Reivew of the Meguiars DA training class held in Irvine CA

Meguiar DA class was amazing!

I was looking for some basic training on DA Polishers so I can get my hands on some equipment before purchasing and I found a local shop giving classes. The class was geared for people looking to start a business so it wasn’t for me, but the company pointed me to the Meguiar’s site where they offer free classes. It just so happens that the DA class was in a few days and they had room for more. The good part is it’s FREE and designed for guys with little or no experience. The class is located in their headquarters in Irvine which was only about 10 minutes from me. It was an 8-3pm class with coffee donuts and pizza for lunch all included and again all free!! I was a bit skeptical at first thinking it may be a hard sales pitch to sale you their products, but it was nothing of the sort. Nick Winn with Meguiar’s was doing the training and he started off with a basic powerpoint and asked questions for about 30 minutes. Then he said he was going to change up the format of the class quite a bit and said this would be the first class. Instead of sitting and talking he said ok now the rest of the class will be all hands on… I thought wow this is going to be great as I was hoping for some time on a polisher. He walked out to the parking lot and took a look at a few cars that guys were willing to let them work and and ended up choosing an 02 Chevy SUV. The truck for it’s age was actually in great condition, but did have some swirling although not too bad and was all black.

The facility is amazing. The have a huge Multimedia room with seating for around 30 with a small fridge and counter with a sink perfect for the class. More importantly was the layout of every product on the shelf and the huge fully stocked garage with just about every product available and tons of various polishers of all size and type and material to detail a large amount of cars.

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=35295&stc=1 https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=35296&stc=1

We started off with a foam cannon and rinse followed up by a 2 buck wash and included the wheels. Although we are actually cleaning the car Nick did a great job explaining why he wanted to foam AND do the 2 buck wash. Also he went through step by step on why he likes to do the wheels first and work from the bottom up. He went through every detail regarding the type of soap, how to dilute, what products offer what, etc etc. It was a lot to take in and more importantly amazing that he answered all the questions quickly and accurately. He did focus on the Meguiar’s product line and not surprisingly it was a lot of the products I noticed guys already using online. After the wash and dry he pulled the truck in and opened a several bars of clay and explained what “claying does” and how to use it. The best part of the class was anyone who wanted to do the work had a chance to. So of course I got to clay a few areas and could really see the difference in the before and after.

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=35297&stc=1


Next up was the polishers. He spent about 15 minutes talking about compounding, polishing, sanding and went over several various products and pads. The he went through testing product A with Pad A on the hood, then Product B with Pad A, and so forth and so on until he found what worked well for the truck and didn’t leave too much haze or “marring”? He basically walked us through how to determine what we need for the specific vehicle. The goal was to get the best result with the least amount of work. We ended up with a yellow pad and 205 applied very lightly and did 4-5 passes on each section. Again everyone in the class got as much or as little time on the polisher as they wanted. I probably spent about 20 minutes alone doing several panels so this was huge for me having no prior experience. After the polishing was done we covered info about waxing, sealants, coatings etc. Again we are in a live working environment and he’s just walking us through it as we are working on the vehicle. So although it’s pretty much all hands I can’t recall a time where he wasn’t explaining this or that or answering questions. Another great part of the class was using a small DA that was air powered. Wow that little device really did move and although it was small the action was faster and the orbital was larger so it did quick work on the hard to reach areas. He wrapped up the class with a 30 min Q/A and gave everyone an air freshener “bomb” that you set if in the car with the vent on high and windows up for 15 minutes.

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This was an amazing class and I honestly would have easily paid a few hundred to be a part of so I have no problem spending that money I would have spent on the class at their site stocking up on products that I would have probably ended up getting anyway!

Love megs

Good job writing up your experience. I did their beginner class, and then a follow up class (advanced?). I learned a bit, and had a chance to try different tools and products. Totally worth going.

Nice. You should post this over on the Meguiar`s forum as well. Nick would enjoy reading through this.

LGHT- Really glad to hear you found the class so informative! Perfect way to get intro`d to this stuff :D

Hey looks like you had a great time and learned with some good hands on experience. Free is definitely always a nice thing too.
Very awesome!

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Originally Posted by The Guz

Nice. You should post this over on the Meguiar`s forum as well. Nick would enjoy reading through this.

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Good idea I just did...

Hi all. New to the forum. Great post. Does anyone know of any classes in the New York area? Doesn`t have to be free. I don`t mind paying.

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Originally Posted by FDGF18

Hi all. New to the forum. Great post. Does anyone know of any classes in the New York area? Doesn`t have to be free. I don`t mind paying.

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I know Detailer`s Domain has offered them in the past, and usually has an open house in the spring with a vendor (RUPES, etc.). The open house can be hands on, but not the level of the Meg`s class mentioned.
I would also recommend checking out Autogeek`s Roadshow Detailing Classes. I don`t see one scheduled for that area, but maybe in 2019. BTW, Mike Phillips that teaches the AG classes started the Meg`s classes.

On a side note one of the things mentioned in the class to "practice" on is getting a rental car for a day. Since most rentals already have trashed paint jobs they said it`s a good way to get some practice on neglected paint with little to no risk. I may do that after I take the rotary class ;)

Awesome write up and review!

And what a great oppertunity to beginners to be introduced to detailing. Then offer the class for free is very generous of them. Even if it`s geared to one brand you get a hands on test and a feel of the work includes.

/Tony