Hi Darren,
Be right over, actually I visit Tidewater several times a year for work. Bought Makita a long time ago. It will max out at 2000 RPM so will not burn too much (on car paint anyway). Gel coat bears up well under buffing. I buy the professional wool bonnets from NAPA. You can buy a pad that attaches to buffer that has velcro type surface so pads can easily be removed. I assume Makita still makes this buffer but probably available from some of the good mfg. I bought the Makita because I did a survey of what the pros were using in the boatyards around Annapolis. This particular buffer seemed to be the most popular at the time. I think most of the body shops use air compressor buffers today. However, if you have a chance to visit a body shop they would probably give you advice on what mfg. to buy. I think the RPM thing is most important. I bought my Makita buffer in 1987 and it still works great and has many hours of use on it. I have 3 vehicles, 2 of which are black so I use the Makita on them a lot.
Checked out Makita site and this is the present day model that would be a good choice:
http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=9227C
Checked out Ebay and there were a couple on site for sale this was best priced you might want to check out Amazon and see what the charge would be on their site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Makita-Polisher-Kit-9227-CX3_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35000QQitemZ4577074967QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V