Recommendation?

I

imported_Abrasive

New member
Hi All,



I've been lurking on these forums for awhile. I currently have a cable porter and a bit of experience using it.



I have 2 cars; a 2010 Candy White VW GTI (daily driver but parked in a garage at work and at home) and a Meteor Grey 2011 Audi A4 Avant (Wife's car but she is about to be a stay at home mom so it will sit in the garage a lot).



Now I was thinking about going with the Meguiar's DA MF system. Both cars have what I'd call average swirls. GTI might be worse but I haven't taken a light to it yet just what I've noticed when the light hits it just right.



I'm looking for something that is fairly easy to use with good results on both cars if possible. From what I've read the D300 should probably fit the bill. What about the D301? It's a "finishing wax" does that mean it's considered a LSP? I do realize that no all products work equally well for one color as they do another which is one of the reasons I'm posting!



I didn't get around to detailing my cars last year (different cars at the time) so I don't remember what I used the year before. If i recall I used a compound, polish, then Meg's NXT. I also later got a wipe on walk away product called Ultima(i think) that I recall reading a lot about 2 years ago but I haven't seen mention of it since I've been back lurking.



I'm hoping to have both cars fully detailed before the :baby: comes at the end of this month. :chuckle:



Sorry for the long winded post.
 
Do you still have your old pads, etc for the PC? You might be able to get away with those again.



I finally got around to using the Megs system that I bought. I must say I was pretty impressed. The wifes Acura (anthracite gray, so a little dark metallic) started out pretty swirled (we had broken down and gone to car washes a couple times this winter just because we needed the car respectably clean). I used the cutting pad and compound, 3 or 4 passes with fairly good pressure, then another 3 or 4 with almost no pressure. I actually didnt feel the need to go to a next polishing step....it came out that good. Very glossy, very reflective and no haze that I could see. That experience might not be the norm (and I might be "missing" something also, I was in a hurry but from all the angles I checked the car looked excellent).



I chose not to use the finishing wax/compound because I havent read much about its durability (expected, considering the whole system is so new). Im going to reserve it for a select few people that I dont want to use my good stuff on :)
 
If you have stuff from a few years back, it might still be worth your time. Post up what you have. Also check that it still has the right consitancy.
 
Abrasive- Welcome to Autopia!



I too think you oughta consider sticking with what you already have, as long as it seemed OK in your opinion.



Don't worry about the color of the paint. And with the baby on the way (congrats in advance!) I wouldn't knock yourself out looking for marring that doesn't bother you now (don't look for new problems you don't know you have ;) ).



I *would* want to get pretty durable stuff on both cars so you don't have to mess around with them very much; I suspect you'll be busy enough without making detailing a big priority. So I'd maybe consider some wax like Collinite (either 845 or 476S), which you could apply over top of the Meguiar's stuff. It'd last a lot longer than the NXT.



Oh, and, heh heh, your post wasn't long-winded by my standards, not at all :D
 
Chris,

I do have some old pads. I have some lake country ones. If I recall I had 1 orange, 1 blue and 2 grey. All of them were used except one of the grey ones- I didnt wash them, I stuck them in a ziplock bag. I had planned to come back earlier and use them again but never did. I'm seeing complaints about LC pads now, did their QC drop recently or are people just finding higher standards among competitors? I don't recall having any real issues other than the grey one got super saturated, but then again I'm a novice.



Yakky,

I want to say that i used Megs ScratchX or ColorX (former i think), Megs show car glaze #7, and Megs NXT (2.0 maybe). I recall just getting the cable porter and just going to local auto store and picking fairly random things out. I was excited. It didn't last very long and I don't think I had used a high enough pad for the scratchX so the swirls improvement was marginal. But when I was first done it looked great!



Accumulator,

Thanks for the welcome! I actually registered 2 years ago. Went to register yesterday and realized I had already done it. :shifty: Durable stuff is along the lines of what I'm looking for and easy to use/wipe off. I just wanted a more solid plan going forward this time. I've been browsing the forums but there are so many good choices it's hard to make a decision. The GTI doesn't bother me too much but I noticed swirl marks on the Audi when I bought it with 9 miles on the odometer and I've just been waiting for a nice break in the weather!



-Abrasive
 
Abrasive said:
.. I noticed swirl marks on the Audi when I bought it...
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If you weren't already aware of it, the Audi's clear will almost certainly be very hard. I dunno how close to perfect you want it, but keep that in mind when it comes to the aggressive step. E.g., Scratch-X won't come close to doing anything to most Audis.



Meguiar's M105 works well enough on Audis via PC *IF* you use small pads. Optimum's Hyper (spray) Compound is much more gentle so it's not as "effective" (scare-quotes as I dunno how aggressive you really want/need to get) but it's *MUCH* more user-friendly.. as in, almost a pleasure to use.



Note that IME you really do need to use small pads with the PC to do effective work on paint's like the Audi's. The ~6" ones just impart too much friction and end up being far too gentle.
 
Arg. Time-out ate my initial response.



Accumulator,



I did read yesterday while searching that Audi's have pretty hard paint/clear. I also searched on VW's but did not find anything conclusive. VW owns Audi and shares a lot of parts - is it as hard as the Audi by any chance?



What's considered a small pad on the PC? 3.5"? 4"? I think i had 5 or 5.5. I can't remember if the pads i have are LC or CCS. Thanks for the heads up!



I don't think I need to get very aggressive with the Audi(at least I hope!). Part of the reason I was considering the Megs DA MF system was ease of use and I don't mind trying something different. :)



Hadn't heard of the Optimum Hyper spray, I will look into it as well! Thanks for all the feedback!



-Abrasive.
 
A lot of people will tell you the sweet spot is 5" backing plate with a 5.5" pad for a DA like PC7424. Others are saying the power of a Griot's Garage Six Inch DA you can get away with using a larger pad like 6.5 for paint corrections.



If you don't have the tools on you right now the backing pads can be bought at most automotive stores like Auto Zone/Advanced or go to hardware stores like ACE/Harbor/Lowes etc etc.



I would think the hardest cutting compound on the market for consumers is Meguiar's M105 which can be purchased OTC that can be used on your hard paint on the Audi.
 
Hmmm. I think 5" backing plate is what i have now. I forgot to double check last night.



Not sure I want to start off with the 105 on the Audi. I'd rather start off a little lighter and if I'm not happy come back later with something a bit more aggressive.
 
VW and Audi? I usually don't even bother trying the DA on them, I go straight to my rotary. I've tried the KB method on both and find that it just takes too long that way to get correction. Haven't tried the new Meguiars pads so I can't say for sure if they do better on VW/Audi paint than conventional pads.
 
I have two BMW's and the paint is very hard. On the white one I would consider using Megs D151 which has a little more correction than the finishing wax. You might consider the D151 or the finsishing wax if you are in a hurry. It works great for me on my wifes white 328. I use a DA although I am not bothered by Scottwaxes time sensitivities since I just deatail as a hobby.
 
Scottwax said:
VW and Audi? I usually don't even bother trying the DA on them, I go straight to my rotary. I've tried the KB method on both and find that it just takes too long that way to get correction. Haven't tried the new Meguiars pads so I can't say for sure if they do better on VW/Audi paint than conventional pads.
Click to expand...



For a pro, its is indeed a waste of time to hit hard clears with a DA, but for a hobbyist and a decent DA, its not too bad. Though its all relative, I've put in 14-16 hours on regular cars and I started off with a rotary and finshed with a DA.
 
Abrasive said:
Not sure I want to start off with the 105 on the Audi. I'd rather start off a little lighter and if I'm not happy come back later with something a bit more aggressive.
Click to expand...



Then I'd start with the Optimum Hyper Compound. IMO it's almost more like a "super swirl remover" than a true compound (at least via non-rotary means) and I'm confidednt it won't be too aggressive for you.



But IMO M105 probably wouldn't be too aggressive either ;)
 
Strange.. I think quick reply is eating my posts for some reason. D:



Anyways - ACC I think I'll start off with the Opt Hyper Spray. Is there a particular size and cut pad you'd recommend? I'm not sure when you said "small" that meant anything under 6" :)
 
Abrasive said:
Strange.. I think quick reply is eating my posts for some reason. D:



Anyways - ACC I think I'll start off with the Opt Hyper Spray. Is there a particular size and cut pad you'd recommend? I'm not sure when you said "small" that meant anything under 6" :)
Click to expand...



The OHC will be pretty mind IMO with 5.5" pads, but it might work OK for you. I myself would want to use it with 4" orange pads, at least for the aggressive work.



Check out Kevin Brown's recent thread on pad priming and the subsequent addition of water; whatever works with M105 will also work with the OHC, just more gently.
 
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