Meguiar's Fast Finish - first impressions.

Don M

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Yesterday was beautiful, in the 70*s, light breeze and the wife slept until noon.

I figured that now was the time to try out the Meg's FF that I picked up last week (I know I've got the McKee's 37 Coating coming, but I'll just polish the car before applying it).

I wanted to see how well the FF handled on its own, no base layers, no D115 drying aid after the wash, just FF and FF alone. Now you'd think that after not being touched all winter, my car would be full of swirls from the salt & grime, but just the opposite. Just goes to prove my theory: "If you can't wash it correctly, wait until you can."

So I did a two-bucket with Meguiar's Deep Crystal car wash, hosed off the car and watched the water kind of bead, but mostly not from using the D115 as a drying aid on the last wash. On to drying the car, just a simple microfiber cloth, wrung out as it got loaded with water.

With the car dried, it was time for the FF.

The can was smaller than I originally thought it would be, but that turned out to be a complete non-issue. I used a microfiber covered applicator sponge instead of a MF cloth for better control to apply the FF and kept a clean/dry microfiber in the other hand to buff off the FF, once I completed a panel.

One thing for sure, a little DOES go a LOOOOOONG way - a 1/2 second burst onto the sponge and it covered the whole fender (or door, quarter, half the hood etc). The atomization of the spray is excellent, no drips or splatters, just an ultra fine mist.

I'm trying to find the words to describe how it looks once applied to the paint's surface. In some places, there is nothing there (even though I know it was covered when I made my application pass). In others, well ... do you know the "film" on a soap bubble, multicolored & seeming to flow? That's the best description I can give. It looks like that only a touch heavier. Or even how some oily waxes leave a "smear pattern" that requires additional buffing to remove?

One thing's for sure, there is NOTHING difficult about applying or removing the Fast Finish. I did notice the microfiber I used for the removal felt a little grabby and didn't always want to slide around easily and it didn't seem like the slickness was there ... UNTIL I took a second clean microfiber and did what Mike Phillips calls a "Final Wipe," to make sure I didn't miss any spots. Then it was VERY slick and my paint was a deep, rich black, like I'd polished it out first. Depending on how well it holds up, this could very well be my 'Go To' wax for customer's car (inexpensive, and fast & easy to use).

I know, it didn't happen without pics, so here they are:

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Forgive the finger in this pic

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Looks good, Don!

The weather was good in SE lower MI, too!
 
Don, car looks great! Thanks for the review this is a product I've been wanting to try
 
**UPDATE**


Once I got to work a few of the guys came and got me out of the building and asked what had I done to my car. They know I keep it immaculate, and even they were able to tell I had done something different to it. :D
 
Nice DON. Was curious about the product. Looks like Megs has a winner.
 
Nice��

My coworkers couldn't care less about a clean shiny car let alone that my car looks any different based on any products I've tried haha
 
**UPDATE**


Once I got to work a few of the guys came and got me out of the building and asked what had I done to my car. They know I keep it immaculate, and even they were able to tell I had done something different to it. :D
the fast finish looks great but there's some high quality polishing under it for sure. Is that the factory paint job?
 
Now you'd think that after not being touched all winter, my car would be full of swirls from the salt & grime, but just the opposite. Just goes to prove my theory: "If you can't wash it correctly, wait until you can."

I agree completely.

Looks great! Of course you'll be redoing it all soon. LOL
 
the fast finish looks great but there's some high quality polishing under it for sure. Is that the factory paint job?

There are a few areas that had to be painted due to a close encounter with a Mile Post two winters ago (the hood and roof were scratched pretty deep), but as far as I know, the rest is factory.

And yes, it did get polished a few times last summer :)
 
I agree completely.

Looks great! Of course you'll be redoing it all soon. LOL

As soon as the McKee's 37 Coating comes in, I'll be polishing out at least half of the car so I can test the Megs FF vs the McKee's 37 head to head.
 
**Beading Update**

It started raining today on the way to work and after I had been here a while it down poured. The water is running off the car like crazy, the dust gathered on it since Sunday is gone and the beads that remain on the car look almost like they are floating just above the surface and that the car is actually dry. Interesting optical illusion.
 
I'm glad it's working out for you. In my test it seems to have hit a wall after a couple of weeks and a couple days of light rainfall.

This is what my trunk looked like the morning after it rained.

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This is me rinsing my car before doing a bucket wash.

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Flatline...

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And this is the shower rinse post wash.

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Vertical panels were the same.. Hood showed more life in regards to beading, but not enough for me to keep it on.

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Plus I did a a baggie test and could feel the very beginning of contaminants starting to slowly bond to the paint.

There's my honest experience after trying it, but keep in mind that my car is sort of weird and for reasons I can't explain some products just plain fail to work on my car... However Loach seems to have experienced somewhat similar results, so at least I'm not alone.

Glad it's working for you! Keep us updated.
 
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