Is Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Any Good?

There are hundreds of detailing products on the market today. It seems like there is a new detailing product every week, so you may have a challenge picking a single product to restore the beauty and shine of your car’s coat. 

The Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound is one of these detailing products. Meguiar’s has a long list of detailing products and the Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound combines three of these products. But how good is this product?

Is Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Any Good? 

The Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound excellent. It combines the Scratch-X, Swirl-X, and Ultimate Polish components to create an aggressive all-in-one detailing product that removes oxidation, water spots, stains, small scratches, swirl marks, and holograms. Plus, you don’t have to combine it with other detailing products to get a perfect finish.

According to the manufacturer, they created Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound to offer car owners a product that could offer complete detailing without using several products. It cuts through heavy oxidation, blemishes, stains, and scratches.

The product is able to cut through grease and debris fast, like a harsh abrasive, but won’t leave scratches or swirl marks on the surface of your car. It is safe for clear coat and works fast to restore the look of a neglected or abused coat. 

It uses exclusive micro-abrasive technology that can aggressively reduce blemishes on your car’s coat without leaving any marks. You can use it on single-stage paint or clear coat, and you can apply it by hand or using a dual action polisher.

When Should I Use Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound? 

The Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound is ideal for cleaning and restoring the paintwork on the surface of your car. Because of its rich formula, you can use it to clean clear coat finishes without removing them. While it works as fast as a harsh abrasive, it is not harsh enough to cause scratches and swirls. 

You can also use it on plastics where it removes blemishes, oxidation, and small scratches. This way, you can use it on your headlights and convertible plastic windows commonly found on Jeeps. 

However, you cannot use the product on glass surfaces. If you need to clean and restore glass, go for Meguiar’s glass restoration kit. 

Does Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Have Fillers?

Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound doesn’t have fillers. Instead, it has polishing oils that can mask some deep scratches that the product cannot correct. It also has several ingredients that make it highly effective at removing blemishes. 

For starters, the product contains Alumina, an abrasive that is common in all the Meguiar’s detailing products. The ingredient is powerful enough to remove blemishes without forming scratches and swirls on your car.

Other ingredients include:

• Mineral oil that acts as a lubricant and also masks deep scratches
• Glycerin, which acts as a humectant
• Plant oil as a gloss enhancer
• Yellow 5 and Red 40 as colorants
• PEG-20 Stearate, Carnauba Wax, and Paraffin as emulsifiers
• Water as a diluent
• Light Aromatic Hydrocarbons and C11-13 Synthetic Isoparaffin as solvents
• A long list of fragrance components

With all the ingredients above, Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound is a standalone detailing product. You do not have to use other products together with it, you don’t even need to use water.

Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound has a grit equivalent to 3000-grit sanding paper. This makes it effective, but still makes it safe on your clear coat and car paint.

After the restoration process, the product leaves your car coat looking glossy and smelling nice. Again, all the products are safe, so you can apply the product by hand. But a polisher may come in handy for larger vehicles or if you’re sensitive to chemicals.

How Do You Apply Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound? 

You can apply Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound by hand, using an applicator pad, or using a dual action polisher and an applicator pad. Before applying, clean your car to remove any obvious dirt that might interfere with the restoration process. 

When your car is clean, you can see the blemishes and the spots clearly, allowing you to restore the coat with much ease. You will need to apply more compound where there are more blemishes. 

Place a small amount of the compound on an applicator pad and apply it on the coat of your car one section at a time. Apply it in a circular motion from one point to the next. Apply moderate pressure for the best effects. 

If there are areas, such as the headlights, where you do not want the compound to go, use a masking tape to seal them off. After applying thoroughly, wipe the compound with a microfiber towel. After wiping, turn the towel so that you have a dry face and then buff. 

If you have dual-action polisher, the application process is even simpler and faster. Use a buffing pad on the polisher and apply the compound one section at a time. 

The amount of compound you use will depend on the damages on the coat of your car. If you have several scratch and swirl marks, stains, and blemishes, you need to apply more compound.

Do I Need To Wax After Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound?

Nope! Because Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound contains several active ingredients, including wax and oils, you do not need to apply wax after restoration. 

The wax in the product will mask deep scratches that cannot be removed and will protect the surface until the next car detailing. It also has oils that further protect the surface of your car and give it a shiny, water-resistant finish.

How Often Should I Use Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound?

The duration between each restoration process will depend on the driving conditions and the damages your car sustains. A town car that you only drive to and from work may not need detailing for many months (depending on what your commute is like).

If you drive your car off beaten paths, go off-roading, or drive in the harsh sun most days, you may need to use this restoration product after every few months. 

When Should You Repaint Instead of Restore? 

While Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound works great in restoring the look of your car, it only works to a certain point. Vehicles live hard lives and it’s important to know when a fresh wash and finish just isn’t enough any more.

Some of the factors that affect your car’s coat include natural oxidation, UV light from the sun, pollution, contaminants, extreme weather conditions, and solid objects that can cause scratches. You can restore the coat if it only has blemishes, small scratch marks, swirl marks, and dull looking patches. If the layer of paint above the primer wears away, a restoration process will not work. 

Instead, you will need to sand away the coat and the primer until you see metal and then repaint your car. After the paint dries, now you can restore other parts to give the car coat a uniform look. 

Luckily, automotive coatings today have additives that reinforce it to improve its overall durability. These coatings inhibit corrosion and make the coat more resistant to temperature and other factors in an environment.

Why Use Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound? 

If you do not restore the coat of your car, the fading can get worse with time. The oxidation will continue until the damage causes peeling of the layers of your clear coat.

Again, repainting a car is not a cheap task. If the damage gets to the point where the metal of your car is exposed, rust can begin to form, which will eat away at the metal of the car.

Small blotches on your car look unsightly and if you fail to correct them, they exacerbate. Restoration not only improves the look of your car, but protects it from the elements so you’ll both maximize it’s life and it’s resale value when the time comes.

Closing Thoughts

Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound uses an advanced abrasive technology that gives a glossy finish to your car coat. This technology works as fast as some of the most powerful abrasive technologies, but it does not cause further defects on the surface of your car. It is safe on clear coats, which makes it ideal for use on all cars. 

You can use Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound as often as your car demands without worrying about damaging your car. It’s, frankly, one of the easiest all around car restoration products around.