Follow-Up Review: Malco Automotive’s Epic Paint Correction Kit Is Great For DIY Detailing

This paint correction system is designed for use with base coat-clear coat paint jobs on modern cars. No matter how good of a job it did with my Charger's single-stage industrial paint, it's simply not fair to base my entire opinion of it on how it performed in that instance. The thought for that review was simply to give an initial take, play around with it a bit, and give a basic look at how it does with a fun project. With that out of the way, we can get into what really matters. 

That's why I decided to head out into the cold Northeastern winter and give the product another shot. This time around, I used it on a 2016 Honda Civic to see how well it performed. To no one's surprise, the results are even better. 

To recap, Malco's Epic Paint Correction system is set up to make polishing your car as easy and quick as possible. As opposed to other systems that recommend working in multiple passes with various polishes and pads, this system is designed to work in just a single go, with a second being entirely optional. 

The kit consists of medium, heavy-duty, and finishing polishing compounds with pads to match. The amount of damage that's present on the clear coat as well as its hardness will determine if the heavy or medium-duty polish is the right compound for the first pass. After you run either of those, you can follow up with the finishing polish for a deep shine if that's what you're after. 

The process is simply adding a few dots of compound to the pad, spreading it over a 2'x2' area, and working until the abrasive breaks down, then wiping it off and moving on. Each section should take no more than a few minutes to complete, allowing you to cover the entire car rapidly. It really isn't that different from any other polishing system but it's worth going through. There aren't any catches such as spending more time with a single pass as compared to how long you would with more extensive process that would offset the time savings.

A detailing freak's blood might curdle at the idea of making just a single pass, but, clearly, this isn't a product that's sold with just those people in mind. The appeal is really that it lightens the load of making a car look respectable, which is just right for folks like me who want something to look great, but not so great that their afraid to drive it on the crappy roads we live with.

Time was of the essence for this test, considering it was cold enough for suds to freeze mid-wash when I did it. Luckily, I was able to polish the car in my warm-ish garage, which would ensure both myself and the product had a chance to work correctly. Still, my frozen fingers really appreciated that it's designed to work as quickly as possible. That said, I did at least go over one panel with both the medium-duty followed by the finishing polish to gauge the maximum performance a monkey with a buffer—that's me—can expect to get from it. 

This car is wearing Honda's Black Amethyst Pearl paint that does a great job of hiding imperfections. But with a closer look, we can see it's loaded with all kinds of imperfections. 

The first pass with just the medium-duty compound and pad to match did a great job of adding a little depth to the paint by dealing with the smallest of those swirls and scratches. It's far from perfect, but I knew I'd be satisfied to call it quits here. While it's partially because I was freezing, the fact is that it's a daily driver that's going to get banged up anyway, with plenty of gouges and rock chips already present. 

If you're feeling froggy and want to take the extra distance to really get the paint to pop, a second pass will absolutely do the trick. After following up with the finishing polish and pad, the vast majority of imperfections that remained survived the first run were gone. I was very impressed with the end result and would say that any performance issues rest solely on my shoulders, not the product's. 

I wrapped up by going over the remainder of the car with just the medium compound and pad. Then followed up with a layer of Malco Automotive's Nano Care Banana Creme Paste wax. The entire process took about four hours, but it would have definitely moved faster had I done it on a warmer day and didn't mess around with various stages. 

I'm just an everyman, and as much as I pride myself on a job well done, I'm far from a detailing wizard. But the results speak for themselves. The Epic Paint Correction kit pulls off exactly what it's advertised to and more. It will help you reach a really nice finish with minimal time invested. Reaching a high shine with just a single pass is already a sweet deal, and having the option to take it that extra step and really richen things up, if that's what you're after, just ups the versatility and appeal. To me, it's hard to go wrong for a paint correction kit that cost less than $150. 

Questions? Comments? Got a product you want to see us test? Hit me up: hank.ohop@thedrive.com