Will 2010 Be Meguiar’s Best Year Ever?

Let's face it, last decade wasn't the best in Meguiar's history. A series of events and strategic mistakes put the number one name in car detailing products nose to nose with near disaster.

Starting with a risky succession financing deal with the Shansby Group in 2003, a move Barry Meguiar railroaded through in order to buy out the remaining family members, the company made cuts and ventured into new areas with wild abandon.

One of those new ventures was entertainment media in the form of "Car Crazy Television," which airs weekly on the SPEED Channel national cable network, and "Car Crazy Radio," which was syndicated nationally as part of Car & Driver Radio. While Car Crazy Television was a great success, the Car Crazy Central website designed to bring car crazy enthusiasts together was a dismal failure.

Originally conceived as as the "MySpace for Car Enthusiasts", most weeks Car Crazy Central is hard pressed to get 20 new members. For this effort, Barry diverted some of his best and brightest resources, while in the back room, something better and brighter -- only not of Barry's making -- was cooking. The Meguiar's Online forum, created as a grassroots effort by me in my garage, emerged as a sleeper asset. All of this was followed by a string of over-hyped and under performing products, bad product investments, and poor quality craftsmanship on Meguiar's entry into the consumer polisher market. The decade rounded out with Barry Meguiar unable to repay the succession financing on his own, and brokering a deal with 3M to purchase Meguiar's, Inc.

Now fast forward to the present day and look at Meguiar's again. Possibly a little worse for the wear, but now lean[er], and finally offering a product set that any company in the industry would have a tough time matching. Let's walk through a few of my favorites.

Meguiar's 2010 Winning Product Lineup

DUAL-ACTION CAR POLISHER

While the first generation Meguiar's G110 Dual-Action Car Polisher was a near brush with disaster (high failure rate and bad vibration), the Meguiar's G110v2 (Version 2) Dual-Action Car Polisher is an excellent contender in a crowded field. Meguiar's not only fixed the reliability issue, they improved the design to make servicing the electrical brushes (the wear point) fast and easy. The new Meguiar's car polisher receives high marks for design and performance, with patented features that offer Meguiar's unique advantages.

The list price on the Meguiar's G110v2 is $179.99, but it is commonly discounted by retailers as much as $20, and Amazon frequently has it on sale for $149.99 (see Meguiar's G110v2 Professional Dual Action Polisher). The nearest competitor to this car polisher is the second generation dual-action car polisher from Porter Cable, the 7424XP. In terms of kitted features, the Meguiar's G110v2 wins, hands down.

While you may be tempted to use the latest foam polishing pads from Meguiar's, called Softbuff 2.0, don't. Meguiar's Softbuff 2.0 pads are a 7" diameter pad that are ideally suited for use with a rotary buffer (high speed polisher), not a dual-action machine. Instead, use the original 6" Meguiar's Softbuff Pads.

PRO CAR POLISHES IN CONSUMER BOTTLES

After years of watching their enthusiastic consumers purchasing the Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Professional polishes, someone at Meguiar's finally wised up and decided to put their best polishes in a consumer bottle. Frankly, I couldn't be happier. Meguiar's latest Mirror Glaze polishes, including M105 (No. 105) and M205 (No. 205) are cutting edge products that work with both high speed rotary polishers and the G110v2 dual-action car polisher.

In the consumer line, the Mirror Glaze products translate to Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (equivalent to Mirror Glaze No. 105) and Meguiar's SwirlX (equivalent to Mirror Glaze No. 105). What I love most about this move is the convenience of a smaller bottle (15 oz.) and the price. Here's where you can see consumer volume pricing in action. A 32 oz. bottle of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze No. 105 (M10532) has a list price of $33.99 and is commonly discounted to $20.99. However, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound has a list price of $9.00 and ships directly from Amazon for $5.99 (see Meguiar's G17216 Ultimate Compound).  That price blows away anything the competition has at 3-4 times the price. Meguiar's SwirlX is similarly priced at just $6.99 (see Meguiar's G17616 SwirlX).

What I like about Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and SwirlX is that anyone can use them and get professional result.  They are that easy to use.  Plus, when used with the Meguiar's G110v2 Car Polisher, the average "car guy" can use this pair of car polishes to restore a neglected paint finish in 3-4 hours, or polish his garage queen to sparkle like a jewel.  The polishes use micro abrasives, not the old-fashioned, diminishing abrasives Meguiar's used in previous generations of polishes.

SUPERIOR PAINT SEALANT FORMULA

Just three short years ago, Meguiar's was still scratching its head wondering why the car detailing enthusiast community wouldn't embrace its paint sealant products, including Mirror Glaze No. 20 and NXT Generation Tech Wax.  The NXT Tech Wax product in particular had a penchant for dazzling users with an amazing shine, only to leave them in bewilderment when it was gone with the first wash.  I guess the Meguiar's chemists went back to the lab (or more likely, were locked in!) and figured it out, because the latest generation of products is fantastic.

If you think I'm going to tout the Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax 2.0 product here, you're wrong.  Vastly improved it is, but the winner in my book is Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Synthetic Sealant 2.0, also known as No. 21 (#21).  For the very first time, Meguiar's has a paint sealant (synthetic wax) that will hold its own with the best in the industry.  It offers easy application, a fantastic shine, slick finish and excellent durability.

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Synthetic Sealant 2.0 can be applied by hand, but it's infinitely better when you apply it with using the Meguiar's G110v2 and the soft, foam finishing pad.  Applied by machine it goes on thinner and gets worked in better.  The thinner the coat the faster the product cross-links and bonds with the paint finish.  It's also faster and easier to buff off.

THE ULTIMATE DETAIL SPRAY

After you have polished and waxed your car to perfection, what do you maintain it with?  What else, Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer!

Quite possibly we should have expected it from the company that invented the detail spray product category.  Their original product was called "Trigger Wash", a name that failed miserably (still scratching my head as to why Mothers adopted the name...), but that didn't stop Meguiar's.  With a quick -- or should I say "quik" -- name change, they were on their way, and the face of car care has not been the same since.

To say that Meguiar's Ultimate Detail Spray is a good product would be a kick in the teeth for Meguiar's.  This is a great product.  Making it even better is the price.  While the snooty detail sprays are commonly selling for $1 or more per ounce, Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer is competitively priced around $10 for a 22 oz. bottle (see Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer).

What does this product compare to?  Franky, the only product out there that stands toe-to-toe with Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer is Zaino Z-18 Grand Fanale Spray Seal, which is positioned as a "spray sealant", not a quick detailer.  At well more than double the price, the Zaino Z-18 product has nothing on Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer.  Both great products, but Meguiar's turns Zaino every which way but loose in the price department and leaves nothing behind in performance.

What makes Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer such an awesome product?  Forget all of the technical marketing mumbo-jumbo, this product wipes away light dust, finger prints, water spots, etc., and leaves behind shine and protection.  It's pretty common to read that a spray detailer "...leaves your car looking like it was just waxed", and this one goes beyond that.  Your car's finish will also be super slick and you will see the protection each time you wash with tall, super-tight water beads.

Wrapping up, I've offered just a few of the fine products Meguiar's has in their lineup this year. In blog posts to come, I will talk about new products in the professional line, such as their new spot pads and 3" sanding/polishing products, and give my opinion on Meguiar's new consumer line packaging.