Hi Mike,
First time posting here.
Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:
I remember approving your pending account yesterday.
I’m starting to get down a rabbit hole of products. I’m not a detailer, just for home use. I already have a bottle of Meguiars Ultimate Compound so I thought I’d look into Polish and Ultimate Wax but then I saw this product and wondered if I should just save myself a bunch of time
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound uses great abrasive technology. I talk about abrasive technology probably more than any other topic on this forum. I find that most guys and/or detailers THINK the most important thing when it comes to polishing paint is THEM. That is them and their technique. That's because I think most detailers, (not enthusiasts), tend to be the Alpha Make type, so they think the reason a car looks so great is because of how great they are. But I can take someone that has NEVER used a polisher and show them how to get flawless, swirl-free show car results on any car their very first time. And this type of person has ZERO technique except for what they just learned.
It is the abrasives that touch the paint first, not the person. And in fact - the person is the MOST REMOVED factor from the process. My article here shows this,
Abrasive Technology - THE most important factor when it comes to polishing paint
In this picture you see the thing touching the pain first is the compound.
Next is the pad
After that the machine
Last is the person
The person is the MOST REMOVED factor from the process.
But yeah, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound is good stuff. I was working at Meguiar's when M105 and M205 were introduced and Ultimate Compound is the little brother to M105 and SwirlX is the little brother to M205. Here's my article on these two products.
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound History
Without seeing your car - my guess is Ultimate Compound is too much for light swirls on Tesla paint.
I would steer you towards the Ultimate Polish followed by the Ultimate wax if you ever want to use a multiple step process.
I have a Metallic Blue 2018 Tesla Model 3 that looks great but I noticed swirl marks on the hood and trunk from the beginning and I’ve noticed some water spots in the last couple months. I’d love to do a little better for those swirls if possible, get rid of the water marks and then have my car shining and protected from there and not have to do it all the time.
Any help would be appreciated!
Meguiar's D166 Ultra Polishing Wax is what is called one of these terms,
- Cleaner/Wax
- Cleaner/Sealant
- AIO
They all stand for the same thing, that is a product that will do three things in one step.
- Compound
- Polish
- Seal
The primary difference amongst ANY of these types of products is,
- How aggressive or non-aggressive they are.
- What they use for protection ingredients.
Otherwise no matter what the name, they all fall into the generic category called Cleaner/Wax.
I have only used the D166 a few times and that was when it first came out. I used it on the custom paint on my own truck and thought it worked pretty good. I also used it in one of my 3-Day Detailing Bootcamp classes and again - it worked very good.
My concern is that many people say that the paint on Teslas is very soft. While I would like to trust this blogosphere consensus, I have also see so many people on the Internet state that the PPG Ceramiclear paints are "ROCK HARD" of which I 100% totally disagree.
So it's hard for me to trust other people's judgment without knowing the experience level.
The only way to find out if this product and the abrasive technology it uses will work to your expectations on the factory paint on your Tesla is to get some and test it. You can get it in a 16 ounce bottle for about $18.00
Meguiar's D166 Ultra Polishing Wax
