car polisher for £100 or under

[The Chubby Ninja]

hey folks, looking to get an electric polisher for my birthday from the mrs and dont really know what to get as ive never had one before. she says she is willing to pay upto £100 for one. i seen one in halfords for about £50 but am a bit weary about halfords own products as they tend to be dung. I normally just polish/wax by hand and it takes ages. any help would be very appreciated. cheers

Steve

[Watshot]

Unfortunately it's a common misconception that rotary polishers save time. Used properly they take as much time as hand polishing, but achieve far greater results and allow for a greater degree of correction if required. They can however be bought for less than £100, but consumables will be extra (backing plates, foam pads etc.).

 

A DA polisher (Dual Action) is sometimes a better bet for a beginner as they are safer and easier to use, but won't ultimately achieve the same degree of correction, although this is probably not a consideration if it's just for amateur use. A good one though would be more than your budget: http://www.meguiars.co.uk/product/396/Dual-Action-Polisher-Version-2/ although you can get these cheaper than this.

 

If the Halfords version is the classic two handle round thing, then yes, it should be avoided.

 

Nothing wrong with going straight for a rotary, but probably best to read up on some technique over at http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=66024 and if you can, have a practise on something of less value than your Zed until you are happy with what you are achieving.

 

Tell the Missus you'll do her car first as a thank you for the kind gift.....

[ewan221]

I got mine from Tim @ Envy a forum trader on here, send him a PM

[Pete87]

Look on the ultimate finish website they are wicked that's where I buy my cleaning stuff, I use dodo juice and they do a DA rotary polishing machine for £100. Ultimate finish also do kind of starter packs lots of different packs with different accessories and different DA rotaries. The halfords one might be alright but I dout it the more expensive ones have cut outs so if you press to hard they cut out to prevent you damaging you paint I doub the halfords ones have this.

[keiran D]

i got a kestral da6, 3 pads, megs 105 and megs 205 polish , detailing tape and 2 cloths for £125 from autocleanz who is a trader on another owners club im part of.

 

great bit of kit in my opinion

[The Chubby Ninja]

thanks for the great replys guys . ive had a look on the websites and think im going to go for the dodo juice spin doctor. before commiting to it howerver im going to read that article on the detailing website to decide whether or not to get a rotary polisher as my first machine polisher or play it safe with the megs duel action. either way it looks like im spending a good bit over the £100 mark as is always the way when im buying car stuff . im planning on trying it out on the mrs car first even though its worth more value wise but not to me . does it matter if i use it on her white car then use it on my blade?

[Wasso]

It's only the lacquer you're polishing not the paint

 

After you've done polishing wash the pad under the tap. Don't put it in the washing machine like Meguiars recommend as they break down.

[ilogikal1]

Dodo Juice also do the "Buff Daddy" which is a DA - Tim sells them at just under £100 normally and does offer a forum discount; http://www.envyvaleting.co.uk/products_info.asp?id=267

 

For the soft Nissan paint, a DA will be sufficient to get a very high level of correction.

[Flex]

Is there anything available for less, for a first timer like myself?

[ilogikal1]

Yes, yes there is; clicky.

 

The DAS-6 is what I've got (along with this complete kit) which, I find, is ideal for the paint on the Zed.

 

I'm not aware of one cheaper than that unless you're buying second hand or through a group buy somewhere though.

[Flex]

Cheers dude