Total Newbie, Totally Overwhelmed

[tonydi]

I've got a brand new bright red Hyundai Genesis Coupe and made the mistake of looking in forums such as those here. ;)

A couple of hundred dollars later and I'm stocked up on towels and other stuff. I'm washing it with the Garry Dean method and ONRW&W and it looks beautiful.

But I got the email tonight about the Labor Day sale on polishers and thought maybe getting a polisher might be a good idea. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money because I'm afraid it's going to end up sitting on a shelf after the first time or two that I use it.

I started looking at all the variations of pre-packaged kits. I thought at first that the PC unit would be a great choice because it seems to be such a popular unit. But then saw a lot of good things being said about the new GG unit, which looks to be a bit less expensive. Then I saw all the threads about switching to different sized pads and now I'm totally overwhelmed.

So I'm asking for specific recommendations on what I should get. One red car, paint is brand new and no problems, not garaged, probably will polish MAYBE twice a year because I'm just too lazy. ;)

And maybe the right answer for me is to not get a polisher at all, I just don't know as I've always just hand polished all of my other cars.

So fire away, all opinions welcomed!

[BradsDetailing]

If your car is, for the most part, swirl free, just clean, clay and hand polish the surface real good and apply a coating.

You'll never use a polisher on it if you coat it and wash it right. It'll be about $200 down the drain unless you start polishing other people's cars.

Compounding and polishing takes away clear coat ad you only have so much. The best thing to do is get it perfect, coat it and maintain it.

I would also suggest getting clear bra on the front bumper, fenders, hood, mirrors and cups.

If you were to get a polisher setup I would go gg and a 5" bp. Again, imo, it would be a waste to do so with a brand new car. No need to remove your clear coat twice a year if you don't have to.

GG has a more powerful motor over the pc and it comes with a lifetime warranty.

[zmcgovern45]

My car is coated and I still polish it every year with something like FF4500 or M205 just to bring out the maximum gloss.

I think every car owner should have a DA machine and should get in the habit of at least a one step polish every year or two.

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Welcome to the Geek! I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end of "normal" car care for you, as it once was for all of us. I LOVE the new Gen coupes, congrats on the new car.

At some point your car will need to be polished regardless of what you do to maintain it. Think of it this way, you can buy the polisher once, learn to use it and do it yourself, or you can pay somebody else the same amount, or possibly more money to do it for you. I look at things like this as, I will buy the tool and do the job myself, and then I will have the tool after the job is done for if I ever need / want it again. You could even end up using the polisher on someone else's car if you wanted.

I have a PC7424 (not the XP, the older one) and found it adequate for a hobbyist. Everyone says they like the Griots better for its more powerful motor and lifetime warranty. Seems reasonable to me but I don't think you can go wrong with either machine. I would ask AG to substitute 5.5" pads for the 6.5" pads that come in the kit because they are easier to control and don't bog the motor on the polisher down as much as the bigger pads.

As Brad said, polishing removes clear coat, but polishing once or twice a year with a fine polish like Zach said won't hurt anything.

How about some pics of the car?

[BradsDetailing]

I agree with doing a fine polish when it needs it so you don't remove much of the clear.

But after applying a coating I wouldn't polish it unless it was a cleaner with no abrasives like klasse aio.

If you use something like m205 then you're starting to take off your coating and if that happens you have to re-apply it meaning more $$$.

Any polish with abrasive will remove clear, that's its' job. It may be just a fraction but it's removing it and if you keep doing it over and over your clear will be very thin.

I'm just the type that would keep it as preserved as possible without any correction work. Then, when it is needed, polish it.

I have a Honda with super soft paint that I have never polished, just washed correctly and has very minimal swirling for being 3 years old. I'll probably end up polishing and coating next spring and maintaining it the way I have been.

But for right now, if I were you, I would spend the money I had on a coating and hand polish if your paint is swirl free.

Then in the future, if you need to, buy a da.

[MNDSMtuner96]

I agree with Brad. If the paint is virtually flawless still I would go ahead and apply a coating. Make sure to remove all surface contaminents first though via nanoskin and or clay.

[tonydi]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. It's easy to get caught up in this whole car care/detailing frenzy so I appreciate the different perspectives.

Yeah, I agree with Brad's viewpoint about not beating up the clear coat without a good reason. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these cars don't have a very robust paint/clear coat (are there any mass produced cars that do?) so the last thing I need to do is to start removing some of it.

But it appears that the emphasis is on paint repair. What about using these machines to apply "protection"? Is that job that much easier with one of these over doing it by hand that I'd be more inclined to keep up on that job or is that not enough of a factor?

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1830/mzzu.jpg

[MNDSMtuner96]

Yeah you can machine apply wax or a sealant also. Its just personal preference. But do remember, you only have so much clear. About 3 mils or so. If you dont apply a coating you just need to make sure to not inflict any swirls/scratches after you've corrected it. Its all about your wash method and drying method also. And maintain you're existing coat of protection.