I'm a beginner and need some advise

[Aaryn NZ]

Hi like you I live in New Zealand. Good car cleaning products are hard to come by or they cost a #### load of money.
if you ant the good stuff shop on Amazon or Waxit in Ozy that is where i get all my stuff from. if you are after a Rupes Polisher get it from Wyatt machines in NZ. New Zealand gets ripped of in this country big time on everything
good luck with your car

Why not buy from here?

I have to disagree with you about getting ripped off, the couple of quality car care retailer/distribution outlets that we have down here are actually spot on with their pricing. When you consider we're not actually on the way to anywhere, & anything that comes here (humans to freight) isn't a drop off on the way because New Zealand isn't on the way to anywhere. So yes, much of what is availible will be more expensive than elsewhere but not by as much as you think.

Autogeek have been faultless for me with every order I make, & highly recommend shopping here if you cannot source what you need in NZ.

Aaryn NZ.

[Aaryn NZ]

I was using a Meguiars G220 V2 DA polisher with the Meguiars backing pad and the soft buff 2.0 cutting pad.
The magnification in the last couple of photos was quite high and taken inside, while the RIDS are quite hard to see but when caught in the right ligt show up quite easily.

The first two photos show what it was like before I started and the third photo show the before under a bit of magnification, while the last photo shows it under a bit of magnification afte using the TSR.
The first pass removed quite a lot of the scratches and the following 2 remove quite a few of the RIDS but there are still some left.

All the scratches are on both sides of the car from the front doors back, the front guards don't have any of the RIDS, just swirls, the same as the hood trunk and roof only seem to have swirls. It's like the sides have been continuously brushing against something.

Most products that available online here are not easy to come by in New Zealand

A couple of places I can by product
https://detaildepot.co.nz/brand/meguiars/
https://smitsgroup.co.nz/Products

Hey, welcome to Autogeek Online.

John from Detail Depot is a good guy. I have great success with Megs 101, I know its designed for use with a foam pad but it will work fine with a micro fibre pad on the G220. CarPro microfibre pads are real nice to work with. Half a dozen of those, some Megs 101, a bottle of CarPro Reflect & half a dozen CarPro GlossPads & some CarPro Essence + & you have the goods for shiny paint. A few more passes than two would yeild better results too but hey, if you have more questions feel free to PM or drop me a call.

Aaryn NZ.

[Aaryn NZ]

Hi like you I live in New Zealand. Good car cleaning products are hard to come by or they cost a #### load of money.
if you ant the good stuff shop on Amazon or Waxit in Ozy that is where i get all my stuff from. if you are after a Rupes Polisher get it from Wyatt machines in NZ. New Zealand gets ripped of in this country big time on everything
good luck with your car

Welcome to Autogeek Online.

Aaryn NZ.

[fightnews]

Hope I'm posting this in the right section

I picked up a '98 BMW with a lot of scratches in the paintwork, mostly on the sides, below is a photo of what it looks like


Attachment 56067

Attachment 56068

This is a closer look

Attachment 56069

And this is a close look at a section after three passes using a DA polisher and Wolfgang total swirl remover, as you can see there are still some scratches present.

Attachment 56070

I could do with some help in choosing a good compound and pad to get better and perhaps faster results?

Sorry just realised the photos are upside down..................Thanks

to be honest with you that looks pretty good just make a few more passes and see what that does. three passes is only half of what most people do and u got good results. you are already using a good medium compound just stick with it and save your money

[fightnews]

I guess i was wrong, Mike, do you not feel he is taking off to much clear coat by moving to a compound and trying to get those scratches out? What about using the least aggressive method possible? The guy only made 3 passes and got good results. Should he not keep going with that to save the thin and precious clear coat?

[kiwi007]

Hey, welcome to Autogeek Online.

John from Detail Depot is a good guy. I have great success with Megs 101, I know its designed for use with a foam pad but it will work fine with a micro fibre pad on the G220. CarPro microfibre pads are real nice to work with. Half a dozen of those, some Megs 101, a bottle of CarPro Reflect & half a dozen CarPro GlossPads & some CarPro Essence + & you have the goods for shiny paint. A few more passes than two would yeild better results too but hey, if you have more questions feel free to PM or drop me a call.

Aaryn NZ.

Aaryn thanks for the tips it's very much appreciated. Since I'm from the Scottish city in the South I do object to paying almost 50% more for an item in New Zealand (do the math for that Megs 105 & 205 from Detail Depot compared to Autogeek) than I see the same item for sale overseas for.
I have to agree Autogeek has been good to deal with and I'm waiting on a few things to arrive and thinking of ordering some more while the sale is running.

Thanks for the replies it is very much appreciated, Mike I have some more of those thin pads coming, just wondering what else I should order.......Ian

[Aaryn NZ]

Aaryn thanks for the tips it's very much appreciated. Since I'm from the Scottish city in the South I do object to paying almost 50% more for an item in New Zealand (do the math for that Megs 105 & 205 from Detail Depot compared to Autogeek) than I see the same item for sale overseas for.
I have to agree Autogeek has been good to deal with and I'm waiting on a few things to arrive and thinking of ordering some more while the sale is running.

Thanks for the replies it is very much appreciated, Mike I have some more of those thin pads coming, just wondering what else I should order.......Ian

Nice, I'm the other end of the South Island up here in Blenheim.

Yeah, I see what you mean about the prices but to be fair its not as straight cut as that either. I get Pinnacles Advanced Compound/Swirl Remover/Finishing Polish in the gallon containers from Autogeek . . . convert them to Kiwi dollars, then add the freight (heavy) then once it gets here, pay the GST, & unless it sneaks through unnoticed - the import duties the customs department sticks on too. Compare with me buying a gallon of Megs 101 from Detail Depot @ $280NZ (can't find 101 in a gallon on AG, so I'll compare with 105) or a gallon of 105 from Autogeek at $120US . . . by the time I get it, it will cost me roughly the same.

Also something to consider with the likes of Detail Depot, is - it is more so a hobby for John as apposed to a full on shop & isn't his day job by any means. Autogeek is HUGE (trust me, I've been there) their buy price I'm sure, will be a tad better than Johns too, & he still has to pay freight, taxes & duties as well - hence, why our prices don't match what you see here.

On the flip side, I'm running a shop, so I build my costs into my pricing structure. Let us know what you are ordering, & what you're looking to do & you will get some great tips & advice here on AGO. You will like the thin pads for sure. Definitely take advantage of the sales here too.

Aaryn NZ.