Paint hardness...rate them.

[imported_Amused]

We all know Audi paint is pretty hard and how soft Honda paint is. I've been doing some searching and I can't seem to find anything with respect to how different car maufacturers' paint stack up in terms of hardness. I'd like to hear some feedback from you all on this, which car makers do you feel have the hardest and softest paints :xyxthumbs

 

[White95Max]

I was just thinking about posting something like this!

 

[4830Deuce]

good idea...but there needs to be a bench mark to compare all other paints to... :work:

 

[imported_animes2k]

Ceramiclear. There's your benchmark

 

[porta]

Volvos from 99/00 is very hard.

 

[Lou K]

Ceramiclear. There's your benchmark

I have to agree that the ceramiclear should be at the top and Lexus paint in the basement. :tribe:

 

[4830Deuce]

Ceramiclear. There's your benchmark

good idea :xyxthumbs lets go with that one.

 

[nonwelder]

My VW paint seems quite hard...anyone agree?

 

[Bill D]

Yep, IIRC it's basically the same Spies-Hecker paint as Audi. Ceramiclear,indeed, sure seems very hard. It seems right on par with my '89 de Ville.

 

[Accumulator]

My VW paint seems quite hard...anyone agree?

Yep, IIRC it's basically the same Spies-Hecker paint as Audi.

I would've figured that Porsche/Audi/VW would all have the same paint, but then somebody recently posted that their '03 VW seemed to have *soft* clear :nixweiss



Could be an "eye of the beholder" type of thing, and IMO we oughta base "hardness" on what it takes to correct it, not perceived vulnerability to marring.



Compared to the Audis and the lacquer on the Jag, everything else I work on seems "middle of the road", but that's a pretty wide road

 

[imported_Picus]

My Infiniti is much easier to work on than the 2002 Audi I did a bunch of work too recently. My families Hondas are all very similar to my car. That Audi was a bear.

 

[offcenter]

My VW paint seems quite hard...anyone agree?

I agree, my 2001.5 Passat had Reflex Silver paint that was a lot harder than my BMW Alpine White 330i.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Ceramiclear,indeed, sure seems very hard. It seems right on par with my '89 de Ville.

How can it be that hard, Bill? Do you know what plant that car was built in?

 

[Bill D]

Got me. Just basing my conclusion on my experience. But here's some additional info somewhat related to what you are wondering.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

That was really interesting, Bill. I had postulated that the scratches that seemed to suddenly appear on my '90 Pontiac were some sort of paint failure, but other opinions here said no (it could be from that bad winter the other year when I slid the ice sheets off of my car :wall ). I was wondering if our cars were painted in the same plant, mine was built in Wentzville, MO.

 

[Bill D]

Mine was in the Lake Orion, MI plant.

 

[Mark77]

It's quite hard to tell. I had an Audi A4 for 4 years before I got my Volvo V50 and I can't tell any big differance. The Audi paint was obviously very scratch resistant(I wasn't an autopian when I got it) I even took it to the Scratch O matic a few times and it looked great when I traded it in. Both were/are silvermetallic.

 

[4830Deuce]

what have you all found about ford paint...I just detailed my daily driver for the first time...I know i am a horrible autopian...but the paint was a nice hard...not too hard to take swirls out with a pretty average swirl removal regimen. But it seems stiff enough to keep swirls out for a good amount of time with proper washing…any thoughts?

 

[imported_Amused]

Who are the main players in the automotive paint industry...BASF, PPG, and Dupont?

Do we know which car makers they supply?

 

[Bill D]

Without doing an involved search, to the best of my knowledge, BASF-BMW and Rolls-Royce, PPG ( Ceramiclear in particular)-Mercedes, Dupont-GM ( for a long time)





I believe BASF is affiliated with Glasurit as well.