Absolutely! Actually, “buffer” and “polisher” are two words that mean the same, depending on who you ask (state, region, country, professional / amateur, age). While professional detailers call this tool a polisher, the general public often refers to it as a buffer.
“Buffing” a car became popular among car enthusiasts in the US around the middle of the twentieth century. Back then, people used a simple rotary power tool fitted with an attachment that was covered in a sheep hide cover called a “bonnet” to make their car paint shinier, or “buff” it, often after applying a wax coating.
Over time, this simple tool evolved into more sophisticated Random Orbit, Dual Action and Gear-Driven multi-tasking “polishers”, very often still called “buffers”. These modern polishers, or buffers if you will, perform many tasks using different accessory add-ons, pasts and liquids. The purpose has remained the same though: to make car coating, car paint or brightwork more reflective (shiny) by flattening it.
Over the past decades, the car polisher or car buffer has also increasingly gained popularity for its scratch removal and paint correction abilities.