Hi All New to paint correction. Got a buddy who's teaching me (he's being doing it for 25 years) but he uses rotary polisher. I got a Porter Cable for my birthday a few weeks ago and used it to help my buddy polish and wax his daily driver SUV. I was surprised how little pressure was needed to stop it spinning - I know it's good to stop it I also got megs total swirl remover and finish for my birthday I have one car: a recently acquired, 3 year old (but only 15K miles) black BMW. It has a lot of swirls and some light scratches in clear coat and I want to start paint correction on it and then work hard at protection when it's all done. As i'm not a pro nor do I have a fleet of cars, i don't *need* the rupes for productivity. I've read that the rupes does give a better result for polishing. Not sure how true this is or the scale of the improvement over a PC. My goal is reduce the risk of damage the most and to get the highest quality finish possible. So, if it were you and you could afford it by tightening your belt for a few months, but don't have money to burn, would you buy the rupes and if so which one 15 or 21 and Mark I or Mark II. I understand you can now put a 5-inch pad on the 21. I'd plan to put a 3-inch plate on PC for tight areas if I bought the reupes TIA Mark
This is a question that's been asked a million times on every forum imagineable. The consensus seems to be you can get amazing results with a PC so a rupes is not a must for a weekend warrior. Having said that, rupes is a far superior machine in terms of finishing ability in less time, versatility, and vibration/arm fatigue. If you can afford it and truly love correcting paint then get it. I also suggest get a used one for a great deal. I would not get the 21. Stick with the 15 mark II ( more power on curves) and that will be all you need. If that's too expensive then get the mark I which is still excellent imho. Take it from me, I'm not a detailer but have all rupes machines. Good luck with your decision. Also try using the PC for a whole car and see how you like it and what your challenges are. It might just be sufficient for you.
thanks a lot for the reply. It's really hard to find a used one at a sensible price. The Mark I's are widely available still. General consensus is same as yours: give the pc an extensive try and if see if it really is worth the extra fro the Rupes Thanks again Mark
