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May 14, 2024

Best Car Buffers for 2023, Tested

Our car experts choose every product we feature. We may earn money from the links on this page. A 30-year-old junkyard hood found a new lease on life with these five car buffers. The quest for a

Our car experts choose every product we feature. We may earn money from the links on this page.

A 30-year-old junkyard hood found a new lease on life with these five car buffers.

The quest for a pristine, showroom-worthy finish is a never-ending journey for any respectable car enthusiast. One tool that can help achieve that enviable shine is a car buffer, which simplifies the process of polishing and waxing your vehicle's paintwork. By removing light scratches, swirl marks, and other imperfections, car buffers breathe new life into your car's exterior, giving it a glossy, mirror-like appearance that's sure to turn heads.

For this test, we've narrowed our focus to dual-action buffers, as they're ideal for both beginners and experienced users. (While powerful and efficient, rotary polishing wheels require a higher skill level to use safely and effectively, making them more suitable for professional detailers.) We'll take you through the features, benefits, and limitations of each buffer we tested and discuss other factors to consider when selecting the best car buffer to help you achieve that showroom shine.

Does your vehicle have angular features with scoops and hoods? If so, you might want to consider a polisher with a smaller pad size to get into the dips and crevices. Alternatively, if you're polishing your toy hauler or other extensive bodywork, you might want to consider a larger polishing pad for covering vast, flat surfaces. Take stock of the finer details your vehicle displays and shop accordingly.

No matter what way you cut it, you're gonna need pads with your polisher. Some buffers come in a starter package, with a few pads as part of the selection of accessories. Others will arrive as just the buffer itself. Make sure to confirm whether the car buffer you want to purchase provides pads. If not, you will need to order some additional products. For more information, read our article on How to Choose Buffing Pads.

Are you polishing your car near a power source? If so, you can get away with a corded option. Or perhaps you're marooned way back in the shed with no power, in which case you may want to consider a portable battery-powered option. (Bonus? No tripping over cords!)

There are two main types of buffers you can buy. Dual-action (DA) polishers combine rotary and orbital motions into one forced action. They're designed to mimic the hand movement of manual polishing, by rotating the pad on a spindle in an eccentric motion—similar to how the Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. Light work can be done with these, including waxing and gentle polishing, but they won't perform major paint corrections. Larger orbital and random orbital buffers operate similarly but generally don't rotate as quickly. Dual-action and orbital buffers are considered the driveway warrior's tool of choice since even a novice can quickly master these tools.

On the other hand, high-speed rotary polishing wheels are a professional tool and come with a huge learning curve. For clarity, these are not the tools we tested, and we strongly recommend against using them unless you have extensive experience. As Mike Pennington, director of global training at Meguiar's, says, "I can spend a few hours training someone on a DA (dual-action) buffer and happily let them polish my car. But after a few hours training someone on a rotary polisher, I wouldn't let them go home and polish their own car." Therefore, we recommend starting with either an orbital or dual-action polisher.

Our testing process involved an unsuspecting junkyard hood and a team determined to breathe new life into its paint job. After pulling, preparing, and partitioning the hood, we put each buffer to the test on its own section. Using Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, we ran each buffer for five minutes, evaluating its comfort and decibel reading. Afterward, we evaluated the units on other parameters for a complete overview.

Here are the parameters we tested:

We compiled our notes to decide which buffers are best for specific-use cases, narrowing down our top picks. Here are the best car buffers, as determined by the Hearst Autos Gear Team.

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Adam's Swirl Killer is robust but also comfortable and ergonomic. When running the 9mm Swirl Killer on our car hood—it also comes in 12-, 15-, and 21-inch versions—the concave rubber handhold did an excellent job of reducing vibrations. Besides the vibration reduction, the rubber sleeves and handholds protected the Swirl Killer during our drop test.

Adam's Swirl Killer comes with a five-inch backing pad and is compatible with any five-inch hook-and-loop pad or bonnet. But, whew! Was that sticky fabric STRONG! Prying these pads off the backing plate was like pulling gum from beneath a school desk—not impossible, but not easy. That is not a negative in our eyes.

Because of these excellent features, we placed the Adam's Polishes Swirl Killer right at the top of our best car buffers list.

Ergonomic and powerful, Adam's Swirl Killer vanquished its swirly enemies with ease.

If you're looking for a versatile heavy-duty buffer, the Chemical Guys TORQX has you covered. Though powerful, the TORQX unit is quite dense, weighing in at 8.6 pounds. During the hood challenge, we experienced some slight fatigue in the left arm, but that's to be expected when holding a buffer going 4200 opm.

While Chemical Guys suggests using their proprietary Hex-Logic pads, the unit utilizes hook-and-loop backing, leaving you with compatibility for many other pads of your choosing. Additionally, the unit has an interchangeable backing plate, making the TORQX adaptable for both large surface areas and smaller contours. The backing plates are sold separately, however.

If you're looking for a product that can adapt the way a professional needs to, the Chemical Guys TORQX is the unit for you.

Shine on, you crazy diamond! The TORQX—while quite vibrate-y—did an excellent job at cleaning up our junker.

Despite its compact size and lesser-known brand identity, the cordless Batoca is a compelling car buffer capable of up to 5000 opm. In addition, it's lightweight, ergonomic, and battery-powered.

The Batoca unit has everything you need to get started: four foam pads, two synthetic wool pads, various bonnets, microfiber cloths, a carrier bag, and an apron. In addition, the package offers two batteries to keep buffing even when the juice runs dry. Even with the two battery units, we were delighted to discover the battery test ran over three and a half hours. This colorful, compact unit reminded us of our kindergarten teacher—small yet mighty, practical, and with endless hours of energy.

The compact Batoca foam pad and Meguiar's Cleaner Wax cleaned our junkyard example with ease.

The Avid Power Buffer is an excellent choice for those on a budget. The buffer comes with three pads for heavy, medium, and light cutting. This corded buffer is louder than most, ringing in at 91 decibels, but is sturdy enough to remain undamaged after our drop test.

We did find that the grip points on the body of the tool were not the most comfortable way to hold a polisher while under load, noting some discomfort during the five-minute hood test. Eliminating comfort from the equation, we think this is an excellent choice for starters. For a low cost, you're getting a powerful car buffer with three pads.

Nothing but shine. Avid Power is an excellent dual-action starter package.

Larger surfaces will be a breeze with the cordless Worx WX856L. The powerful 10-inch, battery-operated orbital buffer might not be the best fit for a car with intricate peaks and valleys, but if you're looking to buff that trailer, boat, or toy hauler, this is the unit for you.

We particularly loved the versatility of the handle. The single handhold at the top is perfect for horizontal surfaces, and the large steering-wheel handle would absolutely come in handy on tall vertical surfaces, such as on motorhomes. One quibble with the Worx unit was that the bonnets provided seemed just a smidge too small and fit a bit too snug, like those jeans you wore in your 20s but keep around just in case.

Small bonnets aside, everything else about this unit is large and powerful, making it the perfect fit for those looking to spruce up their trailer for the summer. Better still, buy it direct from Worx and you'll get a three-year limited warranty.

Worx's large surface had no issue covering our testing area many times over during our five-minute buff test. Check out that luster!

Under the tape are remnants of the pre-polished grime that these buffers so efficiently eliminated.

First, wash your vehicle thoroughly and rinse. Next, you'll want to use a clay bar to remove environmental contaminants such as brake dust, sap, and water spots. Clay bars require lubricant, so be sure to have a quick-detailing product on hand to spray while you clay-bar your car.

Then, working one small section at a time, spray and rub the clay bar over the area, regularly folding the clay bar over to trap the lifted contaminants into the folds. This step is crucial. If you don't clay-bar your vehicle, you run the risk of buffing those contaminants INTO your paint.

Polishing your car is a dance between the tool and the user, and technique is essential to master. With a dual-action polisher, a novice can get this down quite quickly—but it takes practice and a gentle-but-firm touch.

Treating deep scratches in your car’s finish with medium- to heavy-duty polishing compounds works best with a high-speed polishing wheel and should be left to experienced technicians. But ultrafine finishing polishes can be used with a dual-action buffer to remove light scratches.

To start, put a small amount of product onto a moistened pad, start the machine, and begin polishing in an overlapping zigzag pattern, keeping the pad even against the paint surface. Slowly work a small section at a time, experimenting with gentle to moderate pressure. Reapply the product as needed and remove excess polish with a clean microfiber cloth. The process is the same for applying a thin haze of car wax afterward, but you don’t need to put as much pressure on the machine while you work.

Here at the Gear Team HQ, we're hurtin' for cars that need a shine. So rather than tidying up an already-stellar paint job with one of Car and Driver's brand-new review/demo models, we opted for the "wow!" factor and pulled a trashed hood off a junked '90s Chevy Caprice we found at Regal U-Pull It in Howell, Michigan.

We prepared the hood by washing and clay-barring its surface to remove contaminants. We then partitioned the hood into six squares using painter's blue tape, one for each buffer and one as a control square, to gauge our buff jobs against the hood's original dingy appearance. We designed this test to evaluate the comfort and effectiveness of each buffer using Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, recommended to us by our staff detailing czar, Mike Sutton.

During the hood challenge, we took detailed notes on the comfort and security of each buffer's handholds, any fatigue we felt, and its ease of use. Additionally, we used our decibel reader from a two-foot distance, recording the average decibel output of the unit over 15 seconds. Afterward, we visually inspected the results and took after shots.

For durability, tester Collin Morgan dropped each running car buffer from chest height, recording any damage. We also tested each buffer's safety features by pressing down on a scale to gauge pressure, recording if each unit had a fail-safe and, if so, what weight threshold activated it.

Lastly, we ran the two battery-powered units we tested through a battery-life test. Turning each unit to its lowest setting, we let them run, thinking it would be a short while. Instead, testers Collin Morgan and Gannon Burgett drove home and had dinner, all with dancing buffers in tow, eventually taking note of their time of death. The battery life of each is noted above in its spec sheet.

It is important to note that the final result you achieve from any car buffer or polisher is influenced by many factors: the buffer's properties (motor, power, etc.), the user's pressure and technique, the pad quality and durability, and the type of buffing agent used.

A car buffer is a power tool (either plug-in or battery-powered) that applies polishing compounds or wax to a vehicle's paint surface. It helps remove light scratches, swirl marks, and other imperfections, resulting in a glossy, mirrorlike finish.

There are two main types: dual-action buffers and rotary polishing wheels. Dual-action buffers spin and oscillate in random patterns, while rotary polishing tools spin at a constant speed. We recommend going with a dual-action buffer, as the polishing pattern reduces the risk of damaging the paint if you accidentally press down too hard or hold the buffer in one spot for too long. We stuck to dual-action and orbital buffers for this test, considering they're the more beginner-friendly tools.

Consider your experience level, budget, and desired results. We recommend using a dual-action buffer for everything unless you have a ton of professional experience. Dual-action buffers are beginner-friendly and have a lower risk of paint damage, making them the ideal option for most consumers.

Speed settings vary depending on the type of buffer, pad, and compound used. For dual-action buffers, a range of 2000–6000 opm (oscillations per minute) is common for most applications.

Car buffer pads are typically made of foam, microfiber, or wool. Foam pads come in various levels of aggressiveness, from cutting to polishing and finishing. Microfiber pads are versatile and can be used for cutting, polishing, and finishing, while wool pads are generally more aggressive and used for heavy cutting and compounding. Read our complete guide to car buffer pads if you're interested in learning more.

Hearst Autos combines the talent, resources, and expertise of three of the largest, most influential automotive publications in the world. The Gear Team has tested a wide variety of automotive products, parts, accessories, and gear, such as GPS trackers for cars, car ramps, and mechanics creepers. We get our hands on each and every product we test. Most are purchased; some are supplied by manufacturers.

Hearst Autos doesn't need to game algorithms for traffic or promote lousy products to earn a buck. We're more concerned with our legacy, our reputation, and the trust that our readers have in Autoweek, Car and Driver, and Road & Track to deliver honest opinions and expert evaluations.

Visit our Tested & Trusted page to see the very best in automotive gear. Read more about our product testing and evaluation process here.

Katherine Keeler is an Assistant Testing Editor at Hearst Autos. By day she evaluates tools for your enjoyment; by night, she Frankenstein’s her ever changing fleet of rust-bucket-oddities back to repair. Her dream is to open a roadside attraction where the public can view, drive, and learn repairs at her emporium of curious cars.

Gannon Burgett loves cameras, cars, and coffee: a perfect combination for his Hearst Autos work. His byline has appeared in USA Today, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, the Detroit Free Press, and more.

Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver's reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.

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