If you're an insomniac or simply enjoy punishing yourself with "paid programming," you know that for the past 25 years or so, every week it seems there is a new wonder wax and/or scratch remover that's designed to "save you thousands of dollars on paint repair!" Usually a half-hour infomercial features a host with an accent who yells the praises of his latest product and a sidekick who oohs and ahs at every expletive, while a wildly enthusiastic audience claps, screams, and hops up and down in their seats.
Here's what comes with the system-complete instructions, four small sheets of 3,000 grit sandpaper (three shown), two soft cloths, and a tube of Quixx No. 1 Repair Polish and No. 2 Finish. The product can be found at myriad department stores, auto parts stores, and drug stores around the country. Log onto the company website for more info.
There's always a demonstration of the amazing magic that this product can perform, which no other would dare attempt-such as withstanding the searing heat of a fire on a hood of the car while still protecting the paint, or making key scratches disappear before your eyes with a few wipes. By the time 30 minutes pass, you wonder how the world ever managed without this product.
"And for just $19.99 we'll ship it to your doorstep, but wait-there's more! If you call in the next five minutes we will double your order and you'll get two cans of the wonder product, a free deluxe cloth to wipe it on and off, free designer sunglasses to protect your eyes from the blazing shine once you apply the product to your car, and a free, unidentifiable gadget, which sold poorly in the infomercial that was on before this one, so now were giving it away!"
Excitedly you dial up the company, credit card in hand. You sit on hold for 10 minutes, then the salesperson tries to sell you everything but the product you called to order. When that doesn't work, he tries to convince you to enroll in some sort of buyer's club that costs just $40 per year, but you'll save thousands of dollars. If you make it through that gauntlet, next comes the realization that unless you add the $9.95 expedited shipping, it takes 6-8 weeks to fill your order. Geeze, all you wanted to do was order the Wonder Wax and Miracle No-Touch, No-Feel, No-Taste, Scent-Free Scratch Fixer. And after all that, more times than not, the product turns out to be less than you had hoped once you get it. Does it sound like we've have some experience with this as consumers?
What does this have to do the Quixx Repair System High Performance Paint Scratch Remover? Well, the darndest thing happened when we tested it. It actually worked. And we didn't have to stay up late and order it from TV. It's actually in stores across the U.S. and sold on Amazon.com. How can this be? There's no infomercial, there's no 800 number, there's no deal that's good for the next five minutes only, and there are no claims of space-age polymers or nanotechnology.
Here's how it can be. The company that made the product, E.V.I. GmbH of Germany, didn't try to reinvent the wheel. The system is a small box that will fit in your console or glove compartment. It contains a small tube of No. 1 Repair Polish and No. 2 Finish, four very small pieces of 3,000-grit sandpaper, and two soft cloths. That's it. The entire set of instructions fits on the back of the box, and a second set of instructions is included in a variety of languages, including English.
If you're wondering if you could replicate this little kit on your own with various other compounds, polishes, and/or waxes, the answer is probably. However, keep in mind that with the Quixx Repair System, each product was developed to work with the others. For instance, if you use the 3,000-grit paper to wet-sand a scratch, Repair Polish No. 1 will then properly knock down the scratches that the sandpaper made; then the No. 2 Finish will remove the dullness left by No. 1.
The advantages to the kit are that the thinking and testing have already been done for you. And the amounts provided are small enough to be economical and easy to carry, yet large enough to handle multiple scratches. Remember, you are repairing individual scratches in the car's paint finish, you are not trying to compound or polish the entire vehicle with these products.
We tested the Quixx Repair System High Performance Paint Scratch Remover on a vehicle with basecoat/clearcoat paint-all late-models use at least a two-stage paint system and most hobbyists have their vintage cars repainted with two-stage or more. Let's see how the system handled moderate to serious scratches.
Conclusion If you have scratches in the clearcoat of your Pontiac's paint that do not go down to the colorcoat, the Quixx system can remove them. Clearcoat scratches always appear as white, regardless of the color of the car. As stated in the instructions, you have to be careful when sanding. Quixx recommends only wet-sanding the scratch for 10 seconds total with light pressure. In our experience, it wasn't long enough to remove the scratch, so we did three sessions of 10 seconds each, using moderate pressure. Happily, we didn't sand through the clear. How do you know if you've sanded through the clearcoat? The sandpaper and water on the area will instantly turn the color of the car.
If the scratches go down to the primer, you will need to apply touch up paint and clear to repair them. Once dry, the Quixx System can be used to sand the newly painted area flat and then polish it.
The main advantage of the Quixx system, besides the fact that it works, is that it's very portable. You can keep it at-the-ready in your Pontiac all the time. You can repair a scratch while detailing your ride before the show starts, while you are waiting to pick up the kids from an activity, or just about any time, as minor scratches take only a few minutes and don't require wet-sanding. The only item missing from the kit is water for wet-sanding and that can be found easily enough, even if you are on the road.
Given its performance, size, and ease of use, the Quixx Repair System High Performance Paint and Scratch Remover will be a welcome addition to any Pontiac hobbyist's arsenal of detailing tools and products.
