What machine to buy?

Jared

Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
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North Dallas
Well, after watching a friend do some correction on my car, and how easy it seemed, I am ready to purchase some stuff by the end of summer to take care of the car this winter while I'm bored.

He used a Rupes, I know some like Flex, PC and Griots. Don't want to spend a ton, and it's just for my car, not a side hustle or family cars.

I tried going back and looking for threads, didn't find anything that had any good comparisons.
 
Thanks. I'm going to pick something up for my birthday in December. Should give me something to do during winter. Maybe I'll practice on Hector's truck first?
 
I have the Harbor Freight DA polisher, and it does the job. I only paid like $50 for it with a 20% off coupon.
It works good with the Chemical Guys backing plate and Hex Logic pads.
 
Might have to look into the harbor freight ones as well. Didn't think to look at one of those when I got my meguiars DA power system.
 
I bought the HF (Chicago Electric) DA about 3 months ago and its perfect for what i use it for. Google a 25% off coupon, there's one circulating that's good until like January right now.
 
Also have the griots its 150 for the 25 foot cord version which is what you want. Has more power than a PC but doesn't have the throw of the rupes. But do you need a huge rupes with a 15mm or 21mm throw? I dont think so with the G8. Hell I did my truck with just the griots and that has 16 feet worth of bed panels not to mention the rest of the truck. For nearly a quarter of the cost it would be a great machine for semi annual swirl removal, applying sealant and or wax and removing other light defects. This machine with a 5" backing plate did wonders for my paint but you just cant expect it to remove stuff that needs wet sanding.
 
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Don't get me wrong I would love to have a rupes but I can't justify it since I don't detail a car every single day. What I will be purchasing is the 3 inch model of griots garage as well great for tighter areas


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I have the HF polisher with a 5" Astro backing plate and use 5.5" CG HexLogic pads and the combo seems to work great and you can't beat the value. For what you're looking to do, I agree with Sam and Ed... definitely the HF polisher.
 
IMO the $50 or $60 you save buying the HF over the PC or GG polisher isn't worth the added vibration and noise. If we were talking $100+ swing in price, sure.

Its not that the HF isn't capable of doing all the same things, I just think some level of comfort/quality is worth the extra $$$ and its not exactly a big price jump.
 
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