How much of importance is surface prep?

[Kickin Griffin]

Originally Posted by zaidgreat

So, why is it that LSPs costs a lot more than surface prep products? Are we all sort of ''misguided""..

Marketing Especially in the cases of some manufacturers where huge sums of money are charged for waxes which, in the case of prep work beging spot on, add little or nothing to the finish.

Last year I, with the help of a few mates , machine polished to perfection 7 black Vauxhall Corsas, identical cars and then applied a range of LSPs - one on each car, ranging from cheap and cheerful to expensive and exotic... Could anyone spot the difference and find the expensive waxes? Nope!

Its all in the prep

[Michael Stoops]

Originally Posted by Kickin Griffin

Marketing Especially in the cases of some manufacturers where huge sums of money are charged for waxes which, in the case of prep work beging spot on, add little or nothing to the finish.

Last year I, with the help of a few mates , machine polished to perfection 7 black Vauxhall Corsas, identical cars and then applied a range of LSPs - one on each car, ranging from cheap and cheerful to expensive and exotic... Could anyone spot the difference and find the expensive waxes? Nope!

Its all in the prep

That was such an awesome demonstration of the power of perception. If memory serves, even with the very wide range of prices in the LSPs used almost all of them earned both a top mark and a bottom mark somewhere along the line. Good stuff.

[Jokeman]

100% prep.

[zaidgreat]

Its about time to start paying top dollar for surface prep products as its money well spent as opposed to forking out hundreds or thousands of dollars on LSPs.... Heck, I'm not going to spent anything more than $50 for a small can or tub.
(Makes me feel good now).....

[StoneRaizer]

So with everybody saying prep is the the most important step, will Meguiars drop the price of NXT 2.0 and Gold Class while jacking up the price of ScratchX, Cleaner Wax, ColourX and other Step 2 and Step 3 products?

[zaidgreat]

Originally Posted by StoneRaizer

So with everybody saying prep is the the most important step, will Meguiars drop the price of NXT 2.0 and Gold Class while jacking up the price of ScratchX, Cleaner Wax, ColourX and other Step 2 and Step 3 products?

It will be better if Megs maintain their surface prep prices while dropping the prices of its LSPs....

[Michael Stoops]

Originally Posted by StoneRaizer

So with everybody saying prep is the the most important step, will Meguiars drop the price of NXT 2.0 and Gold Class while jacking up the price of ScratchX, Cleaner Wax, ColourX and other Step 2 and Step 3 products?

Ah..... no.

[zaidgreat]

It is also true that a surface prep will provide different outcome/result in its final stage before coating a sealant or wax.
In fact it is where we get our paint's TRUE 'slickness', 'glossiness', depth etc.
LSP's just a small icing on the 'cake'.
It's sad to see the norm in my group of friends/detailers over emphasizing on sealants/waxes

[bullitt21]

I agree it's almost 100% prep. I can notice very(and I mean very) subtle diffferences in the application of different LSP's. I've just started totally correcting the loaner SUV(Black Sport Trac) we use. I went ahead and did a full correction on the hood. One side has Megs #16 and the other Supernatural and I can't tell the difference. Sometimes I do feel that some LSP's give a more warm, deep look on darker cars, but it's still subtle. When I think LSP I think more in terms of durability and static control.

[weis]

from my noob experience..

surface prep will provide longer durability.. no doubt about that.. referring to looks, then i not too sure.. haha.. cause i dun have other products to compare..

only meguiar's in my arsenal so far