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3M 39053 Paint Restoration System

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Customer reviews

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3.6 out of 5

110 global ratings

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3M 39053 Paint Restoration System

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Top positive review

Positive reviews›

A winner!

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015

I ordered two of these kits after having previously bought one and used every drop of the three compounds. It did a fabulous job of restoring the new car look. My eight year old Pearl white car looks as though it just rolled out of the showroom. The product's three step system is simple to appy and easy to wipe off and buff by hand. Each step has a color coded applicator pad that matches the color of the compound and attaches securely to your 6" orbital buffer; yellow for the compounding step one, blue for the shine restoring step two and white for the synthetic wax in step three. The process taakes about two hours to do an average size car. The wax seems to last through many car washes and makes the job of washing much easier as most of the dirt can simply be hosed off.
I have long been a fan of 3M car care products, but this system is the best polishing system I have ever tried.
If I had one wish, it would be that the bottles were larger. While I was able to do three cars, the pads still have some life to them but I needed to buy these additional kits to obtain more of the three polishing compounds.
That said, I still highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Okay but not great

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2015

Did a good job raising the polish back but not as good as I'd hoped. The directions and the videos were woefully inadequate. One thing that was particularly irritating was the it isn't at all clear from the directions that you should use the liquids very sparingly. The pads are high quality so you could use them on multiple cars but you can't really buy the bottles of restorer or polish for much less than a new kit would cost you.

One person found this helpful

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From the United States

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

I ordered two of these kits after having previously bought one and used every drop of the three compounds. It did a fabulous job of restoring the new car look. My eight year old Pearl white car looks as though it just rolled out of the showroom. The product's three step system is simple to appy and easy to wipe off and buff by hand. Each step has a color coded applicator pad that matches the color of the compound and attaches securely to your 6" orbital buffer; yellow for the compounding step one, blue for the shine restoring step two and white for the synthetic wax in step three. The process taakes about two hours to do an average size car. The wax seems to last through many car washes and makes the job of washing much easier as most of the dirt can simply be hosed off.
I have long been a fan of 3M car care products, but this system is the best polishing system I have ever tried.
If I had one wish, it would be that the bottles were larger. While I was able to do three cars, the pads still have some life to them but I needed to buy these additional kits to obtain more of the three polishing compounds.
That said, I still highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

Okay but not great

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Did a good job raising the polish back but not as good as I'd hoped. The directions and the videos were woefully inadequate. One thing that was particularly irritating was the it isn't at all clear from the directions that you should use the liquids very sparingly. The pads are high quality so you could use them on multiple cars but you can't really buy the bottles of restorer or polish for much less than a new kit would cost you.

One person found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

My wife had a black 2006 Jeep Patriot that we wanted to sell. It had swirl marks, light scratches, deep scratches, dents, and dings. It took care of the swirl marks and the light scratches that didn't go all the way through the paint into the primer. It also removed that haze that sometimes begins to appear with and on black paint. It was easy to use and took the better part of a nice and warm Saturday afternoon. The Jeep looked so much better after the paint restoration was completed. I used in on my Mazda which is Gray and a 2008. The slight scratches and swirl marks disappeared as well. I bought a buffer at Harbor Freight for a lot less than any of the other stores. It works well for the paint restoration and other light work around the house. When this kit runs out I will get another one. I have used 3M products before as well as Meguirs and a few of the other name brands. 3M stands above them all for this product.

One person found this helpful

Brian Hernandez

it ended up making it worse.

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

The yellow one was completely falling apart as i tried to buff my car, it ended up making it worse.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Poor performance

Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

I applied the three steps with a variable speed porter cable 6" random orbit sander. I used it on a 12 year old Toyota with a clear coat that was in OK shape. The first two steps, scratch remover and shine restorer, didn't do much. I tried different amounts of product, high and low speeds with the sander, different application patterns and varying pressures. I wasn't able to buff out the oxidized areas and the shine restorer didn't do much. I was disappointed with the performance of these two steps. The third step, the synthetic wax, went on easily and seems to have left a decent coat, though I wouldn't consider a high quality finish. The best part of this kit is the scratch removing pad. I had a couple of areas in the clear coat that had some medium depth scratches from someone who had used something that was too abrasive. The scratch removing pad was quite effective in removing these medium depth scratches. Besides the scratch removing pad, I would not recommend this product.

2 people found this helpful

Expectations should be realistic. It works well for old, tired clear coats...

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

The scratch remover (step 1) requires the most work and produces the most noticeable change. Using it on a white 1997 Nissan Pickup, I was impressed. I had a number of large stained areas of oxidized clear coat which had become porous and absorbed tree sap, oils, and other elements. In addition, I seemed to have some paint overspray on my finish. The scratch remover, after about 2 hours of work, left my truck with as pure of a white finish outside of repainting. I am very happy with that.

For newer cars, I believe the scratch remover would be most beneficial for those superficial scratches (under the door handles from rings, along the sides from debris, and the infamous door ding scratches). Even on my 97, it was cool to see how those superficial scratches just disappeared.

The other two product applications are similar to step 1, but they just do not take as long. They're more of a topping off while step one is the real prep stage.

Here's maybe a hidden detail about this kit that i have not seen mentioned - step one did an AMAZING job restoring my plastic taillights and third brake light. They came out looking new and as smooth as they had to have been the day they were manufactured. All oxidation and cloudy haze was gone. Not having any clear plastic on my truck, I can't attest to how step 1 would work on things such as headlights. My headlights are large, glass, all-in-one units.

I would not suggest this kit for a newer car if there are no underlying issues. I think this kit is best suited for tired or damaged clear coats.

My concern and the remaining question is on longevity. In my research of the product I was not able to find any feedback on how long the restoration lasted. I will report back in some months and update this review.

Here's one more thing I'd like to add... I did not use the suggested orbital buffer. Instead, I used my Porter Cable Random Orbital Sander (that used hook and loop sanding discs). The pads stuck to that well. I would only suggest using the stick on Velcro pad over the hook and loop system. If you don’t, you will need to clean up the hook and loop when you're finished. They'll be caked up with dried product.

11 people found this helpful

High quality, easy to use

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

I am an amateur car buff. I wouldn't consider myself a car care guru, but I take care of my car (2005 Honda Civic Si). I wash my car weekly, and wax it every few months. This may or may not be the best product on the market, I haven't used enough other paint products to compare, but I can speak to its ease of use and the results I achieved.

I purchased a 8 inch (maybe it was 9) orbital polisher at Home Depot to use. The instructions with this kit are dead simple. Match the color of the bottle with the polishing pads. It does take a bit of time (all in all, 4 hours for me, but I take my time) but I achieved a great result. My car is typically outside and accumulated a lot of "grime." Even when you would wash it, you could run your hand over the paint and it was gritty and not smooth. After using this product, it was smooth as glass. The best part for me is that, pairing this with an orbital polisher, you don't run a risk burning the paint like you would with a heavy duty grinder and compound.

I would suggest using tape to cover up plastic and rubber. For example, I taped the edges around my headlights, brake lights to make sure I didn't scratch the lenses. This added some time, but the results were worth it.

11 people found this helpful

Amazon_Item_Critic

Great product to remove scratches (even if your vehicle was keyed) and rejuvenate dull paint

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

I first used this on my 2014 Grand Cherokee to remove the unsightly scratches from a kind passerby who decided to key my first brand new vehicle. I bought this vehicle with savings from a combat deployment while I was in the Army, so I can only make the assumption that the aforementioned fact, in addition to the fact that it is an American made vehicle means that the culprit hates America. Karma en route!

My advice is to use only the steps necessary. Don't use the scratch remover bottle unless you are removing scratches, essentially only use the minimum necessary steps. To remove the "key" scratches, I used the highly abrasive pad with a generous amount of scratch remover polish. I then continued with the "Shine Restorer", and then the "Synthetic Wax Protectant." It did wonders, the scratches are gone, much to the disappointment of the anti-American "keyer" I'm sure.

The second vehicle I used this product on was a 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT. The paint was both sad and highly depressed (faded). This system is like Zoloft for automotive paint in that respect. I only used the "Shine Restorer" and "Synthetic Wax Protectant" and it really brought the bright red color back to life.

2 people found this helpful

Needs a second Yellow Pad

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

I used this on a 1999 F-350 that I recently purchased. The paint was horrible -- I doubt it's ever seen wax. This product restored the paint to the best it is ever going without repainting.

I've read step one is the most important step, and spent an entire day just on just this step. The yellow buffing pad wore out before I could fnish step one -- I live in a major city and couldn't locate a replacement pad, so I finished step one on the blue pad, and used a wool pad that I could locate on a Sunday for step two. I wouldn't recommend this approach.

The end result exceeded my expectations, but keep in mind the pads are very difficult to locate on a Sunday if you run out. I would reccomend at least getting a second yellow pad before starting, and if your paint is as bad as mine was, a second white pad as well.

3M makes amazing products, but I wish they stocked them better for consumers through retailers.

Customer image

23 people found this helpful

3M Paint Restoration System

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

I have an older vehicle without clear coat. The paint was heavily oxidized to the point that it looked more like a primered finish. I saw the 3M System and decided to give it a try after speaking with one of their reps. I found that the Scratch Remover Plus compound (Step One)supplied with the kit is not very effective against heavy oxidation. I bought an additional 3M product number 39002, which is a heavier duty rubbing compound. It worked much better, but the car still required five additional buffings. Steps two and three went much easier. Also, the yellow buffing pad designed for step one was not made for multiple applications. It is in the final stages of disintegration.

I think 3M should supply at least two yellow pads and the heavy duty rubbing compound with the kit. I expected the job to take one or two days. I worked at mine for three weeks, a few hours each day.

I am pleased with the final result. It does not look like a new car, but it shines like a vehicle that is a few years old.

10 people found this helpful

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