I bought a third vehicle to use as a commuter, keeps miles off my project car and its much more comfortable.

Its an 07 Focus 2 door hatch with stupid low miles (25k). 2.0L PZEV, 5 speed. Manual everything. Its hideous, but its fucking perfect. Dang near 40MPG highway.

Inside its a time capsule, but it's sat outside and the paint needs buffed. Headlights are oxidized as well.



I have a variable, high speed buffer (cheapo harbor freight type), but it was 15 years ago since I used it last (wet sanded my project vehicle).

What types of pads and compounds do I need? I was planning on skipping wet sanding as its not that bad and I dont want to put tons of hours into a beater. I have a large meguiars store near my office that carries everything.

Is there an arfcom approved guide? Any tips?

I did a little buffing at a body shop. I'd probably get a wool pad (doesn't get as hot as a foam one) and some generic polish. It doesn't look like it needs a TON of buffing. That's why I recommended just some polish and not a cutting compound. The wool pad will get little wool pieces all over everything but if you are buffing the whole car I assume your gonna wash it afterward anyway?

Another way to look at it is you don't need to buff it a TON so a foam pad probably won't matter. Especially if you know what you're doing and the car hasn't been repainted at all. 


Eta: as far as the head lights, I think I used to wet sand with some 3000 (or 1500 if they are really bad) and then run come compound over that and then polish over that. I've heard that if you spray some good clear coat back over them they will stay clear longer. It might take 10-15 years for the lights to oxidize stock, but once you sand and polish them you remove some of the factory "clear" and it won't take near as long for them to turn yellow again. But that's just what I've heard. Nice car btw.

Thanks! Yeah probably just waxing it would take off a lot of the haze, but I figure I should go a little deeper.

So you'd recommend something like Meguires Ultimate Polish with a wool pad?

My plan is this:


Wash with dish soap (strip)

Clay bar

Polish with wool pad + compound

Buff with microfibre cloth

Carnuaba wax

I dont plan on doing any sealer as the paint is 10 years old... meh. Future washes will be with meguiars gold and a foam gun as I do my other cars.

Good plan?

edit: My polisher is a rotary... I'm reading everywhere that they are bad news and I need a DA polisher. I'll be careful, and might go with a foam pad instead of wool...

Go get one of the harbor freight dual actions for like $50. Then go to your local Meguiars store and pick up their microfiber dual action buffing kit. Comes with pads, compound, and the finishing wax. Also get a 5" backing plate.

The DA and the microfiber cutting pads and their compound is a really good combo for neglected paints. It should be plenty enough cut if it's your beater car.

Can I not use the rotary buffer I have in place of the DA and use the same kit? I'd rather avoid picking up another buffer if possible... nothing wrong with the one I have, its just old school. I know it needs a lighter touch

If your really good with a rotary go ahead. But I would run foam pads and not the wools. That paint doesn't look like it needs a wool pad.

Factory clearcoat is super thin so do not use wool! Use foam and keep it under 2k rpm for a medium/fine cut, finish with a white foam pad and polishing compound. I would not get into any wetsanding.

If you aren't familiar with using the rotary, you should really just spend the extra few bucks on the harbor freight DA polisher.  From the photo, the paint really doesn't look bad.  I don't see any clearcoat failure on any of the surfaces.  If you are dead set on going through all of the polishing steps and want to use meguiars, just get the small bottle of M105 and M205.  Those two polishes will take care of just about everything.  Personally, if it was just a beater, I would do the wash, clay bar, then hit it with an All in One like HD Speed and call it a day. You will likely get great results without a significant investment in time.