FLEX PE14-2-150 vs Metabo

Hey All,

I dont usually do reviews or comparisons but as I was looking for some insights on the FLEX Rotary I was lost in the dark. I'd like to shed some more light which hopefully helps people decide on if the Flex is for them or worth the upgrade.

First off, I have owned the Metabo (which actually was Phil's) for a couple of years now. I have detailed countless amounts of cars and done heavy correction for days after days and rarely had an overheating issue. The reason I purchased the Flex was I was working on a customers car (30th day detailing in a row, had a wonderful September) and I had issues with it crapping out and the switch not turning on. While I got it fixed I was going to pick up something from HD or Lowes, but overnighted the Flex from Amazon (thanks to PRIME) and really took a shot in the dark in using it.

When It arrived I noticed right away that it was extremely light. The metabo was known to be a light machine but this feels even lighter. It is DEFINITELY quieter, I was able to talk to my niece and have music on in the background while polishing on 2-3 which is almost impossible on the Metabo. Here are a few comparisons

Weight:
Flex is noticeably lighter, and balanced, I am not known to polish WITHOUT the handle, in fact it scared me to dry it without it because of the glaring red button on my Metabo. The Flex has a bit of a wedge underneath on its rubbery top which makes it ergonomically correct. I cant tell if its LOGNER but the feel of the FLEX is perfect and the weight distribution is very nice. With that being said I have never put on the side handle after trying it once.

with that being said, its great for 1 hand polishing when burnishing the polish and reaching over the roof of cars. I cant do that with my metabo its so heavy that it be too scary to accidentally skip and F something up.

Noise:
Flex hands down is quiet, i almost foudn myself jacking up the RPMS because i wasnt sure if it was cutting or spinning fast enough.

Strength:
With the metabo I found myself finding a good feel of when I needed more pressure on working on a certain panel but it would bog a lilttle, not too much, but enough to be noticable. With the FLEX you can seamlessly add more pressure when needed and it wont interrupt your flow.

Heat:
My metabo was always hot to touch, the heatsink in the middle woudl always burn the crap out of me when i wanted to lay down my polisher on my lap or if i wanted to pick it up in that area. FLEX stays cool to touch even over many hours of polishing. (thank the vents for that)

Operation:
I was so dumb to even notice that their was a SWITCH to keep the polisher ON on the FLEX. My metabo is on and on only, althought it has a nice "slow" start up to ready your position. I enjoyed the Trigger so much on the Flex that I never bothered looking for an "ON" switch until about 4 hours of polishing. i said to myself "GOD this thing is great for feathering, but my grip is getting tired" low and behold theres a little BLACK button right next to the trigger to keep the polisher on...Silly me...hahaha

With that being said. I have small hands and its hard for me to get it to STICK/CLick in right away although when engaged it works like a charm. The feather option/trigger is something I wish i had on my metabo 6 years ago.

I have had no overheating on my FLEX and the only overheating I had on my Metabo would be about 1% of the time of usage in its lifetime. (I live in So. Cal if that makes a difference)

Summary.
I was skeptical when purchasing the FLEX because I was tried and trued on my Metabo and almost purchased another, but the technology of the Flex is 2010 and the Metabo is proabbly pre-2005. So I wanted to invest in something that was worth my money. I didnt want a dewalt or makita, it would have been to drastic of a change since I was always trained on my 7lb polisher.

The FLEX is my go to machine and It will be until it takes a crap. I dont see that happening soon.

After getting my Metabo fixed I thought maybe the coils were jacked up or the brushes were burnt. It turns out wear and tear on the cord. THe mechanic said the polsiher is in PERFECT condition and the cord just needed to changed out ( probably from me laying it on weird funky positions overtime)

How that affects me is that I probably will keep it as back up/trophy. I polished my very first paint correction with it and it lasted me for 5 some years or so. The mechanic said Metabo makes really good quality products so its something worth saving.

Thoughts:
If you have a Metabo, keep it, it works...dont fix it if it aint broke.
if you have a heavier polisher and want to go lightweight. I cant say that the Flex is better, but its lighter and overtime I would think that anything lighter would be easier on the body and make the detailer more efficient.
If the metabo and Flex were the same price I would pick the FLEX based on my detailing experience. Quality of parts will be determined overtime.

If you ahve any questions that I have missed and points that you would like clarified, feel free to ask. Hope this helps.

-Neil:bla::bla:

 

Nice review thanks for sharing

 

btw, for those who are PC/Flex users and want to try to rotary world, I believe the Metabo "was" the best to practice and learn on because it was so lightweight....now in 2011, The Flex would be my choice if I were to recommend anyone who wanted to jump into the Rotary world. I have a friend who just purchased his PC and I Let him try out my Flex on his own car using the KB method and he said he would find paint correction more appealing due to the least amount of vibration...I said "duh" lol

just another one of my 2 cents

 

Thanks for the comparison. This info will really help people when the time come to purchase a new machine,