Best Car Polish Product?

[sms747]

Never had a car before so no idea, are there any products that remove minor scratches as well? Car is a silver Toyota Vios, seems like it's made out of plastic, but I guess it's some kind of metal

[IMHO]

Well, by the somewhat lackadaisical tone of your post, I'm guessing you don't actually want "the best", so with that in mind I'd recommend 2 products:

1. Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0

2. Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid

The first will remove scratches that don't go too deep into the clear coat, the second will add some protection. Both are suitable for hand application, and are easy/foolproof to use.

Check out the Thai Washer Car Club for vendors: http://www.thaiwashe...04b7&board=26.0

Edited January 29, 2013 by IMHO

[sms747]

Well, by the somewhat lackadaisical tone of your post, I'm guessing you don't actually want "the best", so with that in mind I'd recommend 2 products:

1. Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0

2. Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid

The first will remove scratches that don't go too deep into the clear coat, the second will add some protection. Both are suitable for hand application, and are easy/foolproof to use.

Check out the Thai Washer Car Club for vendors: http://www.thaiwashe...04b7&board=26.0

Thanks very much will look for those, just out of interest what is the best stuff? We have had the car over a month and not gone anywhere in it really.

[IMHO]

Thanks very much will look for those, just out of interest what is the best stuff?

Well, it gets pretty esoteric pretty quickly, and prices can get lofty (http://www.swissvaxt...list.php?MmId=3) heh

The best stuff is actually a combination of products/layers/processes, and varies depending on color and paint hardness...

For fixing imperfections (swirls, holograms, scratches) I usually use Meguiar's #105 and/or #205 with a rotary polisher, but if I'm lazy or there's not too much fixing to do I will just use Meguiar's paint reconditiong cream (which cuts & finishes in just 2-3 passes).

Lately I've become a fan of the Poorboy's glazes (White Diamond/Black Hole) which I apply with a dual action Polisher, and then finish off with a layer of hand-applied Wolfgang Fuzion (which is just awesome on any car).

There's a million and one products out there, and everyone will have their own favorites though...

Edited January 29, 2013 by IMHO

[Kwasaki]

My mrs 2008 silver metalic Yaris still looks like new.

Got my family to bring me a large plastic bottle of 'T' cut metalic from the UK.

I buy a tin of the cheapest silicon cream polish I can find last one from Big 'C' "carpro" at 65 baht it's as good as any expensive one I have bought IMHO, IMHO.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Kwasaki

[IMHO]

My mrs 2008 silver metalic Yaris still looks like new.

Got my family to bring me a large plastic bottle of 'T' cut metalic from the UK.

I buy a tin of the cheapest silicon cream polish I can find last one from Big 'C' "carpro" at 65 baht it's as good as any expensive one I have bought IMHO, IMHO.

The finish achieved all depends on the preparation - if you apply a coat of 110,000 Baht wax to ill-prepared paint, it's not going to look much different to a 150 Baht supermarket wax... But with the correct preparation work first, everyone will see the difference between a 150 Baht wax and something of a better quality.

Like I said earlier on, it's starts getting pretty esoteric pretty quickly.. If you're satisfied with the results you get from those products, that's all that matters

[culicine]

I seriously think 90% of Thais put any kind of wax/polish onto their cars. Just look at the state of the paintwork on many cars that are just a few years old. They look so dull. I've always polished mine, usually using Meguiars nxt 2.0. Paint still looks good as new on a 9 y.o 210K km honda. I doubt I'd go to the extreme expense on a mass produced car that has just an average paint finish anyway.

[shariq607]

Well, by the somewhat lackadaisical tone of your post, I'm guessing you don't actually want "the best", so with that in mind I'd recommend 2 products:

1. Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0

2. Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid

The first will remove scratches that don't go too deep into the clear coat, the second will add some protection. Both are suitable for hand application, and are easy/foolproof to use.

Check out the Thai Washer Car Club for vendors: http://www.thaiwashe...04b7&board=26.0

Well, by the somewhat lackadaisical tone of your post, I'm guessing you don't actually want "the best", so with that in mind I'd recommend 2 products:

1. Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0

2. Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid

The first will remove scratches that don't go too deep into the clear coat, the second will add some protection. Both are suitable for hand application, and are easy/foolproof to use.

Check out the Thai Washer Car Club for vendors: http://www.thaiwashe...04b7&board=26.0

Meguiars ultimate wax offers more protection and improves the gloss better then their NXT tech wax 2.0

[aussiebebe]

To actually remove minor scratches (ie. not through the clearcoat) you use dual action polishers with an abrasive pad and polish to remove the surrounding clearcoat down to the same level of the scratch. It's a job for a professional or expert (like IMHO).

For an old Vios, a quality paste wax like Meguiar's Ultimate won't remove scratches but will make them less visible for as long as the wax stays on the car; some 'scratch remover' products are essentially this.

[IMHO]

Meguiars ultimate wax offers more protection and improves the gloss better then their NXT tech wax 2.0

Ahh yes - I've been out of the loop on retail products for a while, thanks for the correction

To actually remove minor scratches (ie. not through the clearcoat) you use dual action polishers with an abrasive pad and polish to remove the surrounding clearcoat down to the same level of the scratch. It's a job for a professional or expert (like IMHO).

For an old Vios, a quality paste wax like Meguiar's Ultimate won't remove scratches but will make them less visible for as long as the wax stays on the car; some 'scratch remover' products are essentially this.

Correct, there's nothing like a machine, a wool pad and a SMAT cutting compound for quick defect removal, but you might be surprised by just how much Scratch-X can do by hand - clear coats these days are super-hard, so most scratches really don't get down that far... It's still my go-to product when family/friends drive over with a new scratch/tears in their eyes LOL

I'm no expert BTW - just a pretty committed hobbyist

[culicine]

Meguiars ultimate wax offers more protection and improves the gloss better then their NXT tech wax 2.0

Ahh yes - I've been out of the loop on retail products for a while, thanks for the correction

To actually remove minor scratches (ie. not through the clearcoat) you use dual action polishers with an abrasive pad and polish to remove the surrounding clearcoat down to the same level of the scratch. It's a job for a professional or expert (like IMHO).

For an old Vios, a quality paste wax like Meguiar's Ultimate won't remove scratches but will make them less visible for as long as the wax stays on the car; some 'scratch remover' products are essentially this.

Correct, there's nothing like a machine, a wool pad and a SMAT cutting compound for quick defect removal, but you might be surprised by just how much Scratch-X can do by hand - clear coats these days are super-hard, so most scratches really don't get down that far... It's still my go-to product when family/friends drive over with a new scratch/tears in their eyes LOL

I'm no expert BTW - just a pretty committed hobbyist

When i was waxing my car several months ago, I had a piece of grit stuck to the foam pad (my bad). This was done by hand, and to my horror were scratch marks all over my roof after I cleaned up. I tried scratch-x several times, but the scratches are still there. I'm not sure if it's down to the paint but it doesn't appear so. What's my next option then? I thought a cutting compound on a machine might be too harsh on the clear coat? How about some 2000 wet and dry and then polishing? That worked well on restoring my headlights.

[IMHO]

When i was waxing my car several months ago, I had a piece of grit stuck to the foam pad (my bad). This was done by hand, and to my horror were scratch marks all over my roof after I cleaned up. I tried scratch-x several times, but the scratches are still there. I'm not sure if it's down to the paint but it doesn't appear so. What's my next option then? I thought a cutting compound on a machine might be too harsh on the clear coat? How about some 2000 wet and dry and then polishing? That worked well on restoring my headlights.

Wet sanding with 2000 grit is not something I'd recommend/attempt on factory clear coat - once you're trough the clear there's no coming back, and while the clears these days are very hard, but there also very thin..

Scratch-X is a diminishing abrasive that starts off at about 4/10 for cutting power, but quickly breaks down to about 1/10 after a few passes - which is what makes it safe for casual users, and also why it finishes to a gloss.. But that means that if it doesn't rectify the problem in the first dozen or so passes (hand applied), you need to add more product and do it again - repeating until you get the right result.

However, it sounds like you've got a fairly large area to work, so on that case you'd be better off with something that doesn't break down, so you can just keep on working the product until you've nailed the fix.

Meguiars #105 is my go-to for jobs like this - it's about 9/10 on the cut scale when used with a rotary + wool cutting pad (2 passes is usually enough to fix almost anything - but a dozen passes would almost certainly break through factory clear), but if used by hand or a dual action polisher, it's more like a 5-6/10, so much safer - you'd need to work a small area for several minutes by hand (and be lathered in sweat) before you'd be putting the clear coat in any real danger

#105 won't finish down all the way to a high gloss though, so you'll need to follow it up with something in the 2-3/10 range (or something that diminishes to that) - I use #205 with a DA polisher and light-cut pad here, but scratch-x, ultimate compound or a swirl remover would also do the trick, and be easier to apply by hand (if you dont' have a machine).

Another option would be to just use #205 - it has slightly less cutting power than scratch-x (about 3/10) out of the bottle, but it holds the cut as long as you keep working it, and it'll finish nicely...

Edited January 30, 2013 by IMHO