Porter Cable 7424 XP Random Orbital Buffer Reviews

This is the first buffer I have owned and was concerned about doing more damage than good as I learned to use it. All the videos and help available on the Detailed Image site gave me the confidence to give it a try and I couldn't be more satisfied. The results I'm getting with this buffer far exceed what I as able to do by hand and in much less time. I should have tried one a long time ago.

Works great and super easy to use!

Fantastic tool! I have to be honest and say that I've never used one of these before but the write ups from Detailed Image are detailed and guided me perfectly along to a beautiful result! I've done two of our five cars so far and can't wait to do the other three. The results from using a professional tool like this are magnificent! This is a quality piece. It feels sturdy and strong in your hands. I was a little worried about the adjustment dial but it seems very strong and like it will last a long time.

This dual action polisher is absolutely amazing!! Even though I had a large SUV to polish, the unit never got hot or even warm to the touch. I was apprehensive at first given this was my first time using such a tool, but this made me look like a pro!

This buffer works great. I bought a couple of the Hexlogic cutting pads and buffed a hood out in no time.
It gives me the power I need with a reduced chance of burn through like with a direct drive buffer. Combined with a good compound this buffer works great for my projects, which are mostly respraying of body parts.

Bought this for my husband after reading lots of positive reviews on the product. He loves it so I am happy.

All I can say about this little machine is, WOW! Bought it for my detail shop and started teaching my workers to use it. Match the right pad to the right product and you get outstanding results every time. It won't remove deep scratches but we've always left that task to the Paint and Body shop guys anyway. Going to buy a couple more so my people aren't standing line to use it. They love it.

As a detailing noob, I found the PC7424xp to be very easy to use. The lake county light orange pad with the Meguires ultra finishing polish worked well to remove swirls and other light imperfections in my 370 Z and FR-S. This buffer is safe fast and effective.

As much as I detail cars at a dealership, I decided to invest in my own cheap but good buffer. This Porter Cable is good for the price! Safer than the rotary I use at work for sure. The biggest pros are its light weight, price, and how safe it is! Its very hard to burn paint using the Porter Cable 7424XP. Here is the only con in my eyes: even with right combination of pad and polish/compound this buffer requires longer work time for paint correctioning, probably have to go over each section again to achieve correctioning. I am still experimenting myself to find what pad/polish combo works best for paint correction on this DA. The power output is good for breaking down polishes with long work time but not yet sure how well it does with compound.
Despite the con I would reccommend the Porter Cable 7424XP! Easy to use and at the end of the day your car will shine and look great!

As my first polishing machine this works great. I was able to learn good technique with this polisher because it forces you to be flat to the paint for it to be effective. Highly recommend for first time machine polishers.

This buffer does a great job. Just watch a few videos to learn the best techniques for what you need to accomplish. Pay attention the the speed setting for any particular product and anyone, yes, anyone, can get professional looking results. This is the best price anywhere I found. Be sure to include some all in one polish to help you get started.

I have owned the buffer for about 6 months now. This is the best thing ever invented. I have polished everything I own car, truck, (2) motorcycles, lawn mower. It is even fun to wax things now.

This is my first time using any buffer as well as utilizing compound and paint sealant. I used the 7424XP Random Orbital Buffer on all my applications and it was very easy to use especially considering I was a first timer. I read many articles prior to choosing and using this buffer. Special thanks to Todd Cooperider who provided detailed guidelines on washing, claying, using compound and sealant as well as using the buffer. Car has gotten many compliments from the neighbors and I have been asked to do other cars but it is a lot of hard work so it won't be happening except to my cars.

Wow!!!!! Made me look a pro! Simply amazing.Fool proof and simple to use.If your serious about detailing your car,make the investment.

Super easy to use. I should have got this months ago. I went with the 4" backing plate and pads. I could not be happier.

Just used my PC to do some correction on my wife's 6 year old car (my and the car's first time)--wow! I have done some hand correction of individual defects before, but the improvement that this buffer can do with a reasonable amount of time efforts and the right products is awesome. My wife couldn't believe what I had done to the car (and we had done a nice job of maintaining the finish short of the wholesale polishing I just did). Recommend trying out using it on something you're not worried about (I used it on a car I'm parting out) to get the feel of the weigh, vibration, and how fast/slow you can make passes (the DA seems to be very forgiving about heat build up, but feel the surface as you fine tune your combination of pressure and pass speed and you'll see what I'm talking about. Feel kind of bad that I won't need to use it that often, but I am thinking about polishing my corian countertops to keep me in practice....

This DA is a wonderful and much needed addition to my business. I use it everyday.

Great machine...I spent an entire day on my Jeep not too long ago and this produced great results with LC pads and Meguairs products. Made easy work of getting paint to really pop again. My 04's paint looks better than most people's 2010's!

THIS THING JUST BLEW UP ON ME!!!!!!!
I have had this buffer for 14months exactly. It has worked perfectly until today when it decided to fall apart on me while polishing my daughter's truck. UGH! The thing basically exploded and the wheel came flying off causing the metal buffer to stick the side panel of the truck. I cant tell you how mad I am right now. It left a small ding and a small scratch. I had to finish the job with an old Porter Cable I have. I Just detailed a Shelby Cobra last week. Thank god it didn't happen then. Now lets see what kind of hoop i have to jump through to get it fixed.

In the tradition of Porter Cable, this a solid, quality-built tool. Easy controls, plenty of power. My first experience turned out mixed results. But I eventually learned that the right pad/polish combination is important, along with the correct TECHNIQUE......Use dime-size dabs of polish and make sure to apply pressure on the tool when polishing!.

Now it's easy to to produce awesome polished finishes. By the way, with a good cutting polish like Meguiars M105, this tool with an LC yellow pad makes short work of removing haze/cloudiness from headlights. Finish with a blue pad and M205, and headlights look brand-spanking-new in 20 minutes, no fuss, no muss.


Totally satisfied with this quality tool.

Excellent product. Bought it based upon recomendations here at DI and on the web.
Safe to use (even for people new to machine buffing/polishing) since it is a 'random' orbital buffer and not a rotary. Almost impossible to mess up your paint with this machine (compared to a rotary which requires a high degree of skill and experience).
Easy to use. Fits nice in the hands (I use it without the included handle, though some might like the handle). Variable speed control gives you a lot of options when buffing (slow vs fast). The right amount of power for the average car owner to deal with just about every situation they might encounter. Produces excellent results (on paint that is in pretty good shape, or paint that has defects) that cannot be duplicated using one's hands alone (think electric toothbrush vs manual toothbrush). For example: I had some nasty water spots that had etched into the paint that I could not remove by hand - using this buffer they were gone in a couple of minutes.
I use the 5.5" Lake Country pads with the 5" backing plate which was a nice size for me. Can also swap out backing plates so I could use the 4" backing plate or 6" backing plate as well. I use the LC Orange pad for defect work, LC White for polishing and LC Black or Blue for sealants.
This product is amust have for anyone serious about how their car looks.
Higly recommended.

I actually sold my original PC to move up to the Flex. I got the Flex but missed the ability to use all my 4 inch pads. The capacity for this machine to use the 4 inch pads is why I bought 7424 XP. It is powerful enough and very easy to manage. Does the job. When I bought mine the threads on the handle were too short. Porter Cable sent me another which works fine. I find I actually use this more than my flex on my familie's five black vehicles. A must have, in my opinion.

My new favorite toy, I can't believe I didn't buy one sooner makes applying sealant and wax a breeze.

If you don't have a good buffer you are not getting the results you could be. This is the #1 purchase I have made to help maintain my car's finish.

I've never used a buffer before and as scared to try it on my car. Needless to say, everything turned out great. The only issue i have is that it vibrates quite a lot, however, since i've never used a buffer, this could just be regular...its annoying but it works!

Having used just about every buffer out there, including the original PC, I can say that this buffer should be at the top of everyone's list. With Porter Cable's reputation for reliability and craftsmanship, there's no question they know how to build a quality piece of machinery. Compared to the original 7424, this new machine has much more power. Perfect for the weekend warrior or the professional. And for the price, there's no a better value out there than the 7424xp. I give this new machine 2 thumbs up!

The buffer is everything it says. I like the veriable speeds,very powerful, well balanced and did a great job.