Discount simonize worth it or not?

Brooksie365

Well-Known Member
820
570
Worcester, Ma
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
i have a black sedan with 8k on it and have noticed it has some swirls in it. Family friend puts on simonize wax for dealers and told me he will prep and put the simonize on it for 100. I know every one says its not worth it for the 500 the dealer charges but is 100 reasonable?
 

RaskyR1

Well-Known Member
529
532
Well that settles it any reason why so admit about not doing it?

It's not that I think the products sucks, I've really never used it and I'm sure it's just as good as most any wax that's out there.

This is the problem...
Family friend puts on simonize wax for dealers and told me he will prep
. No offense to that person, but 99.9% of the time those places do more harm than good anytime they lay a buffer on the paint. You'd be better off investing that $100 into a DA polisher and learning how to polish it yourself or to put it towards a detailer that knows how to properly polish paint.


FWIW, I applied dealer protection packages like that back in the mid 90's. While I knew what I was doing wasn't the right way, I simply did what I could with the time and tools I was provided.
 

RaskyR1

Well-Known Member
529
532
Most dealerships and high volume shops have the workers running rotary buffers with wool pads and they never follow through with all the required refinement steps, resulting in holograms everywhere.

Example...(extreme)

This car was painted and wet sanded 6 months ago. The right side of the hood is how it looked after the body shop compounded out the wet sanding marks....full of nasty holograms!

The paint has since shrunk down a little and still had a little more orange peel than the owner wanted. This weekend I re-sanded the left side of the hood and compounded out the sanding marks my way...








One more polishing step and the paint was like glass! ;)
 
Last edited:

Brooksie365

Well-Known Member
820
570
Worcester, Ma
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
Most dealerships and high volume shops have the workers running rotary buffers with wool pads and they never follow through with all the required refinement steps, resulting in holograms everywhere.

Example...(extreme)

This car was painted and wet sanded 6 months ago. The right side of the hood is how it looked after the body shop compounded out the wet sanding marks....full of nasty holograms!

The paint has since shrunk down a little and still had a little more orange peel than the owner wanted. This weekend I re-sanded the left side of the hood and compounded out the sanding marks my way...








One more polishing step and the paint was like glass! ;)
That's incredible. I will go through and try to do it my self. I found this in my garage can I use this or should I purchase a new one ImageUploadedByTapatalk1362437422.803730.jpg
 

Nix

Jötunn Moderator
10,765
8,162
Lew-vul, KY
Body Style
It's A Fast Pig!
Try Lake Country White pads with Meguiars 205 on Honda paint. Pretty safe combo to start with.
 

Brooksie365

Well-Known Member
820
570
Worcester, Ma
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
ok and sealant or wax? i know every one has there own opinion but they are hard to scan through. i dont want to have to apply all the time but i want a nice deep shine. I'm just trying to buy everything at once.
 

Nix

Jötunn Moderator
10,765
8,162
Lew-vul, KY
Body Style
It's A Fast Pig!
Im sure Rasky has some suggestions but for easy to use stuff the chemical guys blacklight is pretty decent. I like collinite 845 for NE weather. Cheap too. They are both combination wax & sealant in one.

Sealants last longer than anything though. The BlackFire Crystal seal is pretty easy to use.

Collinite last pretty long for a wax but stinks bad though! It's also known as insulator wax.
 

Nix

Jötunn Moderator
10,765
8,162
Lew-vul, KY
Body Style
It's A Fast Pig!
Ah lets see if I can't make you a short list....

Griots/Porter Cable/Meguiars dual action polisher

A backing plate 5" (the velcro disc so you can attach the pads to the machine)
The 5.5" pads are a good place to start, the 6.5" pads are too much for the machines to turn and are trickier to control. the 5" is a nice balance.

6 pack of 5.5" pads

Polishes: Meguiars 205, Menzerna PowerFinish 2500

Wax/Sealant: Collinite 845, Chemical Guys Blacklight (top with wax & CG Hybrid V7), Chemical Guys XXX wax, Blackfire Wet Diamond

All easy to use.
 

RaskyR1

Well-Known Member
529
532
I would stay away from the kits and just get the items you need. It comes with a 6" backing plate but you may want to buy a 4ich plate and pads as well for the hard to reach areas.

I like LC pads, I use the Hydro ones more than the traditional, but either will work. Hard to say what you'd need without seeing the paint, but what Nix suggest will improve the finish for sure. If you can post pics of the finish i ndirect light I could make better suggestions. Be sure to the camera focuses on the surface too...if you don't have a camera with manua focus you can place a pice of masking tape on the paint for it to auto-focus too.

Example:


50/50
 
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