I think the general consensus is that they`re okay products, but other options are just as good/better for less money. As long as they work well for ya, that`s all that matters. Their customer service sure does seem to be top notch.

[imported_kgb]

Hey Roger! I am also a Michigan fella. I used to use Griot`s all of the time but found other, more user friendly products. Using Poorboy`s is what made me switch from Griot`s.

[Accumulator]

Roger R- Welcome to Autopia!



Parents must do a lot for Griot`s. My father loved the one-stop shopping and didn`t mind the prices. Who was I to argue? I got a lot of stuff like the hose nozzles, buckets, etc. etc. as gifts and I`m still using them many years later.



I give Griot`s plenty of business (have since the days when Richard was answering the phone himself), but for most things like polishes/wax/clay/etc., I`ve found stuff that works better and easier, often much so.



I`m one of the guys here who uses Griot`s Car Wash, I buy it four or more gallons at a time.



I don`t want to do any product-bashing, but with a *lot* of Griot`s products on my shelves I gotta say that I seldom reach for them. Seems like there`s always a better alternative.



But for those things you just can`t get elsewhere, sure, I don`t mind paying his prices.



Heh heh, watch what you do with product returns though :D When, at their rep`s insistence, I sent back over $300 worth of stuff that didn`t work well for me (complete with detailed field-test documentation, I really did give the stuff a fair shake and I took a merchandise credit instead of a refund) they quit sending me catalogs! Even though I still spend hundreds with them on a regular basis I never get a single catalog in the mail, and neither does my wife. We used to get scads of them but now I must be on their $#!^list. I`ve even asked about it, they say they`ll send catalogs but they never do :rolleyes:



KGB- So you`re no longer using Griot`s stuff, huh? You used to get some good results with it, even with that BOS wax.

[imported_kgb]

KGB- So you`re no longer using Griot`s stuff, huh? You used to get some good results with it, even with that BOS wax.

I think the only thing I have left from Griot`s is the three step polishes. Once in a great while I will reach for those. I did like the Best of Show wax but it was always a pain to get off for me. I used to use the paint prep all the time but just started using a car soap that will strip the wax off before I wax. I also noticed that some of their stuff stained trim which I did not like. I hate taping of trim. LOL And I do a lot outside in the sun and found Griot`s to not be as sun friendly as other brands. But I am by far not knocking them. They do carry tons of sweet stuff.

[White95Max]

:welcome to Autopia Roger! :wavey





I have not tried any of the Griots stuff myself. I get the catalogs regularly, and I`ve never even ordered anything from them. The prices for that stuff seem pretty high. They certainly do have some neat things in the catalog though. :)



Accumulator, do you want my catalog next time? :D

[superstring]

Greetings, Roger R, and welcome to Autopia!



I used to use a lot of Griot`s products, eg. Best of Show Wax, Machine Polishes 1 & 2, Speed Shine, Car Wash etc.



I always found BOS wax hard to remove, no, make that VERY hard! But, after the elbow grease I thought it looked really good and the durability seemed pretty respectable for a carnauba. (Before BOS I used Zymol (their "entry level" waxes, NOT the $1500 ones!! :D) and, although I loved the look, the durability was the sh*ts IMHO.)



Griot`s machine polishes are pretty mild and, also hard to remove, in my experience. There are other polishes out there that do a much better job and are much more user friendly. However I still use their Car Wash, Speed Shine, Interior Cleaner and Wheel Cleaner (among others).



When I "discovered" Autopia I embarked on a detailing journey that hasn`t ended yet! So many products, so little time, so little money :grinno:



BTW my car is a metallic black Subaru.

[JustinR32]

They have several products that I find superior.



1)The Interior Cleaner is an excellent APC.



2)Speed Shine is every bit as good as Pinnacle Crystal Mist.



3)The Leather Cleaner & Conditioner is excellent, and I love the Leather Scent Spray.



4)The Carpet Brush is a pretty cool tool that works very well.



I was disappointed by the Glass Cleaner.



Otherwise, the basic tenet of Autopia is that there`s no such thing as one product best, or better than another, in an absolute sense; there are only products that work best for you. (Above I listed Griot`s products that work well for me, and one that doesn`t). So you`ll get one guy (like you) getting his great results from Griot`s, and another (like me) getting my great results from Meguiar`s. And a third guy (like MANY here) getting his great results from Zaino. In reality what we use doesn`t matter; what matters is, does the car shine, or doesn`t the car shine? Because that`s the goal. Everything else is posturing, everything else is Yankees/RedSox type arguing.



There`s lots of information here. As you post and look around and learn, you`ll start finding not really better products, but better ways of working your products. If your experience with what you`re using doesn`t match what you see others writing about, you might get curious about another brand and decide to see what it`s all about, or you might be happy with what you`re using and the way it works for you. Or you might do both! You might get curious about new tools like the PC (if you don`t already have the Griot`s version), the Cyclo, and the many different rotaries out there.



Another nice thing is that you`ll find a lot of sharing. If you want to try something but don`t want to commitfor $20, ask if someone will send you a couple ounces to try. MANY of us have benefitted from and contributed to each others` experience here that way.



Enjoy your time, and WELCOME!



Tom

[Roger R]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, its much appreciated. I think the best post here was the guy who said its all about how you apply it and the fact that theres so many products out there to try/use. As far as Griots BOS being hard to remove, I don`t get that at all. I mean it doesn`t come off like Mequiars NXT, but then again, it is a caranuba wax. I also use Griots new paint sealant which is 100% synthetic and it comes off VERY, VERY IMO! Its supposed to last a year, but who here is not going to touch their car for one year :LOLOL



Has anyone tried Griots Caranuba Wax in paste form? I ask this because the guy on phone told me its the highest grade caranuba on the market (33%)





Also has anyone tried their Paint Sealant? Its VERY easy to use, applying and especially taking it off.



In closing, being new here, I don`t understand the cost thing? It seems that people say that Griots waxes are expensive. Now for $5.00 you could buy the Mequiars in the burgandy bottle, but I really want to use something with some "ingredients", so that why I spend $20.00 for the Griots BOS, their Caranuba paste or the $17.00 for their Paint Sealant, none of which I`d call "expensive". Those of you who have Griots products that your not using and don`t want to attempt to send them back, drop me an email USMondeo@aol.com and I`m sure we can strike up a fair deal/trade of some kind.

[imported_rfinkle2]

like mosca - i like the speed shine

[Accumulator]

White95Max- Isn`t that weird about their catalogs? I must be the only detailer in the US who never gets one. At least their shipping dept. puts one in with my orders.




I don`t understand the cost thing? It seems that people say that Griots waxes are expensive..



Guess I mentioned the cost factor out of defensiveness, as many people have made a big deal out of Griot`s prices in the past. I`m sure not gonna quibble about a few bucks when it comes to a container of wax. Actually, I don`t see anything awfully high about the costs of the GG`s products I use, but some things (their wash buckets come to mind) are available at other places for a fraction of the cost. And the shipping charges *do* add up. Still, if they have what I want I usually just order it from them when I`m stocking up on Car Wash and other staples.



Never tried any of their current LSPs other than the BOS, but I`d be leery of *anybody`s* claims about carnauba content/etc. There are just *so* many different factors that determine how "good" a wax is...the carnauba content/quality never seems to be all that significant in real life. Whatever you`re after in a past wax, somebody probably sells *just* the product and who knows, maybe the Griot`s is what you want.



Mosca- Yeah, I agree about how great the Interior Cleaner is :xyxthumbs My Speed Shine/Crystal Mist comparisons worked out differently from yours, but hey, there are a lot of variables when it comes to QD and I still use Speed Shine quite a bit.



I`ll also say that Griot`s machine pads (the current orange and red ones) wear like iron. Seems like they never wear out and I can`t remember ever having any velcro failures. And I recommend the little BHBs so often that I`ve memorized the part number (15520). Don`t know how I`d wash nooks and crannies without them.

[Bill D]

Accumulator,



I recall your issue with not being able to get their catalogs any more. Have you tried using an alias when requesting one? Regarding catalog requests, I`ve done a little experiment and you might be surprised what kind of names one can come up with and still have the catalogs sent. :chuckle: Some were even addressed by hand. Give a different name a shot, you might be able to receive them again.



I think the latest Griot`s catalog reached here on Friday. I`m certain holiday editions will start arriving in about a day or so.

[superstring]

Has anyone tried Griots Caranuba Wax in paste form? I ask this because the guy on phone told me its the highest grade caranuba on the market (33%)



Yes, I`ve tried it and I like it. Easy to apply and remove and looks good. When you say the guy told you it`s the "highest grade carnauba on the market", I guess he meant it has the most carnauba (33% by weight/volume?) that you can put in a wax without it being impossible to work with. There are other waxes, such as the high end "estate" waxes from Zymol, that claim to contain up to 60% carnauba, so who knows?? :nixweiss

[Accumulator]

I recall your issue with not being able to get their catalogs any more. Have you tried using an alias when requesting one? ... Give a different name a shot, you might be able to receive them again..



Well, I did think about requesting one in one of the dogs` names, but since they figured out Accumulatorette (different last name, same address, hers quit coming too) I dunno...I`ll need some more Car Wash soon anyhow, so I`ll get the Holiday catalog then.

[JustinR32]

In closing, being new here, I don`t understand the cost thing? It seems that people say that Griots waxes are expensive. Now for $5.00 you could buy the Mequiars in the burgandy bottle, but I really want to use something with some "ingredients", so that why I spend $20.00 for the Griots BOS, their Caranuba paste or the $17.00 for their Paint Sealant, none of which I`d call "expensive".



Hey, you won`t hear it from me. You`re reading from a guy who`s had to go out and buy more shelves because he didn`t have any place to put stuff! And I`ve spent a heck of a lot more than $20 on a jar of wax, and I`ve done it more than once....



You`ll find that quality can be quite independent from price, and that a product that might not have a place in your arsenal is perfect for another guy (like that Meguiar`s maroon bottle ;)). There are hundreds of people here who are getting great results from products that didn`t fit for me (don`t wanna name any, it`s not the point). And there are a lot of people who order bulk products from the manufacturer, who also get great results!



In the end, it`s all good. If you`re looking for a change of product, and something is getting mentioned over and over again, it`s a good bet that it will give great results and be easy to use.



Oh; and don`t forget to post some pictures of your ride!





Tom