Motorized polisher?

I bought one for the first time last week at Sears and it worked fine on my old car (VW Jetta). It was $20 for a 6-inch model, which was about 3800 RPM of random orbits and a 1amp motor. They had 7" and 10" models but I actually like the smaller size.

For cars that really need a lot of work to get their shine back, I would recommend it. If you keep the paint in good condition and its not a big car (i.e. your Mazda3), I'm not sure its all that necessary.

I will say that the $20 model worked great. I hear of people spending over $200 for a Porter-Cable model. If you're not a professional detailer, I say save your money.

Save your money. Those polishers, if used excessively, will eventually wear your paint thin, especially if you don't know how to use them. Brand new car, brand new paint, just use some elbow grease and hand wax it routinely and you will never need to use a buffer.

I use one, have for a while, and will for a while. Mine was $30 though, I guess I got ripped off. The whole idea of an orbital polisher is to NOT ruin the paint. some polishers can do that by creating swirls or heating the paint, so they make orbital polishers for the less "adept" enthusiast. Take a look at www.properautocare.com as they go into how to use these. I agree that on a new car the hand polishing is not that hard, but it will get harder as time goes on. Especially if your car takes a beating outdoors or doesn't keep a good wax coat.

I've found that modern day polishes and waxes don't need a 10hp buffer to remove them. I've had no problems doing it by hand. I will sometimes use one though to touch up when finishing. I found the Meguiar's polishing towels work really well. I think it was about $6. It works better than anything else I've used, including the buffer. There's no lint, and one usually does the whole car.

I've used them, have a 10 in. cost me about 45.00, if used correctly it wont ruin any paint, just know what you're doing. You can mess up the paint if used incorrectly but i give it praise. Although unnecessary for the 3 or anything newer with a nice finish.
Nick

A one amp polisher will do fine for shining up wax an a newer car but they are not much good for older finishes or if you are applying a compound or trying to remove swirls (and you will have swirls sooner than you think). And those silly 10" models with one amp power are a jok. A higher amperage random orbital polisher will never hurt your paint - I don't care how thin it is - unless you are using a compound and excessive force. The one area you have to be careful with are any ridges or creases in the metal - that is where the paint is thinest and a polisher will eventually work through the clear coat. Personally, I'll never buy a low amp polisher again - I can do a better job by hand.