Hi I recently purchased my first Jag a 2001 XJR, "best move I have ever made" I am thinking of purchasing a Meguiars G220 V2 but have never used one before would it be a good buy, or am I better sticking to hard work?

 

Interesting question.

People freak out over the brushes on mechanical car washes. Yet somehow, power buffing has become all the rage with the same people. How does it make sense that appying more pressure at higher speeds all of a sudden makes it okay, when mechanical car washes are the work of the devil with the same people?

It may have its place in scratch removal where the surrounding paint has to be worked down to the level of the scratch, but as a means of maintaining a shine, the logic is awfully dubious.

To be clear, it's all the rage on car forums, but:

paint correction == remove enough paint to blend the scratch

 

you are removing a layer of paint until it is uniform in order to make it look good. removing hazing and scratches. I would say unless your paint is fried this is not at all necessary on a 2001 vehicle.

If you were to polish the car this would be a one time thing for at least id say 10 years. You would be doing it in order to get the car uniform so you could then maintain that look with wax and proper care the other owners did not take.

Again i wouldn't recommend this on a 2001. I wouldn't be as scared of it as plums is making it seem and a car wash it totally different. The reason car washes are bad is because the brushes get worn out and you are basically slapping fibers against the paint and putting fine scratches on it.

If you have severe scratches or swirls target that area and polish it by hand for right now. Overall do a good clean, clay, and wax of your car and i don't think you will be disappointed.

MY car is an 88 and it is BRG. It is dark and shows swirls very easily. At this point in its life it needs a good polish to get it back up to snuff. Really though the machines are usually used on dead paint where a car has white or translucent paint thats dried out on top. You can essentially sand through this to a free coat so it looks new again but then you should be very careful to protect this new coat

 

I polish and wax by hand so that's all I can speak to. I have used a professional detailer's services before and while the end result is good, so is my "hard work" as you say, when I polish and wax by hand. Mothers and Meguire's products are very good. Others would recommend others too.

Hand applying exterior car care products often provides great results and is, in my opinion, easy on the paint.

 

Good buy for a beginner, or the Porter Cable 7424XP...These machines once you get past the learning curve are going to be your best friend if you like doing minor correction, polishing and waxing....

Why work harder by hand if you can work smarter with a tool...

I work with a Flex 3401 and its a monster d/a, very aggressive!

Here is a great polisher kit that Adams Polishes offers, everything you need to get the job done with the simplicity of product and pad matching....perfect for the first timer!

 

Nice choice of Jag there, Gordo.

Mine is black and after asking around at some local detailers I realized that they really had no clue how to properly polish a black vehicle, (I live in a small town, not a lot of choices.)

I bought a Porter Cable random orbit buffer like this:

and the McGuires MF correction system like this:
Meguiars DA Microfiber Correction System, paint polishing system, car polish, car detailing system, compounding system, remove scratches.

Got them both on the 'bay for about $250 total, the price of a good polish job I figure. The McGuires system is highly rated and even used by some pros, so I thought I would try it.

Short story, I took my time and now my black beauty shines like new, and I still have enough material to do it three or four more times if I want.

I washed my Jag the other day and before I could dry it some sand got on the hood (bonnet.) When I dried it, I got some fine scratches, really made me mad that I had done that. Then I remembered I had the tools to take out the scratches. Fifteen minutes later, they were gone and she looked like new again.

Nice to have tools like that around.
Vector