and then what? pay for someone to detail it again 6 months down the road?

it's very hard to do damage with a random orbital buffer. it's the circular polishers that you need to be afraid of. and there's no reason for most people to get a circular anyway. a random orbital is quite easy to use, and very, very effective. you can do more with one than you can ever do by hand.

http://www.properautocare.com/remswiruspor.html

my own experience:
https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...d.php?t=202833

i think schwa may be right about bad towels causing your swirls. i would suggest against using step 1 from meguiar's 3-step though. "step-1" is actually a solvent. you may end up causing problems using a solvent on such fresh paint. in case you don't know what meguiar's 3-step is:


want you want to do is
- wash first (like schwa said, good materials are important)
- claybar, if you want to really clean the paint
- then polish it (to remove light scratches and swirling)
- and finish it up with a wax

on such a new paintjob, that should removing the swirling. for deep damage, you
- wash > claybar > compound (which is coarser polishing, basically) > polish > wax.

i'm by no means a detailing expert, but this is what i know.

for tons and tons of info, check out properautocare.com that i linked above.

he was probably using a circular polisher, and he burned the paint.

 

True. I forgot his paint was new. Also, try autopia.org for all your detailing needs. Its a forum with crazy detailers with insane amounts of experience.
And yes, your friend was probably using a rotary.