Review - Meguiar`s Ultimate Fast Finish

[The Guz]

I received the latest product from Meguiar`s the other day. I had pre-ordered it Autogeek during a past sale only to meet the shipping limit criteria.

See below for the product description.

Paint protection that lasts a whole year!

How about a wax in an aerosol can that lasts an entire year? Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish fits that description! This easy-to-use formula offers the ultimate in polymer gloss, slickness and water beading – all in the convenience of a no-buff aerosol! Spray and wipe your way to shinier, protected paint. Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish maximizes water beading, paint protection, gloss and slickness. You’ll love how fast and easy it is to apply to your vehicle.

Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish is a revolutionary aerosol formula that offers a brilliant gloss with a long-lasting synthetic polymer coating that`s extremely easy to use. This advanced formula offers the ultimate in polymer gloss, slickness, and water beading paint protection. The no buff formula allows you to complete an entire vehicle in just minutes, simply spray and wipe. Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish truly is the easiest way to "wax!”

Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish is a car guy’s (or gal’s!) dream come true. Never has it been easier to wax your vehicle. No longer will you have to break out a crumbly paste wax or sticky liquid wax. Simply spray Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish onto your paint and wipe clean using a soft microfiber towel. It simply doesn’t get any easier!

Meguiars Ultimate Fast Finish is a non-abrasive finishing wax. If you’ve neglected to clay or polish your vehicle in longer than 3 months, we would highly recommend using Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit and Ultimate Polish before using Ultimate Fast Finish. This creates a smooth foundation for maximum bonding and gloss.

I pulled this from the Meguiar`s forum.

Features:

• Meguiar`s most advanced paint protecting formula
• Technologically advanced, innovative, synthetic polymer coating provides relentless water beading protection wash after wash*
• Protects for a full year!*
• Meguiar`s fastest & easiest way to protect a paint finish, simply spray on & wipe off
• Use by itself or even on top of wax to extend protection.
• *Lab tested durability over 100 wash cycles using a pH balanced car wash

Details:

• Part#: G18309
• MSRP $17.99 USD
• Size: 8.5 oz aerosol
• Includes Microfiber Towel

For those that are not familiar with this product, it is the latest protection product from Meguiar`s. It was announced at SEMA 2016. Let`s get right into it.

The product comes is packaged in a nice box. Inside it contains the aerosol can and a black microfiber towel. That is right this is an aerosol application. The black microfiber is the same microfiber towel that is included with ultimate wax and is a black supreme shine microfiber.



We take a look at the box and see a nice display on one side with all of the features of the product. The other side has a photo of ultimate wash & wax and ultimate compound.



The claim of 1 year longevity and the statement "Lab tested durability over 100 wash cycles". We all know that durability and longevity in a lab are different than real world situations. I am not going to do a durability test. This was a test to see how this product is applied, the beading and sheeting of it. I do not know if it will live up to the 1 year claim. Again this is going to vary depending on the surrounding environment. Perhaps it will only last 5,6, 7 months etc. I will let someone else report back on that as I will be coating my daily driver within the next few weeks now that the repaint has cured for 90+ days.



Directions on the box. Pretty straight forward on application. Apply directly to the microfiber, spread it onto the surface, slip the towel for a final wipe. Repeat around the entire car.



I used my factory hood from my Pontiac Grand Prix as the test area since I have an aftermarket hood on the car. I started off by washing the hood as seen in the Big Blue Drying Towel review I did. After that I polished the hood with M205 to remove the sealants I was playing around with a few months back. I then followed up with CarPro Eraser to remove the polishing oils from M205. This is an optional step. I then proceeded to apply Ultimate Fast Finish.



These are the application items I used. I opted to use a microfiber applicator rather than the included towel. I used the included towel for the final wipe. This was my preference as the applicator is easier to control versus the towel and it fits in my hand much better. A microfiber towel or two is perfectly fine.



We move onto the application. The atomization of the nozzle is good. Not a lot of oversrpay. It is a nice tight spray pattern. I would recommend to do this indoors or when there is no wind. The wind could factor in just like most aerosols.






Once applied to the applicator I applied it and spread it around. With a few sprays I was able to apply to half the hood with relative ease. I actually think 2 sprays to prime would have been enough. 1-2 sprays would probably be all that is needed applying to additional panels. A little product goes a long way.

It did spread out easily. I had no problems spreading over the surface. The product does flash and it seems to do it very well. It required little to no final wiping. I don`t see an issue if someone missed a spot while doing a final wipe. This is basically a wipe on wipe off product. One could probably walk away after applying it but it`s better to be safer and do a final wipe to level out the product and avoid high spots.

The product flashing will vary depending on the surrounding environment (temperature & humidity). The flashing of it reminded me of Optimum Opti-Seal and Gloss Coat with the rainbow type of effect.

I tried to capture the flashing effect of it. It can be seen to the right of this photo.



It wasn`t sunny in the area I was working at as the house blocked the nice 72 degree sunny weather . But the gloss looked real nice.



For those Meguiar`s fans this would make a nice 1-2 combo.



I was curious to see how the water behavior and I used the infamous water bottle test on an area that is slanted as the hood is sitting flat on the display stands and does not mimic how a hood slopes in most real world applications. I did wait somewhere between 12-24 hours before I got it wet with the hose. That is still the recommended time from Meguiar`s. At the time, UFF was on the paint for about 10-15 mins.

[The Guz]

The following day I pulled the hood back out and it was time to see how it behaved with water. It sat somewhere between 12-24 hours.

Set the nozzle on mist setting.



Various close ups of the beading. Nice and tight water beading.







See the live video of this entire process in the following posts.

[The Guz]

Initial thoughts:

This is an interesting product. But overall application of it was easy. It spread out effortlessly. The product flashes to the point where little to no buffing is required. There is no wait time like a waxes and some sealants to do a final wipe. It left a slick and glossy finish. Beading and sheeting looks great. Based on my initial assessment, I am impressed with this product.

As I previously stated this is not going to be a longevity or durability test. It is more to show how it`s applied and how it performs with water. I will let someone else chime in on a durability. The thing with this product is that an enthusiast like myself would end up applying another coat a few months down the line. So for me the longevity is not that important.

Some will ask if this can be topped or as a topper. It says it can right on the box and on the aerosol can.

The other question someone will ask is how does it compare to Sonax Polymer Net Shield. Unfortunately I can not answer that as I have never used Sonax PNS. But I will post this.

Meguiar`s Ultimate Fast Finish

This has me thinking of Sonax Polymer Net Shield and if it performs anything like it, it will be awesome. Definitely going to be trying this one.

Great as that product is, Ultimate Fast Finish is far easier to apply and leaves a much slicker finish when you`re done. Durability should be superior with UFF as well.

Give this product a try. It`s only $17 which is cheaper than ultimate wax. I think most will enjoy using it.


I will include a couple videos of the entire project.

Part 1 delves into the product application.



Part 2 displays the water behavior of UFF. It`s a bit deceiving because the hood is sitting flat on the stands. It doesn`t really mimic how some hoods slope down.

[Justins00ss]

Awesome review bud! Really looking forward to trying this out

[Don]

Figures, I just get around to trying PP365 last fall and now Meguiar`s comes out with something that`s supposed to be better in many categories ... the wife is going to shoot me.

[Ronkh]

Cool review!

Interesting product.

[Angus]

Good review, Guz. Thanks for the informative write-up. Ultimate Fast Finish reminds me a lot of Blackfire Crystal Seal

[Lonnie]

Guz:
I hope the Meg`s sends you lifetime supply of Ultimate Fast Finish for FREE after that extensive and detailed review with photos.

[XxBoostinxX]

Looks like a decent product for the price. I am interested in the long term results. Thanks for the review!

[briarpatch]

Thanks for the review.....looks like a good one for the roof of my Tundra...always a PITA to protect. Wonder how it would hold up used as a wheel coating?

[PA DETAILER]

THANK YOU. I was waiting for a review on this. Might give this a go around this spring.

[The Guz]

Awesome review bud! Really looking forward to trying this out

Thanks. You will enjoy using it.

Figures, I just get around to trying PP365 last fall and now Meguiar`s comes out with something that`s supposed to be better in many categories ... the wife is going to shoot me.

Lol. Just don`t tell her you got it. The application is so much easier than PP365. Both claim to last a year. But if I had to choose one, I would choose UFF just based on the application. The beading to me also looks better with UFF. That is one complaint I always had about PP365 is that the beading really did not live up to the crazy water beading statement that is on the bottle. PP365 is decent. Start using PP365 on the wheels and UFF on the paint.

Cool review!

Interesting product.

Thanks. I agree it`s an interesting product for sure.

Good review, Guz. Thanks for the informative write-up. Ultimate Fast Finish reminds me a lot of Blackfire Crystal Seal

Thanks. Yeah you are right. The flashing effect looks similar to that as well as opti-seal. Application is about the same other than UFF being an aerosol.

Guz:
I hope the Meg`s sends you lifetime supply of Ultimate Fast Finish for FREE after that extensive and detailed review with photos.

Lol I would not mind. I really hope Meguiar`s gets into the coating market. They can market it just how Optimum markets Gloss Coat and their products in general.

Looks like a decent product for the price. I am interested in the long term results. Thanks for the review!

Thanks. If I find a vehicle to put it on I could do something like that.

Thanks for the review.....looks like a good one for the roof of my Tundra...always a PITA to protect. Wonder how it would hold up used as a wheel coating?

No problem. I am sure it would work pretty well. Maybe it won`t last as long as it does on paint but it should still work.

THANK YOU. I was waiting for a review on this. Might give this a go around this spring.

Sure thing. Spring is right around the corner. For the price it`s worth giving it a try. One could use it with ultimate quik detailer or D156 as a drying aid and stick with the Meguiar`s family.

[pwaug]

I wonder if it will work well over an organic wax? If so, seems like a great quick two step---polish with HD Speed and then add a coat of UFF.

[The Guz]

I wonder if it will work well over an organic wax? If so, seems like a great quick two step---polish with HD Speed and then add a coat of UFF.

I don`t see why it would not work. Says so on the box. This is why I throw durability out the window for us and not the average joe. I foresee enthusiasts like us Autopia members using it more than once throughout the year. To easy not to.

[The Guz]

Just checked the Autopia facebook page. Nice to see this review made it on there for others to see.