MTI
08-18-2007, 06:02 PM
One of the results of channel surfing is that you eventually land on some infomercial that just hooks you. As a result, the Quixx Repair System, a paint scratch remover arrived in my mailbox.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Box.JPG
You may seen the commercial. Claiming that European car dealers love it, that it's TUV approved, and saves you hundreds of dollars compared to traditional scratch repairs.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Contents.JPG
The contents of the box are pretty simple. Two tubes of stuff (Polish and Finish), disposable polishing cloths, very fine (3000) grit wet sanding paper and instructions.
The instructions say to wash the area to clear it of dirt and grease. Then it cautions you to read the instructions carefully and to test the product on a small concealed area first.
The "test bed" for this miracle product was a trunk lid with a couple of key scratches. A short one to the right of the center star and a very long one further right of the small one. Both are deep scratches to the clear coat, down to the color coat, but without exposing any undercoat/primer.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_2.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_4.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_5.JPG
To test the product, half the length of the scratch was masked with painters tape to check the "before" and "after."
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_7.JPG
For minor scratches, the instructions say to just use the Finish tube, which is basically a wax finishing paste. The scratches seemed to be more than just "minor" so I decided to do the "Normal Scratch" procedure.
For Normal Scratch, the polish is applied for 1 - 2 minutes with a clean cloth in a circular motion with pressure.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_1.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_2.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_3.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_5.JPG
After multiple applications for about ten minutes of rubbing, it was time to check the results.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_6.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_7.JPG
RESULT: Clearly better, but not disappeared.
The next level of repair is for "Deep Scratches" and involves wet sanding with the 3000 grit and repeating the procedure above. The instructions caution to use "little" pressure and to not expose the primer.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_8.JPG
After repeating the Polish and Finish steps, time again to check the results.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_1.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_2.JPG
From another angle
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_3.JPG
RESULT: Better than before, but as you can see, nothing really "disappears" and you don't get a showroom finish.
CONCLUSION: The promise of a like new finish is far fetched and you're not likely to achieve it with the amount of product that they provide in the kit. However, it does improve the appearance of light to moderate scratches quite a bit. From my observation, most of the improvement comes from cleaning the scratched area and polishing it.
Is it worth $15? It's a toss up. The result is probably what you can achieve with some cleaner, compound and polish for less money (you'll get a lot more product for your money.) I can't say that it's a total fraud or rip-off, since there is a more than noticeable improvement in the finish, however the claims in the commercial are questionable.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Box.JPG
You may seen the commercial. Claiming that European car dealers love it, that it's TUV approved, and saves you hundreds of dollars compared to traditional scratch repairs.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Contents.JPG
The contents of the box are pretty simple. Two tubes of stuff (Polish and Finish), disposable polishing cloths, very fine (3000) grit wet sanding paper and instructions.
The instructions say to wash the area to clear it of dirt and grease. Then it cautions you to read the instructions carefully and to test the product on a small concealed area first.
The "test bed" for this miracle product was a trunk lid with a couple of key scratches. A short one to the right of the center star and a very long one further right of the small one. Both are deep scratches to the clear coat, down to the color coat, but without exposing any undercoat/primer.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_2.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_4.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_5.JPG
To test the product, half the length of the scratch was masked with painters tape to check the "before" and "after."
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Before_7.JPG
For minor scratches, the instructions say to just use the Finish tube, which is basically a wax finishing paste. The scratches seemed to be more than just "minor" so I decided to do the "Normal Scratch" procedure.
For Normal Scratch, the polish is applied for 1 - 2 minutes with a clean cloth in a circular motion with pressure.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_1.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_2.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_3.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_5.JPG
After multiple applications for about ten minutes of rubbing, it was time to check the results.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_6.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_7.JPG
RESULT: Clearly better, but not disappeared.
The next level of repair is for "Deep Scratches" and involves wet sanding with the 3000 grit and repeating the procedure above. The instructions caution to use "little" pressure and to not expose the primer.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Test_8.JPG
After repeating the Polish and Finish steps, time again to check the results.
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_1.JPG
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_2.JPG
From another angle
http://community.190revolution.net/gallery/data/516/medium/Result_3.JPG
RESULT: Better than before, but as you can see, nothing really "disappears" and you don't get a showroom finish.
CONCLUSION: The promise of a like new finish is far fetched and you're not likely to achieve it with the amount of product that they provide in the kit. However, it does improve the appearance of light to moderate scratches quite a bit. From my observation, most of the improvement comes from cleaning the scratched area and polishing it.
Is it worth $15? It's a toss up. The result is probably what you can achieve with some cleaner, compound and polish for less money (you'll get a lot more product for your money.) I can't say that it's a total fraud or rip-off, since there is a more than noticeable improvement in the finish, however the claims in the commercial are questionable.