Expensive vs inexpensive products

[Jaretr1]

I was thinking today, are there times when using an inexpensive product for a specific task will work just as well or better than an expensive one?

A few examples: For factory clearcoat painted wheels, I am using Megs cleaner wax. Given the abuse wheels take, this seems to work well enough to keep them shiny and easy to clean, and works well as a cleaning agent. Its only $5 a bottle vs much more expensive dedicated wheel cleaners / polishes.

Clay Lube: while water is not sufficient because it does not have enough lubricity ( a word I learned from Mike), are expensive "clay lubricants" truly better than using an inexpensive quick detailer like Megs or Mothers etc? Megs quick detailer is $4 a bottle vs several other that are $20?

And interior windows? I dont use any product at all. A damp terry cloth towel to wipe, and a dry micro fiber or soft terry cloth to dry always give me clean streak free interior windows, and safe for tints!

Anyone else have any inexpensive vs expensive product experience?

Thanks

[Kaleb G.]

The thing that I've noticed is that a lot of expensive products seem expensive because you buy them in higher quantity. Clay lube is a good examples... a gallon of onr is $40, but what is the cost of each bottle of clay lube you make from the original gallon?

I understand where you're coming from though. I think I use my reasoning just to reinforce that the money I'm spending is "smarter" in the long run haha.

[Rei86]

ONR isn't really a dedicated Clay Lube tho.

[Kaleb G.]

Its a darn good one that's cost effective, though.

[James K]

Its a darn good one that's cost effective, though.

You just reinforced the OP's point. It is a cheaper product that performs well.

[Rei86]

Its a darn good one that's cost effective, though.

Don't know not a huge fan of ONR as a clay lube. I did the mixing right 32oz bottle, 1/2 oz of ONR to distilled water and my Z18 was grabbing like crazy and wouldn't glide.

Have to admit tho for the price of ONR 32oz or 128 its a great bang for the buck.

[SeaJay's]

I was thinking today, are there times when using an inexpensive product for a specific task will work just as well or better than an expensive one?

A few examples: For factory clearcoat painted wheels, I am using Megs cleaner wax. Given the abuse wheels take, this seems to work well enough to keep them shiny and easy to clean, and works well as a cleaning agent. Its only $5 a bottle vs much more expensive dedicated wheel cleaners / polishes.

Clay Lube: while water is not sufficient because it does not have enough lubricity ( a word I learned from Mike), are expensive "clay lubricants" truly better than using an inexpensive quick detailer like Megs or Mothers etc? Megs quick detailer is $4 a bottle vs several other that are $20?

And interior windows? I dont use any product at all. A damp terry cloth towel to wipe, and a dry micro fiber or soft terry cloth to dry always give me clean streak free interior windows, and safe for tints!

Anyone else have any inexpensive vs expensive product experience?

Thanks

There are a lot of inexpensive products that work just as well as some of the higher end products. Megs 105 or UC is a great example. Both relatively inexpensive products, but it works really well compared to power gloss from Menz or other compounds on the market. I think somethings are just marketed more for your budget detailers or to your higher end detailer.

That being said I really think it depends on the customer and what your willing to spend.

Example:

If I am detailing your average daily driver, say a minivan. I'm going to go through my wash method using proper technique, but instead of using my expensive products, I will most likely go for my inexpensive products. So my wash soap maybe Megs NXT instead of DP Xtreme foam, May use super degreaser on the wheels and tires, instead of Wolfgang tire & wheel cleaner, and I'll reach for collinite 845 over Souveran or another higher end wax.

Now say I'm detailing a Porsche or a higher end car, I'm more likely to reach for the more expensive products as I'm usually getting paid more money for these (not always), and they are garage queens or rarely driven.

[rwright]

Don't know not a huge fan of ONR as a clay lube. I did the mixing right 32oz bottle, 1/2 oz of ONR to distilled water and my Z18 was grabbing like crazy and wouldn't glide.

Have to admit tho for the price of ONR 32oz or 128 its a great bang for the buck.

Try a different clay bar. I've used ONR with Clay Magic blue and it can be grabby, use it with Mothers or Riccardo and it glides so easy. Meg's OTC clay with ONR is between Clay Magic and Mothers as far as grab/glide is concerned. This is all based on my experience.

In some cases cheaper products have their place, take Bleche Wite for example. This product is $3.49 at my local Walmart and cleans tires better and faster than most products. But you need to avoid overspray if possible. Another cheap product is Folex, $4.99 at The Home Depot and is phenomenal on cloth seats, carpet, and headliners.

[Kaleb G.]

You just reinforced the OP's point. It is a cheaper product that performs well.

More expensive up front, though.

[ballfan4141]

I look at it like this. once you make a product or you are a company who makes good products you have good products. for instance I would rather use poorboys QD and use poorboys waxes. poorboys wax is about 20 dollars. I would rather use that then the more expensive stuff that is even 50 dollars or more. I dont use any stuff that is not from a top quality product maker. now where it comes in is this. I wont use anything from autozone or any place like that. I have used waxes that are over 50 dollars, but will always prefer CG or poorboys waxes which are a lot cheaper than 50 dollars but I think preform just as good if not better. you do need to spend a certain amount of money on good products but you need to know when you are spending more and not getting anything a lot better.

[silverfox]

1) ONR...can replace many products on your shelf. I seriously think it may be a product that can be truly called revolutionary in car care.

2) Anything Duragloss...they have a great line up of quality products that are also some of the most inexpensive and easy to find.

3) Megs - Meguiar's really is a company who's bang/buck ratio is outstanding. Its hard to beat.

I think I'm most satisfied when I get outstanding results inexpensively, although I've spent a lot of money the hard way finding that out.

[MatthewM]

Don't know not a huge fan of ONR as a clay lube. I did the mixing right 32oz bottle, 1/2 oz of ONR to distilled water and my Z18 was grabbing like crazy and wouldn't glide.

Have to admit tho for the price of ONR 32oz or 128 its a great bang for the buck.

I think the QD ratio for ONR is 8oz. to a gallon. Which means a 32oz bottle should get about 2oz of ONR. I could be wrong or that could fix the problem.

[FUNX650]

...are there times when using an inexpensive product for a specific task will work just as well or better than an expensive one?

Is the price/cost of a product the only factor when you are determining 'inexpensive vs expensive'? I also consider the chemicals, along with their quality and the percentage of those chemicals that makes up the total content in a particular product. Are there a lot of fillers? Is the packaging "pretty/unique"? Marketing hype? What info does the MSDS provide?

A few examples: For factory clearcoat painted wheels, I am using Megs cleaner wax. Given the abuse wheels take, this seems to work well enough to keep them shiny and easy to clean, and works well as a cleaning agent. Its only $5 a bottle vs much more expensive dedicated wheel cleaners / polishes.

If you feel that this product seems to work well; and, you also feel that there will not be any long-term adverse effects by using this product; then by all means be cost-conscious. (Also, look up the MSDS)

Clay Lube: while water is not sufficient because it does not have enough lubricity ( a word I learned from Mike), are expensive "clay lubricants" truly better than using an inexpensive quick detailer like Megs or Mothers etc? Megs quick detailer is $4 a bottle vs several other that are $20?

Meg's Quick Detailer has always been a recommended clay lube---if you want to save some coin...why not!

And interior windows? I dont use any product at all. A damp terry cloth towel to wipe, and a dry micro fiber or soft terry cloth to dry always give me clean streak free interior windows, and safe for tints!

I've also found this to be a good cleaning method--unless the windows have some oily, greasy, smoked-up, etc. areas.

Anyone else have any inexpensive vs expensive product experience?

Thanks

Just a few of my thoughts on your topic.

Bob

[maximus20895]

You need to consider that some of these bottles are concentrated.

For example, Dodo Juice Born Slippy is simply one of the best clays lubes around. The concentrated bottle costs $13 for 250ml (8.5 oz) and the non-concentrated bottle of Meguiar's Quick Detailer cost roughly $5 for a 16oz bottle. Keep in mine the Dodo Juice Born Slippy dilutes 1:10 and make 2.5 liters of clay lube.

That means for the Quick Detail it costs $0.3125 per ounce. ($5/16oz)

On the other hand the far better lube costs $0.1538 per ounce. ($13/84.5oz)

As you can see you get a far better product, in my opinion for about as half as much.


Also the Meguiar's D120 Window Cleaner costs around $20 or less and it makes 11 gallons (1,408 oz)

Do the math:

$20/1,408oz is $0.014 per oz. That's almost nothing.

[James K]

I wont use anything from autozone or any place like that.

That's a real shame because you can pick up some fantastic products from local parts stores. Things like Duragloss, Auto Glym, and a lot of the products from Meguiars and Mothers are excellent.