Griots Garage- Wow.

[The Tony Show]

I've tried every miracle product on the market to get my Black Raven CTS-V looking good. Nano Wax, Zaino, you name it.....The swirl marks and towel scratches were so bad (especially up front from the repeated cleaning of Florida love bugs) that it made me sick to look at my car in the sun.

About 3 months ago, I made the mistake of having a "professional" detail and polish the car. It looked good for a little while, but as the wax started to wear off I realized that he'd chopped the finish up pretty good with a Rotary buffer- swirl marks everywhere!

Anyway, the point is: A friend recommended Richard Griot's Professional Random Orbital kit and I decided to go for it. I know I sound like a bad infomercial here, but the results are phenomenal. The kit includes varying degrees of polish for light swirl marks to deeper towel scratches, special foam applicator pads for the buffer, microfiber cloths, clay, speed shine, "Best in Show" wax......everything I needed.

Here's what my hood looked like after stripping off all the old wax:



Mmmm....nice, huh? I couldn't get the swirl marks to photograph, but the car looked like a hologram. Here's the same spot on the hood about 15 minutes ago after I finished:



It wasn't hard at all, but definitely time consuming. I stripped the wax and clayed the car last night, then polished and waxed it today. Probably about a 6 hour job with plenty of smoke breaks. The important part is- the scratches and swirls are GONE. Not hidden, but gone.

Bottom line: This guys stuff is the real deal. The customer service was awesome (the sales rep even knew what a CTS-V was!), the product is superb, and best of all? It's idiot proof.

I just wanted to share here what a killer product these people sell. No one freak out and accuse me of spamming, as I have nothing to do with the company.

Check them out: www.griotsgarage.com





Dude: Where's my swirl marks??

[turbomangt]

This is the main reason some dealships hire me to come in and train their staff, because too many people don't know hoiw to detail properly. The first thing I challenge the crew is to detail a car without a high speed. The is how a finish can get swirled to death (like Tony said) the DA buffers are the key to get a swirl free finish, and something that almost anyone can do themselves. My DVD has all the info you need to detail like a pro. Gary

[dp102288]

Nice depth in your car man! Very good job.

[codewize]

Tony Orlando; have you tried any of Gary's products?

[The Tony Show]

Nope. My previous attempts were Eagle One Nano wax, Turtle Wax premium and Zaino. The bottom line was that without removing the scratches and swirls, no wax was going to give me a uniform finish, nor was the color going to look deep due to the light refraction in the scratches. Griot's system allowed me to safely cut the clear down just enough to get it baby smooth again, and their silicone free wax took it to a level of Black I've never seen.

[Superior Detailing]

Griots got some good stuff if you want to spend that kind of money. Cheaper products have provided either better or equal results for me though.

[Elvis]

Griot's has been my primary supplier for the past four or five years. It's a great catalog.

My only question is, how do you pronounce it?

gree-OTT?

or

gree-OH?

Just curious.

[dp102288]

I said it like a wine...gree-oh.

[The Tony Show]

Yep, it's "Gree-oh". The kit came with a cool instructional DVD where Richard demonstrates the technique on his car, and he introduces himself at the beginning.

[turbomangt]

I will challenge anyone to try any of my products and see if they go back to what they were using before. My best customers are brand X users. since I do this for a living, I test every product before it goes to my web site, and I stick with the basics no frills no waste. just stuff essential to detailing, on the other hand I also tell people if you are satisfied with what you are using and what you are paying, who am I to tell you to switch. I try to offer better solutions for people, that's why part of my business is education. Gary

[Gearheaad43]

The number one cuase of swirl marks is not changing the pads often.
You're letting the excess build up on the pad, which puts it back on the car's paint in the form of swirl marks. Switch to a clean towel, buff pad as much as possible. What I do to keep from having to use 1000 buff pads per car is I use a towel to lightly take off the excess haze BEFORE I buff to a shine... This is applicable to polish and wax residue.

I do not use excess pressure either... This causes spider webbing / scratches

[bicentennialcadillac]

I've been using Griot's stuff for a dozen years. Still extremely satisfied ...