Product review: MotoMax car polish and surface protection

You must all be aware of Pidilite as a brand – the company that makes Fevicol. Little did we know that the adhesive and stationery major is also into car care products. We recently got an email from the company about its car products, and we instantly decided to use them and see how well they performed.

Motomax is a range of Do-It-Yourself products for auto lovers. The offering in the Motomax range are claimed to be specially formulated for new generation paints and other automobiles finishes which helps in enhancing the look of your vehicle. It includes 2K rubbing compound, liquid rubbing compound, hard wax polish, car shampoo, premium liquid polish, cream polish, dash board polish, upholstery cleaner, polyester putty, and tyre cleaner.

Here’s a quick review of four of Moto Max’s car care products – Car shampoo, Dashboard polish, Exterior polish and rubbing compound.

MotoMax car Shampoo

We tried the shampoo on a year old white coloured Chedvrolet Beat. The car gets washed twice every week with water, but hasn’t been cleaned with a shampoo yet. Except for the scheduled service, no detergent was used on the surface of the car ever. On observing the bonnet closely we realized that there were a number of obstinate marks of varying sizes and colour on the surface which didn’t budge with a damp cloth. We gave removing those spots with only water a good try, but not with much success.

We later tried washing the car with the Moto Max shampoo. You have to mix about 10ml of the shampoo in 3 liters of water. A 100ml pack costs Rs 50, so effectively you spend Rs 5 for every wash – quite a reasonable price.

We worked up a good lather and scrubbed the surface with a cloth drenched in the shampoo. Most of the greasy marks got wiped out this time, except for a few adamant ones which required some more personal attention. We managed to get rid of almost all the marks; the tougher stains did require some persistence on our end though. Interestingly, a thorough wash with the shampoo clearly differentiated the stain marks from the tiny paint chip offs, as the latter were the only marks that did not go. A rinse, followed by a wipe with a dry cloth, and what remained was a squeaky clean, hitherto unseen surface.

Volume: 100ml
Price: Rs 50

MotoMax One Step: Rubbing compound

Next, we tried our hand on the rubbing compound. I once managed to mildly scrub the rear right fender of my car against a tree trunk while trying to park extra tight on a roadside. The scratch marks have been bothering me for quite some time now, and I wanted to scrub them off with a rubbing compound for a long time. This was my opportunity, and I gave it my best shot. As instructed, I put the compound on a damp cloth, applied it on the scratched surface and rubbed it with a dry cloth. The results were impressive to say the least. The compound worked its magic and the ugly scratches were visible to a much lesser extent now. See the results for yourselves in these before / after images.

Weight : 100g
Price: Rs 125

MotoMax Dashboard Polish

Beat’s dashboard is one of the nicest in its class. I had a look at the dash and wondered whether it really required a polish. It’s a matt finish material, of a very good quality. Wipe it with a dry cloth and you’re good to go. Yet, I wanted to see how well the polish worked. It’s a liquid which has to be put on a foam applicator and then applied on to the dash. I did that, and realized that the polish made it look rather shiny for my liking. You have to hard wipe the polish with a dry cloth to take the excess shine and oiliness away. But the end result is nice, the dash looks clean and good as new. This application would work well for cars which have dashboards made of grainy plastics, like the one seen on the Figo. Here’s a before / after comparison

Before.

After

Volume: 100ml
Price: Rs 90

MotoMax Cream Polish

It’s a semi solid paste which you have to apply to the surface evenly. Initially it sort of surprises you as it tends to take the sheen away. The reflections on the surface get blurred and you wonder whether this thing would really work. However, once you start buffing up with a soft, dry cloth you witness the polish making the surface of the car glossier than ever. The smoothness and reflective quality of the surface feels almost glass like. If you try to move your fingers over areas where the paint has chipped off, you realize that there are no leading edges. It seems to create a layer above the paint, which apparently is protective in nature. Impressive! Here’s an image of the bonnet post buff.

Weight: 60g
Price: Rs 70

There are plenty of such car care products available in the market. Some of the imported ones are extremely good, but then they are almost prohibitively expensive. Then there are the locally manufactured oness, which you can really not trust. Moto Max offers an affordable range of car care products which you can use without having worrying about their long term effects on the car’s surface. After taking into consideration the price and performance of these products, we would recommend them to our readers.

Do let us know if you think there are any better substitutes available in the market for the same price. Also, do share with us your experiences with similar products.