Product Review: Meguiar’s D302
by Zach McGovernThe Meguiar’s Microfiber Correction Kit was a game changing product when it was announced. The microfiber cutting and polishing discs have become standard equipment in the professional detailer’s arsenal. Along with the microfiber pads, Meguiar’s had their D300 Cutting Compound and D301 Finishing Wax that worked together as a 2-step system, but I have always felt that something was missing. Meguiar’s D302 DA Microfiber Polish is, in my opinion, this missing link! This polish was created to work with the Microfiber Finishing pads, but allows you to choose another means of protection since D302 is strictly a polish, unlike D301 which is an all-in-one polish and wax.
I tested Meguiar’s D302 on a recent vehicle I was working on. I used it with the new Rupes Microfiber Finishing Pads on the Rupes Bigfoot LHR21ES as seen in the image above. I primed the pad and then added 2 small dots of working product as seen in the following image. The product proved to have an extremely long working time and produced no dusting when used with a clean pad. I found the product to wipe away very easily after I was finished polishing which is very important, as you do not want to use excessive force to remove a product as you may accidentally scratch or mar the surface.
D302 produced nice results, as seen in the following image. I was able to eliminate swirls and other light defects with ease. The product finished down very well on the vehicle I was working on, so no additional polishing was required to produce an LSP ready finish. In this particular case, I used this product as a “one-step” correction polish, meaning I did not use a cutting compound prior to the D302, nor did I need to follow up with a fine polish afterwards.
Overall I was very pleased with how the D302 performed. It proved to be a good polish that had enough cutting abilities to remove swirls and light scratches, while still finishing down perfectly (and it smelled great, too!). This was a much needed addition to the Meguiar’s Microfiber DA System.
Nice result Zach, playing around with D302 at the moment.
I’m currently using this and the d300 on my father in law’s white GMC sierra. I don’t know if that paint is extremely hard or what, but I’m not getting quite the results I want.
Hi Craig, GMC paint is typically on the hard side. My experiences with D300 is that it is more of a medium cutting compound instead of a heavy cutting compound and therefore may not posses the cutting power you need to level defects in harder paint. I would recommend picking up some Meguiar’s M105. Many pro’s (myself included) really enjoy mixing a bit of D300 and M105 together to produce a heavier cut while still maintaining the ease of use of D300. The way I use this is to prime the pad with D300, and then add 2 drops of M105 for my ‘working product’. I will add a bit more D300 from time to time as I feel it is necessary. Hope that helps!
A little off-topic, but I wish the “more senior” among you who have been around quite a long time, would put together a list of paint characteristics (hardness, thickness of clearcoat, reactivity to waxes, etc) for the various car manufacturers. Or, if there is one that already exists, if you could point us towards it.
This is a great article and very helpful, but I frequently fall into the same conundrum that Craig did. (Lately, it’s been Honda’s that have been driving me up a wall – a number of issues including higher than normal number of deeper scratches and discolorations around wheel wells and door panel seams.)
Just a thought…..
Hey Richard,
This is a great idea, however the unfortunate truth is that while we can make some generalizations regarding paint hardness related to specific manufacturers, it is an assumption at best. There are so many variables that can affect paint hardness that it would be unwise to assume too much just because a specific manufacture ‘usually’ has hard or soft paint. This is the reason test spots are critical for every vehicle, regardless of whether or not you have worked on the same type of vehicle before.
Paint thickness is also very erratic which is why a paint thickness gauge is a very valuable tool (especially for professionals).
I am not sure what you mean when you say “reactivity to waxes”. I will follow up with you via email to help resolve some issues you have been having. Thanks for reading!
What are your impressions of the rupes microfiber pads. I haven’t seen any reviews on them. Thanks.
Bob – I do not have an extended amount of time with them yet, but my first impressions are good. They are very smooth and solid feeling on the Rupes machines.
Do they clean-up well, or as well as the more advertised manufacturers?
By “clean up well” do you mean are they able to produce a nice finish? or do you literally mean are they easy to clean?
In any case, the pads’ ability to finish down is somewhat dependent on what paint you are working with, so results may vary if you are working on particularly soft and/or finicky paint. As you can see in the photo above, the rupes finishing pad was able to finish down perfectly with the D302 polish on this blue Subaru paint.
… they are also easy to clean 🙂
How do you think D302 compares to M205 in finish and overall cut?
Chris, D302 seemed to have less cut than M205 when I was testing it. Another detailer recently told me that D302 has little to no cut on its own and relies on the cut of the pad for the most part. If this proves to be true, that would explain why I was able to get decent cut with a microfiber pad… and I would assume it would work as a a fine finishing polish with a fine finishing foam pad.
How do you feel this product would do on a softer paint with a microfiber finishing pad
Dallen – The D302 is a nice light polish and should work great on a finishing pad/soft paint!