Mother of all Mother detailing threads...

For ease of use I really like to recommend the Chemical Guys Black Light. It's a great product. Apply by hand with a blue pad or a wax pad. Do the whole car and by the time you're done applying it should be dry in the first places you applied it and you can then start buffing it off with a nice MF towel.

But yes, find out what type of buffer your friend wants to sell you. Dual action orbitals are very safe to get started with. They don't have enough power to damage your paint and if you press too hard the clutch stops the spinning action. Not only is it safe, but it lets you develop a feel for how hard to press down. They also generally don't leave holograms and if you have badly hologrammed paint a DA buffer is used to remove and clean them up.

For $125-150 you can pick up a brand new buffer. Either the Porter Cable XP7424 or the Griots Garage Random Orbital.

Check out the major detailing websites for reviews and write ups on both. You may want to consider a whole "kit" that includes some pads. I have found it better to just buy the buffer and the pads you need. Many of the kits come with 1 pad of several colors when you really need 3-4 pads in 2 colors only.

www.detailedimage.com

http://www.autogeek.net

Both of those are pretty reliable sites and they run sales all the time.

I am only a hobbyist detailer. However, @ClearCutSi is a pro. Hopefully he can chime in too. I'm sure he has some good recommendations.



EDIT: Ok so VigLink isn't letting those links go to the right place. Type the addresses in.
 
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Thanks all you guys are a big help. I think I'll be buying a porter cable as I've found one for 120 on Amazon. Then I'll purchase a pad kit and do this right the first time.

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If this link works....

http://www.autogeek.net/lake-country-beveled-pad-kit.html



Autogeek has pad sets available and you can specify the color. I would get a 6-pack of the regular lake country flat pads. 3 white and 3 orange to start. You will probably have to clean and re-use at least a couple of pads to get the whole car done. Swapping to a new pad should let the old one cool off plenty in between. I tend to use 4-5 pads for an entire Civic. If you wanted to get a 12 pack of pads I would get 6 white, 3 orange, and 3 blue or black.

flat pads page:

http://www.autogeek.net/lake-country-flat-pads.html
 
I probably would like a 12 pack. Thanks for commenting on that cause I wasn't sure if I would need more pads to use. Do you still think I can get away with just a one step polish on the M205? After that I have a sealant but I don't think it has any cut.

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if you need more cutting than the 205 provides, you can also try ultimate compound. I've done an entire car with ultimate compound before and the results were fantastic. It's derived from m105 but less abrasive. It's like between the 105 and 205. I'm sure your paint is nothing like this car in the video below, and look at the results with ultimate compound.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po39KcVjbLQ
 
SMATaggressivenessOrder.jpg
 
So maybe the ultimate before the 205. Thanks again guys

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After taking a closer look now that the sun is out, the cars paint is in excellent shape. Very little marring or swirls. I think I can get away with a one step polish. Thanks all
e819b80f3b1b192cf2b13381786f2f16.jpg


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