Are the Mercedes and Vette's clear coats equally as tough?

[ltoman]

Does anyone know? If so, add your .02 cemts. I have no idea.

[killrwheels@autogeek]

the Vettes clearcoat is not ceramiclear like the newer Mercedes. Ceramiclear was designed to resist scratching more but consequently is harder to correct. Now, because the Vette clearcoat is hard (most imports are rather soft, and light) it works rather well with more aggressive polishes including the ceramiclear. I suspect Vette clear is harder because is has more layers or thick layering.

Now if you move one step to Menzerna specifically, well their polishes in general are considered some of the best by enthusiasts. Why ??? Because the break down rather quickly into a final or finishing polish. Most body shops would frown away from their costs, and do multiple steps to bring paint back. That can include wetsanding, compounding, final polishing and even glazing.

[nick19]

What killr said is most important, but also keep in mind the color too. I know pre-2005 most darker paint was easier to work on, and lighter colors were harder to remove defects from. I don't know how true that is on a brand new car though...






-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

[Gary Sword]

I'm not sure about the new vettes but on my old vette I have not had a problem with swirls marks. After 22 years the paint still looks like new. I have had 3 Vettes and all of them had nice paint jobs and I never experience a problem with swirls on any of them. I would say the ones I had did have a pretty tough clear coat. I can't comment on the clear coat on the new Vettes but I have been thinking about buying a Z06. There has been some talk about swirls marks on new Vettes lately (including that swirly red one).

Mercedes really does a beautiful job with their paint. They really put on a lot of clear coat. You can see the depth by just looking at the paint. After two years my wife's Mercedes does not have the slightest scrach or swirl mark in it. The clear coat on the new Mercedes is definately hard.

[Surfer]

I've wondered what makes some clears harder then normal. My truck had pretty hard clear on the hood (no repaint, owned since new) but the rest of the truck was fairly easy. My sisters Explorer has rock hard clear, OC and yellow Edge cutting pad and following up with OP and blue pad got maybe half the swirls out, I gave up after working all day on it.

[killrwheels@autogeek]

most car paint applications have "hardners" and "curing" agents added. It could be a simple as how much GM uses versus other manufacturers.