Meguiars 205 and which pad?

[omnipotent]

Hello. Beginner polisher here. I'm wondering which color Lake Country pad I can combo with Meguiars 205 polish to fix the marring/light swirls shown in the picture. Black Kia. Car is only 8 months old. I was thinking a white pad, but is it fine to finish with a white pad, or should I be trying a black pad first? I only wish to do a 1 step correction as I'm still new. Those defects can only really be seen in direct sunlight. I don't need 100% perfection, just a good improvement. Also wondering about # of passes as well as pressure. Any other tips, suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Also as a side note, for a beginner, which size backing plate and which size pad should I go with? I will most likely be purchasing a G9.

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[PaulMys]

If I could pick just one pad from the LC line, it would be the Orange Flat pad. These are my go-to's for almost any One-Step. But, doing a test-spot with other pads is the only way to truly dial in the right combo.

As far as the BP plate size, the G9 has the power to churn the 6" set-up, but I would use the 5". JMO

[The Guz]

What does your test spot with the white pad look like? That will be the way to really know what you need to do and it will come down to how happy you are with the finish. Do as Paul mentioned with the 5" backing plate.

[C5Longhorn]

I use M205 and my go to LC pads are the orange and white pad. Do a test spot with the white pad first and see how it does. If it doesn't correct enough, hit the spot with the orange and see how it looks.

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[WillSports3]

The good thing with M205 is, you can play around with pads and dilutions. Orange pads and then do 50/50 distilled water and M205 if orange pad and straight M205 is leaving too much marring.

[omnipotent]

Thanks for all the input so far. Will the white pad be acceptable to end on? Like would I be able to achieve a mirror finish? Also for a 5 inch backing I would go with a 5.5 inch pad correct?

[Polochon]

Thanks for all the input so far. Will the white pad be acceptable to end on? Like would I be able to achieve a mirror finish? Also for a 5 inch backing I would go with a 5.5 inch pad correct?

I'd try the orange to get more cutting vs the white. But if you want to go two steps with the orange in the equation, well to the 2nd step I'd use green pad. So orange + green.

[The Guz]

Thanks for all the input so far. Will the white pad be acceptable to end on? Like would I be able to achieve a mirror finish? Also for a 5 inch backing I would go with a 5.5 inch pad correct?

Hard to say without doing a test spot first.

[PaulMys]

Also for a 5 inch backing I would go with a 5.5 inch pad correct?

This is correct.

[omnipotent]

Question. How many pads do I need to do a sedan, and how often should I be cleaning them with a brush, every 2x2 section? Also for the spot test, I don't want to buy multiple pads in different colors if I'm not going to use them. Do you think it would be fine to buy 1 of each, prep a section of the car, do 2 test spots, and then order more pads and do the full correction another day?

[PaulMys]

I wouldn't go in with less than 6 for a medium sedan.

As far as the test spot, sure. You could do it the way you describe.

[Dr Oldz]

First off the more pads the better.

Most important thing in your process is a test spot. Make sure you are happy with the results from test spot You don’t wanna buff a whole vehicle then decide you aren’t happy.

From experience I would be very cautious of using 205 and a white pad. It may indeed remove the defects but also may add its own in the Form of pad haze. The orange is almost certainly too aggressive on Kia paint. You may need the green polishing or even the blue light polishing.

Are you set on 205? It has a tendency to leave its own marring behind. I would suggest Megs 210, Sonax perfect finish or Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish.

Again I can’t stress the importance of a test spot. I wish there was a definite combo to give you but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

[omnipotent]

First off the more pads the better.

Most important thing in your process is a test spot. Make sure you are happy with the results from test spot You don’t wanna buff a whole vehicle then decide you aren’t happy.

From experience I would be very cautious of using 205 and a white pad. It may indeed remove the defects but also may add its own in the Form of pad haze. The orange is almost certainly too aggressive on Kia paint. You may need the green polishing or even the blue light polishing.

Are you set on 205? It has a tendency to leave its own marring behind. I would suggest Megs 210, Sonax perfect finish or Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish.

Again I can’t stress the importance of a test spot. I wish there was a definite combo to give you but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

Thanks all for the replies. I'm not set on 205, I didn't realize it was an older formulation. So maybe I'll try the green pad, and if it needs more try the white? I'll avoid the orange. I'm leaning towards either Koch Chemie M3.02 or Jescar Micro. I will also check out the other polishes you mentioned. If I remember correctly, I have heard a lot of people mention that Sonax perfect finish has a lot of cut to it for a polish? I'm honestly fine with a good improvement in my paint rather than 100% defect removal, so I don't need too much cut for my first go.

[GarageKing]

I use the white pad a lot, I find its a good all around pad, as others have mentioned the orange is a bit aggressive.

[WillSports3]

M205 is quite versatile, you can do a lot with it. Just gotta be smart with the pad and what not.