Side by Side Comparison of: Black & Decker vs Meguiar's vs Chicago Power Tools vs Meguiar's vs Detailer's Choice

I bought it to do some polishing but noticed from another review that it can be used as a massager. I gave it a try and the result is very good. It is quite powerful and does not hurt like specialized messages with balls inside. The pad backer is kind of soft so I am not sure whether it will last. But for the price it definitely is worth the money.

Not just for your car!! Haha. My friends and I use it as a massager after a hard workout or when our legs are stiff. It's amazing for working out tight thigh and calf muscles, as well as working out butt knots if you prop it against something. And if you're flexible or if you have someone with you, it's really great for sore arms and tight backs. I'm absolutely not joking about this - give it a shot!

Nice little buffer. Use it on my camper and car. Saves a lot of elbow grease. Can use with one hand if need be.

I run a detailing company on the side and I've been doing it about 12 years and used over 20 different types of polishes and waxes. Most of the reviews that are bad are people who have no idea what they are doing. I keep reading easily correctable problems. Here's the low down.

I remember I paid like $26 the first time for this buffer. It lasted heavy use for 3 years 2 months. On small aircraft, cars, trucks, etc. But I definitely got my money's worth.

The good:
-The orbital buffing takes a beating and keeps on going.
-You can press hard enough to get a good buffing and it's motor is strong enough to keep going.
-The ergonomics are great. Holding at different angles etc moving around hard to get places and around bottom of airplanes and corners of body panels.
-The 6in is great because it can get a lot more that you don't have to redo by hand later. (Tight spaces etc)
-The on/off button is easy to use and press quickly and is in a good spot on it for that.
-The cord is connected to it in a good spot. I jut skin it over my shoulder and it stays out of my way most of the time.
-The handles allow a firm press with two hands and much greater control over it.
-It's less than $30. Way better than any of its competitors for what you get.

The Bad:
-I have Black and Decker products that have lasted way longer than 3 years. So I was disappointed when I heard a pop and lost it. I still have a cheap nicad battery operated craftsmen bottom of the line drill that is 9 years old and works great.
-After just under 3 years the glue started to lose its effectiveness and the pad was starting to separate. But it was an easy fix with some gorilla glue.
-As soon as you try to one hand it in the middle, you accidentally turn it off and it gets annoying sometimes from a palm press. Minor issue.
-6in pads are hard to find when not looking on Amazon. 2/6 auto places near me had what I was looking for.

Tips:
-Don't use any of the pads that come in the box. They are crap. But that's not what you're buying it for. Buy aftermarket ones on here.
-There's a foam pad on Amazon that works great. Quick search will find it at reasonable prices.
-Watch basic tutorials on waxing if you're new to buffers on YouTube. They will solve 95% of the issues I read about on here.
-Give the buffer a chance to work. Don't have just one issue and decide it's crap. It's not crap. You're just getting frustrated too quickly. Try changing polishes or waxes. That might be the issue or your paint might be too far gone to get the result you want etc. It's a buffer. Not a magic machine.
-If you use it correctly with good polishes and waxes you will still get a great result 90% of the time.
-Any general car, NuFinish works wonders. I suggest Meguiars, Turtle Wax, Adams polishes, or Chemical guys and their top of the line products on special cars. I use Turtle Wax Black on my black truck.

Overall:
Definitely worth the money and buying again. It's competitors just aren't that great in comparison. There could be improvements that I would pay another ten bucks for. But it's inexpensive, does the job well for a few years of heavy abuse, and you have great results for an inexpensive investment.

I did a search for "The Best" orbital polishers and one list had this listed as #2. I love it. I have tried the fancy multiple speed polishers that cost hundreds of dollars. I found them heavy, noisy, and most require two handed operation. Not the Black and Decker! It is light, whisper quiet and you can easily use it one handed. I have detailed three cars with it and every one comes out fantastic. The foam pads work the best, but they are hard to find. If you make sure to not remove the pad from the finish while at high speed, it will last for at least the entire car.

I have been a Kyla user of Meguiar's products for many years. However, this was my first time using his wax. I have to say I don't think I will ever be able to use any other wax again! This was goes on very easily but the best part is the ease with which it comes off your car. And the shine it leaves is amazing. I am actually looking forward to waxing my other cars soon, as this was so easy to do and much faster than with other wax, yet with excellent results.

Meguiar's universally makes awesome products for car detailing with very few exceptions....This wax is no exception!! Superior deep gloss shine, with good durability and protection. There are other options that will give slightly better gloss at the expense of durability, and others that will give greater durability at the expense of shine.... This product is the ultimate combination of both!! Well worth the price!!

Well, the first thing that I want to mention is that I love detailing my cars. I keep my cars clean and neat and I love having this extra layer of protection to protect against contamination, bird dirt and also to have my car shine. Yes, you can give your car to the car wash and have them to all the work, but it costs a lot and no one is going to do a better job that you on your own car.

Now, in terms of the product. The product is not really a wax, it's synthetic, not carnauba wax. Two major differences between carnauba wax and synthetic sealant is that wax gives some protection for a couple of months but great shine. However, sealant gives less shine but more protection. I actually prefer more protection for my paint because I don't need to win any car shows. I want to protect my car against contamination. This thing I think lasts about 5-6 months in NYC. Maybe longer elsewhere. NYC is too contaminated IMHO.

To apply the product I do the following steps: first, wash your car and remove any dirt. Make sure it's as clean as possible. Then after that, I prefer to clay bar the car. You can buy clay bars or Nanoskin auto scrub pad for about $10. Either way works. A bit easier with Nanoskin but not as clean as with the clay bar. It depends how much your car is contaminated. Ever seen those yellow dots on a white car? That's contamination and that's what the clay bar is for. In order to apply clay bar, you need lubricant (I also like Meguiar's brand) and clay bar. Watch videos on youtube on how to do that. Then after that's done, you need, you MUST wax your car either with carnauba wax or this sealant. To apply this product you need take the sponge provided, put the product on it, I like to do an X shape across and work parts of the car. You can divide the work in any way you like, but I like to do one door, then wipe it off, another door, then wipe it off. I let the wax sit for about 1 minute, because then it becomes harder to wipe it off, especially on darker cars. Also, don't do it in the direct sunlight. I do it at about 6PM and I am done by 7:30 during the summer. I actually do that before every season, so four times a year, works great for me.

Hope you find this review a bit helpful. Great product, good price. And it smells good! :)

This stuff is amazing. The one bottle I was able to wax all three of my cars. A 2010, 2009, and 2003 vehicles. The 10, and 09 stay in a garage but the 03 has pretty much always lived on the driveway exposed to the elements. Now I thoroughly cleaned my cars and for the 03 I used a clay kit to get rid of any imperfections. After apply this wax it is an absolute night and day difference. The car looks so much nicer now. It shines like it did when it was new! This product is fantastic, Meguiar just got a new customer!

I've owned a detail shop for over 25 years. I have tried many products over the years and have found the polymer products work the best and last the longest. I use Zaino as my main finish protectant (customers just like to here the name). But did give Ultimate Wax a try. I always try new products on my own cars before any customers. I waxed all 3 of my auto's during the same weekend, 1 with Zaino's 1 with Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax and the 3rd with Ultimate wax. As far as I can see the NXT and the Ultimate went on and off easier, left as deep a shine as the Zaino's and stood up to the eliments longer than Zaino's. Ultimate actually kept beading about 2 weeks longer than NXT. Keep in mind to really keep a cars finish protected a car should be waxed every 8 weeks or so, nothing lasts for 6 months or more. My choice is now Meg's Ultimate wax, for the price and durability it can't be beat. Keep in mind 1 bottle can probably do a medium size car at least 6 times.

So far this economical buffer has performed well after several waxes on my Chevy Tahoe.

I would recommend buying velcro and placing it on the original pad in order to accommodate velcro style pads.

Worked well. Used it to buff out paint transfer from garage wall to car. Don't ask . Lol. But took all paint transfer off and bumper looks new again

Works great! After years and years of using a 10" I was skeptical of using the 6". Now that I've used the 6" I can say that its much easier to use and stays at speed without binding up.

Easy to operate, followed 2 recommendations of other reviews. Used Velcro tape to attach better pass, and got a great massage.

I don't know why the round foam things that came with it don't fit. I tried to put one on and it ripped :(
The cloth one fit and worked fine, though my use for it was, no doubt, rather unorthodox. We have Danes that get nose prints and slobber all over the windows, so I put a dab of extreme duty glass cleaner on this thing and I buffed the windows. Worked great!

Goes on easy. Lasts only about 3 washes and I am careful washing my car. Do not get it on convertible soft top because it does leave a light discoloration. It covers scratches barely but when it is applied it shines pretty good. I will purchase this again because of the cheap price for what it does. For cars that have not been waxed in awhile....its a bit of a bugger buffing out.

Easy to apply, gave my new car slight improvement in gloss. In my case, no difficulties with hand buffing EXCEPT when the waxed surface was in direct sunlight and left for a good 10+ minutes-then it required a bit more vigorous buffing. As for water resistance, i attained some water beading, but not as much as i've seen in videos (this was my first application of wax however, and i admittedly did a single, "thick" coat. ALSO: not sure if its to do with my local water, but this coat seems VERY susceptible to water spots. Particularly, seems like the type of water spot where the water has eaten into the surface (as opposed to depositing minerals and other precipitates on the surface). Otherwise, good, cheap product.

I like it so far. Applied water to paint after using wax and it beaded off nicely. The only thing is the description says "Full application and wipe off in full sun" but when I read directions it said apply in shade to cool surface. It also says let dry 3-5 minutes which is not nearly long enough. Hope they didnt mislead me on anything else.

Good wax, but not for the high gloss-type of people. Durable, lasts about 9 months for me. Shine not quite as good as other waxes, but much more durable that the high gloss waxes. For the everyday car that does not get pampered - meaning it gets waxed if there's nothing better to do that day.

This wax is by far the best wax that is offered by Meguiar's! Providing UVA and UVB protection, along with intense water beading and water spot protection! The main issue i have with this product is how it hazes. it is clear on my white car. I spent more time going over my car to make sure I removed all the wax, then it took my to apply the wax in the first place. However, I did use this wax on my girlfriends black car, and the wax was visible when it hazed. Nonetheless, it applies easily and smooth and removes in a similar fashion. I will definitely recommend this product to anyone who doesn't have a white car.

This was my first time using an orbital buffer. The pads seem cheap, one of them ripped right away. It did not seem to buff off the wax or polish, rather just smear it. The wax was completely dry and came off perfectly fine by hand. Being new, it was probably operator error.

Really fun - should have bought one of these years ago. I second the complaints about the on button placement and no way to put the buffer down without it rolling over and turning itself on. I keep a clean towel on the ground so I can put it on that. Not so great at putting product on, but much easier to buff it all off after.

The pads it came with sucks. The pad ripped and the buffer pad did not take off the wax. Left spots so I had to manually polish. I guess I get what I paid for, poor quality.

Good product...crappy pads(blue) though.

It's good for putting on polish or wax, but not fast enough to remove it

I finally got a chance to use this wax on a car I recently purchased.. and I tried to apply it with a DA polisher and it was a fail as far as I'm concerned.. so i applied it by hand but i still feel like there was lost of product wasted

It could be user error.. but I don't like that this does not dry/haze.. how do I know for sure the wax is working and sticking to my paint properly... I need some sort of sign.. I let it sit for minutes and it wiped fairly easily off.. not sure how wax'ed it really is.. This is my first time using liquid wax in a very long time and I certainly intend to go back to paste.

I recently used this to wax a car and SUV. Easy to put on and take off but too early to see how long it lasts. The shine or sheen seems okay but not overly impressive.

Good but not out of the world good. I think I prefer their NXT wax to this. Not that great for black in my humble opinion. Kind of splotchy/smeary even after going over with quick detailer and a microfiber cloth. Lighter colors are fine.

This wax worked pretty well, but these little oily spots appeared all over the place about 30 minutes after I waxed my car, and it took another 20 minutes and a lot of elbow grease to rub them all in.

Eas on and easy off
Cheap
Looks good
The good ends there.... durability is poor and does not feel as sleek as other products.

Just not a good product. If every car had only flat surfaces then it may be ok, but until then I wouldn't bother. Doesn't put on smooth and leaves marks- I had to hand buff everything.

After about 3 uses began to turn on & off b/c of an issue w/the cord

under powered. did not get nooks and crannies. I found myself using a cloth as much as this unit.

The buffer will not take off the polish so make up your mind to use a clean microfiber cloth to take it off
It doesn't spin fast enough

I like the handles on this polisher. It's easy to hold when working on the side of the car and easy to extend one handed on the roof. The problem I had is that when I tried to remove the pad (a cotton pad with elastic ring) from the machine, the rubber piece peeled right off the machine. The rubber pad is just glued onto the plastic part of the spindle.

Rather than try to send it back, I've re-attached the rubber pad using Gorilla Glue. So far it's working. I don't see other complaints about this so perhaps was just a mfg. defect on my particular unit.

I usually go with Meguiar's for all my auto and marine products. Though I was a bit disappointed by this product. The Ultimate is the synthetic wax built to last. I usually use the orbiter to wax on and wax off with no problem. The Ultimate wax went on no problem, but it just smeared when trying to wax off! The orbiter I have always used (with no problem), just smeared the wax. Something about the texture made it really hard to buff out. I ended up having to buff the wax off by hand using way more energy than I would with my previous waxes. Even then, it was really hard to leave an even finish. I spent hours trying to reconcile it. Even then, it didn't leave that "wet" and deep shine I usually get. I would not recommend this product. I would still with the plain old Carnauba wax.

I just used it on my car for the first time and I am deeply unimpressed. It just didn't seem to bring much of a shine compared to a true wax. I already threw it in the trash because of the poor results and I really like Meguiar's products. I'll be going back to carnuba wax for sure. The only plus is it very forgiving if you get this product on black trim.

Recently I ordered Meguiar's G18216 Ultimate Liquid Wax - 16oz" for my black car. I first used the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound to try to get a good base which was a disappointment (see my other review). Anyways, I was hoping that the Ultimate Liquid Wax will do a good job regardless. I followed the exact instruction on the bottle label and used Meguiar's own polishing equipment. But the black color didn't show the depth/reflection/clarity I was hoping for after reading and watching lot of the videos on it. It was an average shine/depth on my black car.
For the price I paid, it was not upto the quality. I think the Meguiar's quality has degraded over time.
So, in my view, it doesn't merit the price premium over other some of the other waxing products on the market.
I am giving it a "thumbs down" for the price vs. quality which seems to have seen it better years...

Nothing special. For the money there are far better products on the market. Dont waist your money. 3D Poxy is a far better product but doesn't have the marketing machine behind it.

A bust. Hardly beads up. And I mean hardly. Even after freshly applying. Should have returned for a refund. Ultimate ... not so much. Perhaps it has protection value from UV impact, but beading attribute it falls way short. I even apply two coats on the top surfaces. Mequiars - not your best but open to your setting me straight on what to expect from this product.

Very easy to apply and remove. Does not leave white residue on plastic. Does leave a very high shine. Based on my comments above. Perhaps this is designed for car show applications not cars in the elements on a daily basis.

Speed is too high it thrown the pad cover. What can I do. If I return it shipping cost is high . Loss up to $30. Doesn't having hoop & loop tape for fixing the pad cover . Speed controlling switch must be needed.

does not work

The power switch broke less than 60 days in and the product ineligible for return.

This does not work at all on furniture. You can do better by hand. Returned product

Burned from the first use.

I've been using Zaino on my vehicles since '99 & thought I would give M a shot. What a HUGE mistake that was. I used a detergent soap & washed the car twice to strip off the Zaino. Followed that up with a good clay bar treatment to get the surface clean & smooth. The humidity was way down so conditions were ideal for detailing the car ('14 GMC Terrain). I followed the directions to the letter & I have to say this is a terrible product. I don't think I've ever used a product that was this hard to buff off before. It left swirl marks like nobody's business. Even after getting it all off visually you can breathe on the finish to fog it up a little & the swirl marks become visible again. I've never had this problem with Zaino or any other product I've used in the past that I can think of. Unless one of my bro-in-laws wants it this stuff is going in the trash can.

it turned into water after a couple months. I don't know why

Doesn't buff out well. Put some water on my hood some time after waxing, it didn't beed up and fall off. Paint doesn't even feel waxed.

The product streaks when you try and and buff it off. I've read some of the tricks written here, but to be quite frank, a non-boutique mainstreak wax like Meguiar's shouldn't require any special application and removal procedures other than applying thin coats and removing with a high quality MF towel. We're not talking about Klasse AIO/SG or Zaino or any of the specialty boutique products you find in Autogeek or Autopia... this is Meguiar's, and the product should apply nicely (it does) and removal should be a breeze (it's not, it smears). I used Ultimate Polish before applying (which, BTW, is a fantastic product) which left a very nice substrate to apply Ultimate Wax. I used a porter cable DA polisher with a Lake Country finishing pad to apply whisper thin coats. As per the instructions on the bottle, I waited 5 mins for the wax to dry and tried to remove...but the product smeared. So I decided to wait another 15 mins, but the product continued to smear. I'm going to return this product and go back to my all-time favorite product line when it comes to waxes (Mothers). My guess is this smearing quality is a by-product of Meguiar's attempts to make this product sun-friendly (i.e., OK to use under the sun). In doing so, they essentially turned what could have been an excellent product into something that isn't very use-friendly.

I've used many waxes in past. This one has been the worst. A wax is supposed to also bead water, this really doesn't. Highly recommended other waxes over this. This went on easy but what is the point if it doesn't protect and bead water. Will never buy this one again. The product highly endorses excellent hydrophobic qualities and does not deliver!!