You may want to ask him why he suggests the paint should only be buffed by hand. It's an old myth that still hangs on quite tenaciously. Be gentle and professional when you ask, some people cling to it as near religion. Hopefully he's just cautious and a good explanation will ease his worries.
There was some truth to it back in the days when compounds were as gritty as the beach and the only commonly seen buffers were rotaries with wool pads. With today's proliferation of hack detailers and crappy dealer prep churning out swirled cars like they're a fashion fad it's easy to see why the perception hasn't faded away.
The important thing about machines is that they are far more consistent than a human hand could ever be. And yes, they're faster and more powerful (rotaries especially). It's the combination or consistency with speed that allows you to use products and pads that are far more gentle than products you could use by hand.
If the machine can make a hundred times as many passes over a point on the surface as a human could then you can use a product/pad combo that's fifty times less aggressive and still be twice as effective.
And of course, the PC is much, much gentler than a rotary.
The problems come when the hacks use the speed and power of machines just to get more work done, faster without the care and attention to quality.
PC.
