What to look for in a random-orbit buffer for waxing car paint

I am about to get a new car and would like to start the habit of
waxing the paint regularly.
Are the cheap random orbit buffers (such as ones at walmart) effective
enough or do the more expense models offer something worth the extra
money? Please recommend brands and models. I see buffers that are 6
inches, 8 and 10 inches. Which is an ideal size for waxing a car.
Thanks

 

The big answer is DON"T MESS WITH THE PAINT WORK ON YOUR NEW CAR OR
YOU WILL REGRET IT! I regularly make furniture and finish it with
automotive paint.I have the random orbital as well as a professional
Makita polisher.Keep away from your car's new finish with these unless
you want to mess it up.Yes use it on an old faded car though.If you do
get one, definitely get the pro version and not a random orbit one
which won't make it very shiny. Good luck.

 

Don't go cheap on a buffer. I know a guy who ruined a new paint job
on his pickup truck when he was buffing the hood with a well-known
brand name buffer whose name sounds very similar to "Crapsman" and the
head of the buffer flew off letting the spindle drop onto the fresh
paint. He was somewhat upset by this.

That said, on a *NEW* car I would probably hand wax only; if you
really want to use a buffer go real light on it and always clean well
before buffing. Machine buffing a new finish may introduce swirl
marks that weren't there before.

Follow the mfgr's recommendations for waxing; if they tell you to wait
a specified period of time before the first waxing, do it. Polish
only until that time. You want the paint to set up/harden completely
before sealing it with wax.

good luck,

nate

 

That would indeed be somewhat upsetting. On the cheap end of things I'm
not so sure however. I got the $20 Ryobi 6" RO buffer in a nice case at
'Cheapo and so far after quite a bit of use I love it. It's compact so
it's easy to operate with one hand, has plenty of power so it doesn't
ever bog down and just plain works well.

Right, unless you are a pro, don't do anything but careful had washing
and waxing until the new car finish is no longer new.

 

Wax it as little as possible, if at all. Every time you wash and wax
it you will scratch the clearcoat/paint. I have a 15 year old vehicle
that still shines like new but it's not because I wax it, it hasn't
been waxed in years. I keep it out of the sun as much as possible and
purposely avoid rubbing the paint with needless weekly washes. Wax
will make weathered paint look better but I've never seen a study that
demonstrated that waxing actually prevented weathering. It's a
balancing act.

 

You don't want to wax the *paint* on a new car. They have a clearcoat
over the paint, so the most you want to do is use 100% carnauba wax
(absolutely no polish, which is abrasive). you don't need a machine
buffer for applying carnauba wax over clearcoat, all that would do is
wear out the clearcoat sooner.

in my opinion, you only need polish wax and machine buffer after the
paint is starting to wear.

 

well said. all the cars i've ever seen that have peeling clearcoat [and
i own one] are cars that have been excessively cleaned at some point in
their history. i believe that some cleaning chemicals cause this.

 

I've been using Zaino bros Z-2 polish on my 95 Integra twice a year
and the car shines like new. As someone else suggested, I would wait
until the manufacture recommended time interval before applying any
waxes so that the paint and clear coat dry well.


Nick