Are you caring for your car’s paintwork correctly? You probably wash your car regularly, but do you buff out fine scratch marks and seal your paint from the weather with a coat of polish? Maintaining your paintwork is particularly important if you’re preparing for a car valuation, as it’s the first thing a buyer will notice when they come to view it.
Dull paintwork leaves an opportunity for the other party to haggle, which means you might get less money from the sale than you hoped for. But fret not, because there’s an easy solution. Simply buy a good car polishing kit and set aside an afternoon’s worth of elbow grease.
We’ve scoured the market to find the best car polishing kits on sale. Our round-up includes a range of value-driven bundle packages that contain polishing compounds, protective waxes, applicator pads and buffing towels. Not only will these kits save you money over buying the items individually, you also won’t waste any time visiting half a dozen shops to gather the materials.
There’s another key benefit to caring for your car’s paintwork. You’ll be helping to prevent corrosion, as water and dirt won’t stick as easily to a polished and waxed car. That could save you thousands of pounds on costly rust repairs further down the road.
The UK government’s latest MOT guidelines state that a car could fail its MOT if it has a rusty section of bodywork within 30cm of a load-bearing structure, like a seatbelt mount or a chassis support. By regularly cleaning and polishing your paintwork, you’ll be reducing the chance for dirt and grime to build up and rot the panel.
Scroll down for our list of the best car polishing kits on sale. Some are more comprehensive than others, but all will do a great job of protecting your car’s body from the elements.
Autoglym Super Resin Polish Complete Kit – £17.54
Autoglym has been around for decades now, so it has plenty of experience in making quality car care products. Its Super Resin polish is one of the best in the business, producing a glossy finish and offering enough cutting power to remove small marks and scratches. The brand’s “complete kit” comes with polish, an applicator pad and a microfibre towel. It doesn’t include any wax, though, so make sure you buy some to apply afterwards and protect your hard work.
Meguiar’s Brilliant Solutions Paint Restoration Kit – £60
This Meguiar’s bundle is more comprehensive than the Autoglym set. It’s also a lot more expensive but, given the strengths of the products and the quality of the finish you’ll achieve with them, we reckon it’s worth the added expense. In addition to a polishing compound and a protective wax, you get a bottle of car wash, a spray detailer and a clay bar for scrubbing out the most stubborn paintwork blemishes. The kit also includes a brace of microfibre towels and applicator pads.
Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Acrylic Polish & Wax – £20
Turtlewax is another long-lived brand – and its Hybrid Solutions bundle is great for restoring shine to black and dark grey paint. You get a synthetic polish and synthetic spray wax, both of which are easy to apply. The polish can buff out fine marks, while the wax offers impressive long-lasting water beading. That’s unusual for a spray-on product.
Flex Cordless Polisher Kit PXE 80 – £448.99
You can get some great results polishing your car by hand, but you’ll get a better finish using a polishing tool. Mechanical tools also speed up the process and are kinder to your body. All you need to do is throw the polishing compound on the car, hold the polishing tool up to the paintwork and squeeze the trigger. No more sore shoulders, no more aching joints.
If you want the best polishing tool on the market, get this Flex package. It’s a comprehensive kit that includes an orbital polisher, polishing compound, batteries, a charger and a handy storage case. It also features a range of different-sized polishing sponges that allow you to access all areas of your car’s bodywork.
Sealey CPK04 Pro Polishing Compounding Kit – £184.95
The Flex kit above is great, but it’s very expensive. If you want a more budget-friendly polishing tool, check out this package from Sealey. It’s as easy to use as the Flex kit and comes with a trio of polishing pads and a couple of bottles of polishing compounds – one to remove heavy scratches and one to buff out light marks.
The only drawback is that you can’t use it to access every area of your car’s bodywork. It has a large 150mm pad, which makes it great for restoring big, flat panels. However, you’ll need to polish your car’s finest details (like its windscreen surround and door mirrors) by hand.
