Most regretted detailing product purchase

Mine would have to be a mini rotary. I bought it to buy the extension piece with all the little backing plates. I'm not chasing perfection anymore. And when i used it on my paint rims is left the famous buffing trails. I really have no use for it. I have yet to use it to spin dry pads. Esoteric car care mentioned it in one of their youtube videos. I can just let them air dry.
 
I dont have one product that I really regret buying but I have a few that I probably wouldnt buy again. In no particular order

1 - The last coat black ice. I have mix feelings about this one , I actually liked working with this product and I like the gloss. I cant speak much for durability because I kept applying sealants on top of it. My biggest beef with this product is that it is marketed as a ceramic coating and they say on their website that the application towels must be thrown out. I even used a suede applicator for the product and it never hardened after a week. So I havent use this product again because I REFUSED to throw away my towels but at the sametime I m afraid to reuse the towel. Stupid me right? ... I still have half the bottle sitting on my shelf, on the other hand the last coat 2 and the last coat amp bottles ( much biggger bottles) are almost done . Black ice is the more expensive of the products but I just refuse to discard my towels

Turtle wax ceramic spray - Another good product , but it hasnt really standout from all the sealants that I have, slowly using it here and there

collinite 845 - Hard to use , never really like the results , for all the work the results are dissapointed

turtle paste wax 75 anniversary - very excited for this product, easy to apply, water behaviour is probably the best I have seen compared to any other product that I ve used. My only complaint is that it does not have that gloss factor. I still have so much left , I may give it a try over my current ceramic lite coating before I apply another coating. I do not know how long it lasts, it was applied on my dads car, but the water behaviour on this one is something else , at least within the first week. I wouldnt buy it again based on looks , its meh .

Compounds - I bought 3 aggresive different compounds , thinking I was going to do a 3 stage correction like they do on youtube. Then I started thinking that I can not be doing these corrections yearly due to compromising the clear coat . I decided to go with a one step polish . Therefore I m stuck now , should ve just bought a small bottle of aggresive compound for spot correction .

Carpro water spot remover - I bought the 500 ml bottle together with my brother ( so 2 bottles) , it has never worked for me , my brother says it worked for him . At the end of the day my brother was right , we should ve splitted the 500ml bottle in 2 and save some money instead of buying 2 500 ml bottles. It just sits on my shelf now , I had better luck with car pro essence or eraser to remove water spot, I do not even get water spots in my car which is the worst

meguiers microfiber correction pads - They suck for me , it feels like they are damaging the paint , they get dirty fast , hard to wash . I bought 2, used them twice . If I want to use a microfiber pad , I use my uro pads which have giving me better results. I still rather use a foam pad but whenever my foam pad is not correcting, uro pads come to the rescue.

3d polishing - I bought the big bottle , will never use it all. I find its not user friendly to work with , removing is such a #####. Although last time it was used on my audi, it performed better . It did correct the paint and it worked fine with uro pads. I m not a fan , I still take meguiers ultimate compound over this one , even ultimate polish , specially if I m going to go over with car pro essence. Not the worst product but for the mone I paid for it and the expectations I had , this was not a good purchased for me

Thats about it for now . I ll probably go to my garage and find something else. Lastly , I could mention that I have giving away a lot of my sealants and polisher that I never used over the years. I always like trying something new and I m learning to buy less or smaller quantities . I m also learning to do my research before buying a product as well as trying to use what I have on the shelf now
 
noorth said:
Mine would have to be a mini rotary. I bought it to buy the extension piece with all the little backing plates. I'm not chasing perfection anymore. And when i used it on my paint rims is left the famous buffing trails. I really have no use for it. I have yet to use it to spin dry pads. Esoteric car care mentioned it in one of their youtube videos. I can just let them air dry.
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I just seen this. I've since started to use my mini rotary, it has uses for sure for tight places. But if your not chasing perfection its unnecessary.

But probably the worst chemical product i ever bought was turtlewax maxpower. It doesn't hold a candle to carpro's reset.
 
Gallon of Shine Supply Clutch. Not that I don’t like it because it’s great and only inexpensive spray sio2 sealant that would give Griots 3-1 a run for it’s money.

I just like to try other things and will never get through the half gallon I have left.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
McKees Tradmark extender spray wax. It’s a synthetic wax that will streak anything you put it on. And the added benefit of horrible hydrophobics.

I have a half gallon left that I will never get through.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
As much as I love my Collinite products, their 520 QD spray just plain sucked.

When I buy something like this that I do not like on my vehicles, I use it up on my lawn equipment. (My riding mower has about 35 coats of the 520). :laughing::laughing:
 
Ochnob said:
McKees Tradmark extender spray wax. It’s a synthetic wax that will streak anything you put it on. And the added benefit of horrible hydrophobics.

I have a half gallon left that I will never get through.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
Click to expand...

Lol!

I purchased a 16 oz bottle of this crap which cannot and will not ever be finished.


Sent from my iPad using AGOnline
 
When I started doing some paid details for extra cash during the peak of the pandemic, I bought a gallon of Meguiar's D180 Leather Cleaner and Conditioner.



I should have bought a smaller bottle to sample prior to ordering a gallon. I hate this stuff. Despite what it says on the bottle, D180 leaves a shiny and greasy looking finish and an unpleasant fragrance. Clean leather should be soft with a matte look not glossy looking and squeaky to sit on. I actually tried it again after almost 12 months the other day, and yes, I still hate it.
 
Though I like several products out of the PA line such as all of the cosmic products , high gloss and a few others.
I was HIGHLY dissapointed in several others like the viking series products, black bond and driver

PA makes some great stuff but also some really poor stuff esp. for the money
 
I had bad luck with Duragloss Swirl Remover I think it's 671. It's basically a cleaner wax with a super durable sealant. It was like trying to remove a coating that sat too long before leveling. I had to polish it off and seal with something else. That eight dollar bottle cost me a lot of money that day.

The new Rupes DA polishes and wool pads. The polishes seem like antiquated formulations. I would have imagined that they would be more "cutting edge" in terms of feel, finish, and dusting. The compound I found especially dusty. I really prefer their original polishes and pad series. The wool pads..... I'm not into them. The blue one is usable, but the yellow fibers are too long and break down pretty quickly. The initial feel of those pads isn't my cup of tea either. The blue wool bucks like a Bronco, and the yellow feels like it isn't even touching the paint. It's "billowy", and "float-y" feeling. Microfiber just cuts and finishes so much better for me. I wish I hadn't purchased the 1000ml bottles.
 
rick100 said:
I dont have one product that I really regret buying but I have a few that I probably wouldnt buy again. In no particular order

1 - The last coat black ice. I have mix feelings about this one , I actually liked working with this product and I like the gloss. I cant speak much for durability because I kept applying sealants on top of it. My biggest beef with this product is that it is marketed as a ceramic coating and they say on their website that the application towels must be thrown out. I even used a suede applicator for the product and it never hardened after a week. So I havent use this product again because I REFUSED to throw away my towels but at the sametime I m afraid to reuse the towel. Stupid me right? ... I still have half the bottle sitting on my shelf, on the other hand the last coat 2 and the last coat amp bottles ( much biggger bottles) are almost done . Black ice is the more expensive of the products but I just refuse to discard my towels

Turtle wax ceramic spray - Another good product , but it hasnt really standout from all the sealants that I have, slowly using it here and there

collinite 845 - Hard to use , never really like the results , for all the work the results are dissapointed

turtle paste wax 75 anniversary - very excited for this product, easy to apply, water behaviour is probably the best I have seen compared to any other product that I ve used. My only complaint is that it does not have that gloss factor. I still have so much left , I may give it a try over my current ceramic lite coating before I apply another coating. I do not know how long it lasts, it was applied on my dads car, but the water behaviour on this one is something else , at least within the first week. I wouldnt buy it again based on looks , its meh .

Compounds - I bought 3 aggresive different compounds , thinking I was going to do a 3 stage correction like they do on youtube. Then I started thinking that I can not be doing these corrections yearly due to compromising the clear coat . I decided to go with a one step polish . Therefore I m stuck now , should ve just bought a small bottle of aggresive compound for spot correction .

Carpro water spot remover - I bought the 500 ml bottle together with my brother ( so 2 bottles) , it has never worked for me , my brother says it worked for him . At the end of the day my brother was right , we should ve splitted the 500ml bottle in 2 and save some money instead of buying 2 500 ml bottles. It just sits on my shelf now , I had better luck with car pro essence or eraser to remove water spot, I do not even get water spots in my car which is the worst

meguiers microfiber correction pads - They suck for me , it feels like they are damaging the paint , they get dirty fast , hard to wash . I bought 2, used them twice . If I want to use a microfiber pad , I use my uro pads which have giving me better results. I still rather use a foam pad but whenever my foam pad is not correcting, uro pads come to the rescue.

3d polishing - I bought the big bottle , will never use it all. I find its not user friendly to work with , removing is such a #####. Although last time it was used on my audi, it performed better . It did correct the paint and it worked fine with uro pads. I m not a fan , I still take meguiers ultimate compound over this one , even ultimate polish , specially if I m going to go over with car pro essence. Not the worst product but for the mone I paid for it and the expectations I had , this was not a good purchased for me

Thats about it for now . I ll probably go to my garage and find something else. Lastly , I could mention that I have giving away a lot of my sealants and polisher that I never used over the years. I always like trying something new and I m learning to buy less or smaller quantities . I m also learning to do my research before buying a product as well as trying to use what I have on the shelf now
Click to expand...

Was it 3D One?

I had a really hard time getting used to how lubricated it is. I would often revert back to Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish for easier removal. But once I backed off, and dialed in my process... I can't go back to the Megs!
 
chemical guys mr sprayer. Found out after i bought it they only want you to use their waterless wash with it. Dropped it from a foot off the ground and the pump broke. used it all of 15 minutes.
 
Unpopular opinion, but I kind of regret picking up the Griot's G8 mini polisher and wish I had purchased the GR3 instead. I've gotten used to using forced-rotation polishers so when I used the G8 for the first time on the part of my car you would think it would be best for -- the small sections of the front and rear bumpers and finer edges -- it stalled repeatedly (even at max speed) to the point where I got frustrated and just picked up the Makita and used it on edge for those sections. I gave it another chance on some other sections but IMO the G8 doesn't quite have the power I had hoped.

I have a G9 and still reach for it for some jobs and it has never disappointed me with its ability to rotate the pads. But the G8 is missing that oomph. Maybe I'll get a GR3 still, but I'm also tempted by some of the cordless options that can be used in rotary mode.
 
crg001 said:
Unpopular opinion, but I kind of regret picking up the Griot's G8 mini polisher and wish I had purchased the GR3 instead. I've gotten used to using forced-rotation polishers so when I used the G8 for the first time on the part of my car you would think it would be best for -- the small sections of the front and rear bumpers and finer edges -- it stalled repeatedly (even at max speed) to the point where I got frustrated and just picked up the Makita and used it on edge for those sections. I gave it another chance on some other sections but IMO the G8 doesn't quite have the power I had hoped.

I have a G9 and still reach for it for some jobs and it has never disappointed me with its ability to rotate the pads. But the G8 is missing that oomph. Maybe I'll get a GR3 still, but I'm also tempted by some of the cordless options that can be used in rotary mode.
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I got the g3 a month or so ago, and really like it. I got it instead of a da for the reasons which you stated. I figured it would stall on all the small areas that a small machine would come in handy. Glad i stuck with the gr3.

Doesnt griots have a trade in program? Maybe trade in g8 for gr3?

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 
opie said:
I got the g3 a month or so ago, and really like it. I got it instead of a da for the reasons which you stated. I figured it would stall on all the small areas that a small machine would come in handy. Glad i stuck with the gr3.

Doesnt griots have a trade in program? Maybe trade in g8 for gr3?

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'm not aware. I bought the G8 from AutoGeek and didn't have a chance to use it until after the return period. Maybe I'll reach out to Griot's customer service and see if there is anything I can do.
 
04lss said:
chemical guys mr sprayer. Found out after i bought it they only want you to use their waterless wash with it. Dropped it from a foot off the ground and the pump broke. used it all of 15 minutes.
Click to expand...

I bought a 3 pack of 16oz CG spray bottles with knock off gray Tolco sprayers (advertised as Tolco) and they were absolute garbage

The clear plastic bottles were fragile and 2 of the 3 snapped at the neck and the sprayers wouldn't get close to a fine controlled mist

I got replacements sent that turned out to be identical and I can only use them for liquids that need to flood when sprayed like clay lube or car presoak for RW

Not even worth the effort to send them back

I also returned some CG noodle wash mitts, they had half the number of noodles per square inch than my old standby Amazons Choice mitts

I won't consider any CG products anymore, period
 
LOL....Tolco was my account for 20 years
 
dlc95 said:
The new Rupes DA polishes and pads. ........I really prefer their original polishes and pad series.
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I prefer the line of pads they had prior to these they are selling now. I REALLY hate that they did away with the green foam pad also- that was my go to pad for most of my corrections-- so now I'm stuck with the yellow that is not aggressive enough for me and the blue is way to much
 
luckydawg said:
I prefer the line of pads they had prior to these they are selling now. I REALLY hate that they did away with the green foam pad also- that was my go to pad for most of my corrections-- so now I'm stuck with the yellow that is not aggressive enough for me and the blue is way to much
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I agree, I thought the rounded edges would be awesome for swoopy panels but they seem to fight me more than the old style

People talk about them "warming up and softening up" but I can get 1/3 of the way through a section pass before I feel like they are working with me rather than against me

Edited to add I am referring to the foam pads
 
I like the Rupes wool pads (blue, yellow) but for foam I like the Uro-Tec line. Primarily used with a Flex CBeast forced rotation and the PXE80 3” DA. Sometimes the Flex CFinisher.
 
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