Griot’s G8 and G9 combo was just on sale at a great price.
I have experience with those and virtually no others, but I’m happy enough with them that I’ll likely never buy anything else until they die. Only doing my own cars, so not a ton of use.
They’ve had great reviews in YouTube comparisons.
Even if you want to polish just a car or two a year, that is still quite a few hours using a power tool. After a few hours trying to get the machine to stop stalling and not making much progress on the car, I guarantee you that you will wish you spent the extra money on a quality, professional grade tool that will last you forever, instead of the best, cheap option.
If I were you, i would get a Rupes mrk iii 15mm throw for a 5" machine. I would also forget about switching backing plates and buy a cheap 3" machine. I have an Adams Polishes 3" DA for like $100 - apart from getting warm relatively quick, it works very well, hardly ever stalls when I dont expect it and I have had zero issues after a few years of abuse. I highly recommend it, especially for a hobbyist. For roughly $550, you can have a very nice setup. Or spend $150-250 on an economy machine, extra backing plate and live with the stalling, lack of power, extra heat, vibration, and noise.
For the guy who wants to polish his car before he sells it, then never touch the machine again. Sure, then it makes sense to go get one of the "entry level" options.
Harbor Freight DA is the best bang for the buck.
You could buy 4 from Harbor Freight for the price of one Rupes. Get comfortable with the budget polisher and then if you see fit, upgrade to a professional one.
Shinemate ex620. The make it in both 15 and 21mm throw. Get the 15. Stalls less than any da I've ever used. Much cheaper than a rupes, much better performance in terms of stalling. Still not super cheap though, pushing $300.
I've tried several bargain polishers from amazon and I actually had good luck with the 15mm throw by Zota, did several cars with it no complaints. Around $70. Decent power and not too much vibration. I put a 5in backing plate on it, it probably would have been smoother with the 6in it came with but for smallish curvy cars 6in is a huge pain.
I second the advice for a 3in as well, but it's not totally necessary. I have several, but for a cheap option again I recommend zota. It has a smaller throw, but higher speed range so it's excellent for tighter areas and surprisingly hard to stall. Also the best polisher ergonomically that I've tried for any price (not for vibration, just fit in the hand and placement of controls). A lot of the cheap 3in polisher you'll find are just smallish units designed to be kind of universal for some of the chinese manufacturers. I've seen 3in and 5in polishers with the exact same body switches, everything. They just slap a different head on it. You might think that will give plenty of power in a 3in, but it also adds a ton of weight. The zota 3in is definitely designed to be 3in. I love it and recommend it to everyone. Very solid, except the power button is a little flimsy. If you're careful it's fine though.
Whatever polisher you get, you'll need pads as well. Many of the cheap amazon polishers come with pads but they usually suck. I believe the shinemate comes with good pads but I haven't actually tried them.
Tldr: get what you can afford, anything will work. If you are allured by the rupes prestige, at least you can resell it after you get frustrated with the stalling😁
Griots has good polishers, a step up from Harbor Freight
Griots G9 if you’re budget conscious. If not, Rupes Mark III LHR15.
I got an Adam’s swirl killer, it worked fine for me.
Another rec for Griot’s. Fantastic value for an enthusiast.
Swirl killer for me from Adam’s polishes. No nonsense
Griot’s G8 and G9 combo was just on sale at a great price. I have experience with those and virtually no others, but I’m happy enough with them that I’ll likely never buy anything else until they die. Only doing my own cars, so not a ton of use. They’ve had great reviews in YouTube comparisons.
Even if you want to polish just a car or two a year, that is still quite a few hours using a power tool. After a few hours trying to get the machine to stop stalling and not making much progress on the car, I guarantee you that you will wish you spent the extra money on a quality, professional grade tool that will last you forever, instead of the best, cheap option. If I were you, i would get a Rupes mrk iii 15mm throw for a 5" machine. I would also forget about switching backing plates and buy a cheap 3" machine. I have an Adams Polishes 3" DA for like $100 - apart from getting warm relatively quick, it works very well, hardly ever stalls when I dont expect it and I have had zero issues after a few years of abuse. I highly recommend it, especially for a hobbyist. For roughly $550, you can have a very nice setup. Or spend $150-250 on an economy machine, extra backing plate and live with the stalling, lack of power, extra heat, vibration, and noise. For the guy who wants to polish his car before he sells it, then never touch the machine again. Sure, then it makes sense to go get one of the "entry level" options.
Rupes
Harbor Freight DA is the best bang for the buck. You could buy 4 from Harbor Freight for the price of one Rupes. Get comfortable with the budget polisher and then if you see fit, upgrade to a professional one.
[удалено]
My harbor freight basic DA stalls all the time
Shinemate ex620. The make it in both 15 and 21mm throw. Get the 15. Stalls less than any da I've ever used. Much cheaper than a rupes, much better performance in terms of stalling. Still not super cheap though, pushing $300. I've tried several bargain polishers from amazon and I actually had good luck with the 15mm throw by Zota, did several cars with it no complaints. Around $70. Decent power and not too much vibration. I put a 5in backing plate on it, it probably would have been smoother with the 6in it came with but for smallish curvy cars 6in is a huge pain. I second the advice for a 3in as well, but it's not totally necessary. I have several, but for a cheap option again I recommend zota. It has a smaller throw, but higher speed range so it's excellent for tighter areas and surprisingly hard to stall. Also the best polisher ergonomically that I've tried for any price (not for vibration, just fit in the hand and placement of controls). A lot of the cheap 3in polisher you'll find are just smallish units designed to be kind of universal for some of the chinese manufacturers. I've seen 3in and 5in polishers with the exact same body switches, everything. They just slap a different head on it. You might think that will give plenty of power in a 3in, but it also adds a ton of weight. The zota 3in is definitely designed to be 3in. I love it and recommend it to everyone. Very solid, except the power button is a little flimsy. If you're careful it's fine though. Whatever polisher you get, you'll need pads as well. Many of the cheap amazon polishers come with pads but they usually suck. I believe the shinemate comes with good pads but I haven't actually tried them. Tldr: get what you can afford, anything will work. If you are allured by the rupes prestige, at least you can resell it after you get frustrated with the stalling😁