Is it true?

[zr123]

I was doing some research awhile back (before I had heard of MOL) and I saw somewhere where it said that BMW and Mercedes-Benz use Meguiar's product as their cleaning supplies? Furthermore, the waxes and washes they sell in their accessories shops are all made by Meguiar's?

Does anyone know if this is true? I know I've seen a lot of Mercedes-Benz cars on certain Meg's products, but I was unaware of BMW being another manufacture that uses Meguiar's.

I don't remember where I read it, but that was how I decided to check out Meg's line of products and now I'm happier than ever .

Thanks!
ZR

[alanceperson]

I work for a mercedes dealer we do use meg's products . We sell a type of sealing product to customers who want protection as an insurance for the paint. For the ones who chose not buy we use meguiars for thier deliveries.

[JeffM]

A type of sealing product

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by alanceperson
I work for a mercedes dealer we do use meg's products . We sell a type of sealing product to customers who want protection as an insurance for the paint. For the ones who chose not buy we use meguiars for thier deliveries.

My curiosity got the best of me, What is the sealing product?

I read somewhere that the car care products with GM labels are also made by Meguiars.


RamAirV1

[Tim Lingor]

Originally posted by RamAirV1
My curiosity got the best of me, What is the sealing product?

I read somewhere that the car care products with GM labels are also made by Meguiars.


RamAirV1

Hey RamAirV1,

I posted that comment! And I still have a bottle of GM/Meguiar's Swirl Remover.

As for the original question, as far as I know Meguiar's is used by many of the car manufacturers.

Tim

[RamAirV1]

GM should switch over to NXT Glass Cleaner for it's window cleaner. If I were Barry Meguiar though, I would not let anyone else use that formula since it is such a hit! Just IMHO.

Speaking of car dealers, I was getting my hail damage repaired at my car dealer last Thurs. The body shop mgr. said that the hail did not cause the stone chips, but he said he would touch them up N/C. He brought out some kind of paint cleaner/rubbing compound in a Meguairs bottle. So I said "I see you use Meguiars products, that's a good sign!" He said that only the bottles were Meguiar's. He went on to say that Meguiars doesn't have silicone-free products for body shop use. I then went on to explain that they had the 80 series body shop formulas. He responded that no Meguiars rep ever calls on them so they had no way of knowing. He said they didn't have time to go out and hunt down products. So my question is: Does Meguiars have reps that call on dealers, or is that up to the local PBE dealers? There are not many PBE dealers here in the People's Republic of Indiana.

I don't mean to hijack the topic, but I had to chime in since the subject of car dealers came up. There is a lot of opportunity in car dealers around here to sell Meguiars products. The new car detailers need to learn something about rail dust removal too! But new car detailers are totally separate from the body shop. They don't have anything to do with each other.

RamAirV1

[Tim Lingor]

Hey RamAirV1,

I do not know about Reps visiting dealers. On Tuesday, Mike may be able to answer that question.

As far as Meguiar's compounds, cleaners and polishes, here are the following that ARE Body Shop Safe:

#85 Diamond Cut
#84 Compound Power Cleaner
#83 DACP
#82 Swirl Free Polish
#80 Speed Glaze
#81 Hand Polish
#4 Heavy Cut Cleaner
#1 Medium Cut Cleaner
#2 Fine Cut Cleaner
#9 Swirl Remover
#5 New Car Glaze
#7 Show Car Glaze
#3 Machine Glaze

I think I listed them all!

Tim

[2000]

If they can't take the time to find out whats good to use for their bussiness, maybe they shouldn't be in the bussiness to begain with. just my two cents. My body shop is how I got turned on to megs. and although they do use other products as well they are always going to classes to learn whats new and how to apply the knowledge. no one calls them, they go out and look for it.

[alanceperson]

My curiosity got the best of me, What is the sealing product?

Its Called Touch Of Class. Its Sealants are for paints, leathers and fabrics. Its the Insurance for customers to buy for thier car. They Guarante it for 3 years.

Hey ram we use 80 series. I use it expecially for trades ins to be resold.

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by 2000
If they can't take the time to find out whats good to use for their bussiness, maybe they shouldn't be in the bussiness to begain with. just my two cents. My body shop is how I got turned on to megs. and although they do use other products as well they are always going to classes to learn whats new and how to apply the knowledge. no one calls them, they go out and look for it.

I was thinking along those same lines. They at one time did use Meguiars, they had to get those bottles somewhere.

RamAirV1

[CharlesW]

Originally posted by 2000
If they can't take the time to find out whats good to use for their bussiness, maybe they shouldn't be in the bussiness to begain with. just my two cents. My body shop is how I got turned on to megs. and although they do use other products as well they are always going to classes to learn whats new and how to apply the knowledge. no one calls them, they go out and look for it.

Keep in mind that the "easy" way out is the easiest path to take.
They very possibly have a Malco, Car-Brite, Auto-Magic, Norton, 3M rep either calling on them or getting their supplier to push their line.
There's lots of products for a dealer/shop to choose from and it is often a case of who stops in.

[the other pc]

Originally posted by zr123
... I saw somewhere where it said that BMW and Mercedes-Benz use Meguiar's product as their cleaning supplies? Furthermore, the waxes and washes they sell in their accessories shops are all made by Meguiar's?...

Keep in mind that you're talking about four distinctly different things;

What they use at the factory,
What the dealers use in their service bays,
What the factory provides through their parts distribution system.
and
What the dealer sells over the accessory counter.

Sometimes, for some products they may all be the same. At other times they may be very different, both for good reasons and sometimes not-so-good reasons.

At the factory they're doing very high volume work on very fresh paint in a tightly controlled environment with highly trained technicians. Some of the products that are ideal for them will be appropriate for dealer service shop but many will not be appropriate over the parts counter for the consumer. Production paint work is the bread and butter of Meguiar's history. They are really good at it and their products are used in many factories around the world. Factories go through a great deal of time and expense to perfect their in-house processes and rely on Meguiar's for great quality and high productivity.

Dealers are independent operations. They are free to do whatever they want. A dealer that wants to maintain the highest levels of quality and follow factory recommended procedures may choose to use factory approved and/or supplied products from Meguiar's.

A dealer that wants to do everything as cheap as possible will simply buy the cheapest stuff he can find and use it the fastest and easiest way he can with his lowest paid, least trained personnel regardless of the quality of the outcome. That's why there are so many horror stories about dealers. I'm not saying all dealers use crummy products and do bad work, only that many do and the ones that do good work are worth seeking out.

Dealer parts departments are just as free to sell what they want. If the factory provides Meguiar's products the parts department will certainly be able to order them but they may or may not keep them on the shelf, that's up to their management. Luckily, it appears to me, the parts counters in the dealers I've been to are much more likely to stock factory recommended products.

Car makers aren't in the chemical business. When they sell a polish, wax or compound they work with an OEM supplier (like Meguiar's) to develop the product and then have it custom labeled and bottled.

If you pick up a bottle of a "Mercedes Benz brand" finish care product it will have a Meguiar's logo right on the label. (The same is true for Mopar and GM.)

I don't know who makes the "BMW brand" products. Our local BMW/Mini dealer mostly sells Meguiar's. They keep a better stock than most of the car parts places around here. When they have big events they have the Meguiar's factory guys there doing demos.


PC.

[Murr1525]

Even one Toyota Dealer here sells Meguiars Products in the parts department. They do sell some things from other companies, and it is only the basic wash and wax products, but still it is a start.

[BenP]

Re: Is it true?

Originally posted by zr123
...but I was unaware of BMW being another manufacture that uses Meguiar's.

I think BMW products (at least here in the UK) are rebadged Sonax products - at least that's what I've deduced from my particulalry amateur investigations!

Ben

[Pete-FWA]

RamAirV1
"People's Republic of Indiana"

Most of the shops near me used 3M as well. It was a couple of very strong PBE stores that really pushed it. We were the exception for using and advocating Meguiar's. I remember the Meguiar's rep in our area was stretched pretty thin, from what I was told. He lived in a Chicago suburb and I saw him here once. Lots of territory to cover

That seemed like quite a job, being a field rep.