Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

[Patman]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

I really haven't given it a "durability" test, I apply it too often (too easy & too much fun). But now with bad weather approaching we'll get to see how it handles a NE Ohio winter.

I find it so easy to apply that I don't mind doing it often also, but I'm also worried about the upcoming winter and the fact that I probably won't have too many opportunities to use UFF during that time.

[Don]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

I find it so easy to apply that I don't mind doing it often also, but I'm also worried about the upcoming winter and the fact that I probably won't have too many opportunities to use UFF during that time.

I won't either as my garage is unheated w/no electric. All I usually do unless we get an extremely mild day, is go to the self-serve and pressure wash as much salt & grime as I can and call it a day.

[Patman]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Another concern of mine is how durable UFF will be when subjected to the detergents in the touchless car wash that I use for my wife's car in the cold months. I know they use some pretty strong chemicals that can eat through a lot of sealants in no time.

[Patman]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Another question I have, will UFF provide the necessary protection to prevent bird bombs and acid rain from etching into the paint? I bought my current Corvette in 2013 so it was already 8 years old, and it's got etching in the paint that looks like rain drops. Even after quite a few attempts at polishing with my DA (and various different compounds), those etchings are deep enough into the clear that they aren't coming off completely. But I'll be starting fresh with a new 2018 Corvette that I factory ordered and that's being built next month and I'm hoping that with regular applications of UFF I won't ever see those nasty etchings in my paint. I also plan on using UQD to remove the dust every time I drive it, and am wondering if that too provides any extra protection from the elements since it's polymer based?

[snozan]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

What kinda birds do you have over there? And rain??? I can have a bird drop like a week before removing them, and there is no mark at all. Seems quite hard to own a car in US :P Acid rain, Air pollution, Corrosive bird droppings, and so on.

The PP365 was more then enough to get by the winter here. This year i used UFF which will be even better

[Old Bear]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

At least here in the US we only have to deal with the remnants of flying reindeer one night a year.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Another question I have, will UFF provide the necessary protection to prevent bird bombs and acid rain from etching into the paint? I bought my current Corvette in 2013 so it was already 8 years old, and it's got etching in the paint that looks like rain drops. Even after quite a few attempts at polishing with my DA (and various different compounds), those etchings are deep enough into the clear that they aren't coming off completely. But I'll be starting fresh with a new 2018 Corvette that I factory ordered and that's being built next month and I'm hoping that with regular applications of UFF I won't ever see those nasty etchings in my paint. I also plan on using UQD to remove the dust every time I drive it, and am wondering if that too provides any extra protection from the elements since it's polymer based?

In response to your second question first: no, UQD isn't really going to add any real protection to the paint, just some additional hydrophobic boost to it.

As for your primary question regarding UFF preventing etching from bird bombs, acid rain, etc - hate to say it, but no. It will buy you a bit of time, but it's not going to prevent it. Even the toughest, most expensive paint coating on the market won't prevent that from happening. Buy you some time, yes, but prevent? Nope. No matter what anyone tells you about their wax, coating, etc, none of them will prevent this sort of thing from happening. They will buy you time though. Still, the best course of action is to keep a bottle of quick detailer and a few microfiber towels in your trunk and use them as soon as you find bird bombs on the paint.

Consider this: paint, if well cared for, can and will last many, many years on a car. Even the cheap 15 year old respray on my classic Alfa Romeo looks great. I recently sold a car that was 13 years old with 105,000 on it and people kept asking where I got it repainted even though it was all original factory OEM paint. Even the most expensive coatings on the market don't claim to last 12, 15 or more years. So if a coating won't last that long (more like a year or two, maybe, if you baby it) and a wax or sealants lasts far less than that even, do you really expect that they'll be stronger than the paint itself when it comes to environmental attacks? Consider that your OEM clear coat is roughly 1.5 - 2.0 mils thick (38 - 50 microns) and that a coating is roughly 100 nanometers thick (0.1 micron or just 0.004 mils) and that waxes and sealants are even thinner than that, and you begin to see the problem when it comes to combating really harsh attacks.

Your best bet is to take care of your paint on a routine basis. Wash the car regularly and properly, clay it as needed, compound only when necessary, and lightly polish to keep the paint super glossy. Use a wax or sealant regularly (once a year is not sufficient for traditional waxes and sealants) to boost UV protection and to give you that little bet of extra time to clean up those severe attacks.

[Rhnos]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

when to use ultimate fast finish or paint protect?

before or after applying ultimate wax

thanks

i have a full bottle of paint protect and my ultimate wax is almost over.

my other options are: ultimate quik wax / ultimate wax / gold class wax. which one do you recommend?

if i get my hands on ultimate fast finish, is it logical to disregard the paint protect as it is more or less the same thing?

but first of all which wax is best for sealing the protection?

i have ultimate quik detailer for removing dust. should i top with wax or paint protect / ultimate fast finish?

thx

[Don]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

I too have a full bottle of PP365, that will probably never be used except for door jambs etc. I look at the Ult Fast Finish as being the 'topper' to whatever you use as your wax/sealant.

I have been using D151 (Detailer's Line Cleaner Wax) when needed as my polish and 'base' protection followed by the UFF as my sealant. Otherwise I use Ultimate Liquid Wax as my sealant with UFF as the topper. I get excellent results with these combinations.

I seem to get my best results when I get 3 applications of UFF (spread out 12-24 hours between each application) on the car. My car hasn't been washed in 3 weeks now and the tops still bead like crazy (the sides are too covered with dirt sprayed up from driving in the rain for a week to bead right now).

[Patman]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

As for your primary question regarding UFF preventing etching from bird bombs, acid rain, etc - hate to say it, but no. It will buy you a bit of time, but it's not going to prevent it. Even the toughest, most expensive paint coating on the market won't prevent that from happening. Buy you some time, yes, but prevent? Nope. No matter what anyone tells you about their wax, coating, etc, none of them will prevent this sort of thing from happening. They will buy you time though. Still, the best course of action is to keep a bottle of quick detailer and a few microfiber towels in your trunk and use them as soon as you find bird bombs on the paint.

I have always done just that, but when I was using Zaino products, the bird droppings would etch into the paint even though I was cleaning them off within a few hours of them getting on there. At my work there are a lot of birds flying around and there is no safe parking spot to avoid them. If UFF at least buys me a bit of time that's ok, as I would never leave the dropping on there for very long. In fact, once I get my new Corvette, I will start going outside a couple of times throughout the day so that if a bird did drop off a package, I could get to it sooner instead of the end of the work day. I really don't want the new car to suffer the same fate as my current one. (although the water spot etchings are definitely the worst of the two, but I think I can mostly avoid those since I won't drive the car in the rain often at all, and if it did get rained on I would remove the water spots immediately so they don't dry on there)

Funny, but ever since I started using UFF the birds haven't even attempted to drop anything on my paint! I've actually wanted them to, just to test it out (truth be told, it is that time of year where they don't hang out here as much, most of them have flown south for the winter)

[Doctawho]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

UFF seems like a great product and I'm looking for an in-between waxes product. Can I use this product weekly or would I be better served using UQW after every wash? From what I've read in this thread and across the web, this product is more similar to UW than it is to UQW?

[The Guz]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

UFF seems like a great product and I'm looking for an in-between waxes product. Can I use this product weekly or would I be better served using UQW after every wash? From what I've read in this thread and across the web, this product is more similar to UW than it is to UQW?

Welcome to MOL.

No need to use UFF that often. It is designed to protect for 1 year as it's a stand alone form of protection. UQW will suit your weekly touch ups.

[Doctawho]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Do you think it will do any harm to apply UFF monthly?

[Patman]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Do you think it will do any harm to apply UFF monthly?

I can't see it causing any problems at all, a lot of people apply a conventional sealant that often and they are putting more pressure on the paint with all the buffing of the dried sealant. I think that's one major benefit to UFF, you really will not scratch the finish no matter how often you use it because the process is so gentle.

[The Guz]

Re: Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish

Do you think it will do any harm to apply UFF monthly?

No harm will be done. Just not really needed.