Now that 2012 Crystal Black Pearl TSX has it's winter salt off I need get the swirling/pitting taken care of. It has a lot of swirling that is noticable in direct sunlight but on a cloudy day it looks mint. Nothing too deep, but it needs attention. There's also a handful of very small rock chips scattered throughout the car.

I'm in the market for a buffer/polisher. Doing weekend wash/waxes by hand is just not lasting long enough. I've used dozens of waxes (all applied and removed by hand) that help but dont keep the swirling in check for long. The best wax I used was Liquid Glass. Ideally I'd like to purchase a buffer, wax, and some sort of paint sealant. I looked into the topic extensively last summer but a lot of products were sold out and everyone had a different recipe for pads/procedure to accomplish buffing/sealing the car. It got overwhelming and I just stuck to drinking a beer and hand waxing the car.

I have a ~$200 budget for the buffer, chemicals, compounds, and pads. Can be more if its the best thing since sliced bread but I'd like to stay in that range. Can someone hold my hand here and point me in the right direction for a kit/tutorial that works well with our Honda black paint? Am I just better off getting it professionally done (I'd really like to invest in the hardware so I have it for years to come though).

 

the easiest machine would be the PC7424XP...it's a random orbital...not a buffer!
the porter cable 7424XP is easy because there's no chance of burning through clear coat/paint.

 

Ah yeah I remember that guy. There is a cheaper one at Harbor Freight, I'm guessing it wont last though. https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-5...her-69924.html

What about waxes, compounds, sealant and over procedures?

 

neat, looks like an exact or close to copy of the Porter Cable.


this is where opinions will start to enter because there are many different products that do the same.

basically you want a polishing compound to polish out the big stuff. you'll want to pair the compounding polish with a more aggressive pad. for the big defects.
then you'll want a finishing polish and a finer pad to take care of the smaller finer defects.
then your choice of sealant.

for me; i go with the cheaper polishes... I enjoy Adams Polishes.
they still accomplish the same things as the more expensive stuff .

same thing with sealant. i'll choose a $20 bottle like four star ultimate paint protection