Paint Protection V's Regular Polish

[chooch]

I recently had my car polished from a well known car restorer in my area. I have black T and have been battling swirl marks for a while. I have seem some paint protection products that claim to remove swirl marks and protect then paint for years. I haven't tried any yet but might consider it on my next new car. The polisher claims that paint protection is no good for modern cars because it will restrict the paint from breathing. He claims that regular polish (he recommended some new Maguire’s synethic wax, not carnauba wax) is the best way. He compared regular polishing to moisturizing skin and paint protection is like wrapping skin in glad wrap.

How true do you think this is?

[gilfxr6t]

Im pretty sure new car paint dosnt need time to breath as the car is dipped and baked.

You will always be better removing the swirls and not just filling them in so im not a fan of paint "protection" products. The only way to beat swirls is remove them with a polish and and a set of pads.

Most swirls come from washing, a good mit and the 2 bucket method is a must.

as far as protecting a new cars go, just buy a good sealant or wax (Poorboys, p21's, ziano, klasse, megs) as it will be better then anything ford will put on.

Sealants lasts alot longer then waxes but dont look as warm on the car.

[Dream Machines]

Well Paint protection is always going to be better than just polishing alone as polish has no protection

Glare will fill in swirl marks and lock in the fillers and protect the paint

However it's still best to remove swirls and then apply pure sealant

Some teflon based sealants will prevent the paint from breathing and being able to expand and contract

The best products I can advice are

Toughseal step 1 and 2

Glare Micro Finish and Pro Polish

Carlack 68 Acrylic

Meguiars #21

Permagard PD5000

[tmac450]

Well Paint protection is always going to be better than just polishing alone as polish has no protection

Glare will fill in swirl marks and lock in the fillers and protect the paint

Only if you use a product that is a polish only, and there aren't too many of those. Most good polishes have a sealant of some sort in them (that's why you get the water beading effect).

In my experience paint protection is only good for lazy owners, who don't give a crap about their car looks. I purchased a car that already had paint protection on it a few years ago and it was sh*t house. Stains would get into the coating and you couldn't wash them off. In the end I had to cut back the whole car and give it a good, proper polish. Also if a panel gets damaged, you have to re-apply the coating to that panel, and being a fresher application, it won't match the rest of the car. Also, the paint protection coating becomes dull and no amount of washing will make your car look as shiny as it should.

Regular polishing (I make a rule of doing it every 10,000ks) keeps the paint protected, and the car looking better than any paint protection product. Save your money, you just have to put some effort into your car's upkeep.

Edited 12/03/08 10:18 PM by tmac450

[alpha]

Bought some of that ToughSeal. Great stuff ! problem is not sold in stores. Had to order.

[Dream Machines]

Only if you use a product that is a polish only, and there aren't too many of those. Most good polishes have a sealant of some sort in them (that's why you get the water beading effect).

In my experience paint protection is only good for lazy owners, who don't give a crap about their car looks. I purchased a car that already had paint protection on it a few years ago and it was sh*t house. Stains would get into the coating and you couldn't wash them off. In the end I had to cut back the whole car and give it a good, proper polish. Also if a panel gets damaged, you have to re-apply the coating to that panel, and being a fresher application, it won't match the rest of the car. Also, the paint protection coating becomes dull and no amount of washing will make your car look as shiny as it should.

Regular polishing (I make a rule of doing it every 10,000ks) keeps the paint protected, and the car looking better than any paint protection product. Save your money, you just have to put some effort into your car's upkeep.

Most polishes have absolutely no protection.

Paint protection after polishing is the best way to go. You don't wash the car and wack on some paint protection, you still do the polishing first

Water beading has not much to do with protection. Yes the changing of surface tension of a wax or sealant will make the water sheet or bead off but it's most likely that the protection on that car had died out before you got it

I've never had any paint sealant go dull or cause the paint to go dull

The main thing is that everyone puts some sealant or wax on it, whether it may be meguiars #21, NXT, toughseal, glare, zaino or whatever

Edited 20/03/08 10:18 AM by Dream Machines