You decide. 
I purchased the Porter Cable 7424 about a week and a half ago. In addition, I purchased Sonus pads, Menzerna Intensive Polish, Menzerna Final Polish II, and Sonus Der Wonder Washe.
So what?
I tested the buffer on a 2001 Subaru Legacy. The Legacy was purchased in mid-2000. It has been washed, and perhaps waxed twice. Other than that, it is a 'beater' car. It sounds silly to beat a new car, but it is the car used for road trips when mileage is an issue, taken to stadiums or concerts where parking is tight (lovely Philadelphia), and any other places where the nice cars aren't going. So, it has been abused on the exterior (although it is mechanically fine and interior... well, so-so clean).
Let the photos do the talking. In the first shot, can you tell where I used the buffer and polishes and where I didn't?
It's pretty obvious. You can see the immense quantity of scratches near and above the grille mouth, but above that, the hood looks months old. I say months old because stone chips and dings have marred the perfect finish. However, scratch-wise, the only scratches remaining are countable. I used a cotton towel to remove the wax, not a MF, so scratches came as a result. After I switched, almost no further scratching occurred.
Below are some close-up finish photos. Again, not brand new, but definitely not 4 years of use and abuse...
The 'spots' are dirt marks on my lense, which I subsequently cleaned...
The Process
Mind you, doing this Subaru was the first use I have had with the PC 7424. I washed the hood, clay barred the hood, and rewashed it with Dawn. After a quick dry with cotton towels (no MFs because I could buff the marks out!), I used the Sonus Orange pad and a healthy amount of Intensive Polish.
I blotted half the hood and placed the PC on the hood. Starting at about 2, I worked the polish in. As it was uniformly spread, I kept speeding the PC up till I hit about 4 or 4.5. By this time, the polish had 'hazed' and all that remained was the dry dust of polishing. I then used wet Micro-Fiber towels to wipe down the half of the hood. The other half was done the same way.
I repeated this process as the clearcoat still showed some scratches. However, once finished, I then switched to the Sonus Green pad with Final Polish II. Again, I applied it like the other polish and removed it the same way. After using the Final Polish II, I rewashed the hood with Dawn to cut any residues and dry dust. And no, Dawn will not hurt the polishes as they are true polishes - they cut the clear coat, not fill the marks.
The final step was using a Sonus Grey pad to apply Meguiars NXT. I purchased the NXT this morning as not to waste the Zaino had I failed in polishing the car. Plus, I am not using Zaino on the 'beater' - it's too expensive to use on anything and everything. Only the Trac sees Zaino.
Regardless, the above photos show what a first time user of the PC can accomplish. While it doesn't look like it did when it rolled out of West Lafayette, Indiana, it does look like it did when it was a few months old. Imagine what the PC and polishes can do to a vehicle that hasn't been beaten and has been regularly washes and waxed!
Thank ye...
I can't take the credit for doing this myself, though. Thanks go to Ronnie, Bill Kemp, Mike 92 XLT, UtahX, and expecially Autopia.org - what this site is to Explorers, Autopia is to detailing. I felt before I even turned the PC on, I knew what I was doing.
I purchased the Porter Cable 7424 about a week and a half ago. In addition, I purchased Sonus pads, Menzerna Intensive Polish, Menzerna Final Polish II, and Sonus Der Wonder Washe.
So what?
I tested the buffer on a 2001 Subaru Legacy. The Legacy was purchased in mid-2000. It has been washed, and perhaps waxed twice. Other than that, it is a 'beater' car. It sounds silly to beat a new car, but it is the car used for road trips when mileage is an issue, taken to stadiums or concerts where parking is tight (lovely Philadelphia), and any other places where the nice cars aren't going. So, it has been abused on the exterior (although it is mechanically fine and interior... well, so-so clean).
Let the photos do the talking. In the first shot, can you tell where I used the buffer and polishes and where I didn't?
It's pretty obvious. You can see the immense quantity of scratches near and above the grille mouth, but above that, the hood looks months old. I say months old because stone chips and dings have marred the perfect finish. However, scratch-wise, the only scratches remaining are countable. I used a cotton towel to remove the wax, not a MF, so scratches came as a result. After I switched, almost no further scratching occurred.
Below are some close-up finish photos. Again, not brand new, but definitely not 4 years of use and abuse...
The 'spots' are dirt marks on my lense, which I subsequently cleaned...
The Process
Mind you, doing this Subaru was the first use I have had with the PC 7424. I washed the hood, clay barred the hood, and rewashed it with Dawn. After a quick dry with cotton towels (no MFs because I could buff the marks out!), I used the Sonus Orange pad and a healthy amount of Intensive Polish.
I blotted half the hood and placed the PC on the hood. Starting at about 2, I worked the polish in. As it was uniformly spread, I kept speeding the PC up till I hit about 4 or 4.5. By this time, the polish had 'hazed' and all that remained was the dry dust of polishing. I then used wet Micro-Fiber towels to wipe down the half of the hood. The other half was done the same way.
I repeated this process as the clearcoat still showed some scratches. However, once finished, I then switched to the Sonus Green pad with Final Polish II. Again, I applied it like the other polish and removed it the same way. After using the Final Polish II, I rewashed the hood with Dawn to cut any residues and dry dust. And no, Dawn will not hurt the polishes as they are true polishes - they cut the clear coat, not fill the marks.
The final step was using a Sonus Grey pad to apply Meguiars NXT. I purchased the NXT this morning as not to waste the Zaino had I failed in polishing the car. Plus, I am not using Zaino on the 'beater' - it's too expensive to use on anything and everything.
Only the Trac sees Zaino.Regardless, the above photos show what a first time user of the PC can accomplish. While it doesn't look like it did when it rolled out of West Lafayette, Indiana, it does look like it did when it was a few months old. Imagine what the PC and polishes can do to a vehicle that hasn't been beaten and has been regularly washes and waxed!
Thank ye...
I can't take the credit for doing this myself, though. Thanks go to Ronnie, Bill Kemp, Mike 92 XLT, UtahX, and expecially Autopia.org - what this site is to Explorers, Autopia is to detailing. I felt before I even turned the PC on, I knew what I was doing.
