Is Griots Garage 6" a substantial upgrade from PC?

The best warranty is the one that you don`t have to use.

Pick up some microfiber pads for working on hard paint. Try Meguires cutting pads with D300.
 
I feel that it is indeed an upgrade from the PC, just get a smaller backing plate to accommodate your current pads. Cough up the small difference for the longer cord, and get a small backing plate for the PC to use 4" pads. I have 4" pads from my Cyclo and just re-purposed them to the PC. Now large or small areas can be done with ease.
 
Definitely an upgrade and with some MF pads it can still do very serious correction, even on hard paints. The G15 will offer more comfort though and faster correction. You can use your PC for 3"-4" work.
 
ManiZ said:
Hello all. I am an enthusiast detailer and weekend warrior. I bought my PC 10+ years ago and it has served me fine thus far, but I have never needed it for hard paints or serious correction. Light/moderate polishing and LSP application is all I have needed it to do and it is ok for that. However, I always feel that it bogs down and stops spinning at the required 10 lbs of pressure. I would like to upgrade to something a bit more powerful that would meet my needs now and in the future even if we buy a car with harder paint.

Reading through some threads here on the forums, it appears that GG6 is a good upgrade. But I also see a whole host of new DAs as well from the likes of Flex, Rupes, and even Griots themselves, though all of them cost 2-3 times as much as the GG6. I would like to spend less money but if something is more future proof for my needs, I might consider it. Based on what I mentioned above regarding me and the intended use, should I just get GG6 and be done with it or go even further?

With my PC, I have a hard 4.5 inch backing plate and a wide range of 5" foam pads w/ various degrees of hardness for correction as well a few 6" soft foam pads for LSP application. I would prefer to use all of those with the new polisher.

Looking forward to your input.
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Some detailers don`t think the Griots machine is an upgrade and I would tend to agree with them. For that money you might as well get yourself a rotary to tackle the tougher corrections and use your PC to finish off.

 
EdLancer- The following might sound like an argument, but I think that by now you know that I`m just on the other side of a few fences ;) So...

Noting that I`ve never damaged paint with a rotary, a whole lotta people have, and I just can`t ever see a non-pro using one enough to gain any meaningful proficiency with one.

My Good Painter, a guy who`s been using a rotary longer than I`ve been alive (and that`s saying something!), recently did irreparable damage to my 19K mile `85 Jag with his Makita and a mild Menzerna polish. Can`t get the right paint to fix it, gotta live with it for the rest of my life. He`s *really* good with a rotary...most days, but he wasn`t dialed-in for a few seconds and it happened that fast.

And really, I can`t imagine any non-pro *needing* to do any correction so severe that a RO/DA can`t handle it with MF/M101...even that combo is so aggressive that damage could happen quite easily if the user doesn`t have any idea how much clear each pass is taking off. My latest New-To-Me vehicles were so bad I quit on every panel over clearcoat thickness issues...just couldn`t take off enough to fix the marring (overdid it on the `93 Audi because I wasn`t using the ETG). Had *zero* trouble taking that much hard clear off, never even thought about needing to get out a rotary. It`s just SOOOO easy with a RO/DA these days.

Finishing off Rotary Work via PC/etc. can be trickier than one might think. That`s what I did for years, but seeing the holograms was very challenging, and sometimes those seemingly shallow things required a *LOT* of clearcoat removal for some reason. If somebody only leaves faint holograms, and has the right lighting/etc. to see them perfectly, then OK, no problem.

Hey, I first used a rotary (Milwaukee) back in the `70s. Still have my Makita and Metabo, though I never use them any more. And I do understand that some people 1) really like them and 2) really are *that good* with them. But to me a rotary is like a .357 snubnose- the people who oughta be running it already have theirs and don`t need any advice from anybody; the rest of the world oughta use something else.
 
Update: I just ordered GG15 kit from AG. Their current 15% promo made it an easier decision. I did a double take when I saw it since I had not seen their promos applicable to polishers in the past. This one applies to kits only and their basic kit was just $15 over the solo polisher anyway so I was going to order it regardless. It comes with a choice of 5 pads, some MFs, and a cleaner.

I thought about this decision for several days, then decided to buy the Adams SK15. Their lackluster pre-sales customer service left me feeling uneasy about the post-sales support, so I moved on to the Rupes 15ES. Went to order that from AG and saw the promo (which excludes Rupes BTW) so pulled the trigger on G15. Their quality, warranty and reputation give me a lot of confidence.

I will look into polishes later. For now, I will stick with my M105/205 until they run out. We currently have a late-model Silver Lining Metallic Lexus and Jet Black BMW (I can hear your groan from here!). Lexus has not needed polishing and JB BMW being as soft as it is, only needed M205 with a finishing pad for correction with a PC. That car is now being replaced by a 2018 BMW with `Silverstone Metallic` paint. But based on everyone`s feedback here, I am sure G15 will now be my polisher for life.

THANK YOU all for your help. Autopia has been my detailing home for 10+ years now and you guys are still just as helpful and knowledgeable as ever.
 
ManiZ- Glad you were able to make a better-informed decision. Hope you get a chance to post back about how it works out for you.
 
Absolutely, will post. AG shipped the G15 today and it will arrive by next Wednesday. The first order of business will be a full detail on my wife`s SUV. We bought it 2 years ago but it has not seen anything other than 3-4/year spray sealants (AW and UQW) along with regular ONRWW washes. I see that it needs a light polish now, so I have a very lengthy interior/exterior detail planned for it for next weekend which will be capped off with cQUK+Reload (my first attempt at a coating). Will post pics right after.

Accumulator, I should add that over the past several weeks, as I have been researching on how to tackle the first detail on my own upcoming new car, I have decided to go with FK1000p for the sealant, based largely on your testimonials over various threads (almost every Google result for it involves an Autopia thread with your input!). I am not interested in coating that car to begin with. When the car gets here in another 4-6 weeks, I will post before/after pics of that one too.
 
ManiZ--I think you will be very happy with the G15!!! And, you can use the PC with 3" pads for the tight areas. The supplied Griots spacing washer is very thin--if they haven`t provided two with the polisher call Griots Customer Service and request a second washer and use both from day one. You`ll be happy you did.
 
pwaug said:
ManiZ--I think you will be very happy with the G15!!! And, you can use the PC with 3" pads for the tight areas. The supplied Griots spacing washer is very thin--if they haven`t provided two with the polisher call Griots Customer Service and request a second washer and use both from day one. You`ll be happy you did.
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Good to know. I had no idea. Will check the washer.
 
ManiZ- While I`m confident in my recommendations, some folks do experience a bit of a learning curve with FK1000P. Should anything come up, don`t hesitate to ask about it. Also, I`d really appreciate feedback about how it lasts/protects for you.

Gee wonder how my, uhm...pontificating...comes across to Internet Searchers who aren`t regulars here?!? :o
 
Accumulator said:
ManiZ- While I`m confident in my recommendations, some folks do experience a bit of a learning curve with FK1000P. Should anything come up, don`t hesitate to ask about it. Also, I`d really appreciate feedback about how it lasts/protects for you.

Gee wonder how my, uhm...pontificating...comes across to Internet Searchers who aren`t regulars here?!? :o
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I`m sure it comes across as quite valuable from an accumulator of products and related knowledge :lol:

Regarding 1000p, I have read that most of its removal issues are related to surface prep. I intend to use it as the last step in a full detail, so it will be preceded by all wash/prep steps including IronX, clay, polish (if needed) and CP Eraser. I am not letting the dealer touch the paint before delivery so I am hoping it will be swirl-free but who knows...

I will also use it on the wheels.
 
ManiZ said:
..Regarding 1000p, I have read that most of its removal issues are related to surface prep..
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Actually....that`s never been a contributing factor IME.

As best I can tell, removal/buffing issues are (almost?) always related to applying it too thick.

I`ve never tried applying it to something nasty-oxidized or anything like that, but I have applied it to finishes that were far from Autopian and it buffed off easily (presumably because of my THIN applications).

The last however-many times I`ve used FK1000P, all I did was wash and dry the vehicle, then apply to the whole thing and then buff it off after it`s had plenty of time to flash/dry. No clay/prep/etc. at all. No problems at all either.
 
EdLancer said:
Some detailers don`t think the Griots machine is an upgrade and I would tend to agree with them. For that money you might as well get yourself a rotary to tackle the tougher corrections and use your PC to finish off.

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Now that I`ve used the GG6, I can agree. Also, it vibrates like crazy. Serious cutting for me employs microfiber pad system that requires 4800 opm. The PC is more than capable of that.
 
danlc95 said:
Now that I`ve used the GG6, I can agree. Also, it vibrates like crazy. Serious cutting for me employs microfiber pad system that requires 4800 opm. The PC is more than capable of that.
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Huh, see how experiences/perceptions differ?!?

I find the vibration of the GG6 to be sufficiently less that the PC as to enable extended use (which I simply cannot do with the PC). I find it`s cutting abilities infinitely superior (with MF cutting disks). Last time I had the PCs out I finally gave up on `em in frustration, and spent time swapping out backing plates on the GG6 because it was working so much better for me.

Not arguing at all, certainly not challenging your take on it. Just saying how !YMMV! certainly seems to apply here, far more than I ever would`ve expected.
 
Accumulator said:
Huh, see how experiences/perceptions differ?!?

I find the vibration of the GG6 to be sufficiently less that the PC as to enable extended use (which I simply cannot do with the PC). I find it`s cutting abilities infinitely superior (with MF cutting disks). Last time I had the PCs out I finally gave up on `em in frustration, and spent time swapping out backing plates on the GG6 because it was working so much better for me.

Not arguing at all, certainly not challenging your take on it. Just saying how !YMMV! certainly seems to apply here, far more than I ever would`ve expected.
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Yeah it is funny
I think the 3401 is a jackhammer cause it leaves sensations in my hands when done..and others say it`s smooth!

GG6 wasn`t bad to me
Still want to try it with the 3in HD plate
 
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