Can a car become too shiny?

[Kurt_s]

Maybe I've been more attuned to it lately, but it seems like the newer sealants are so shiny that vehicles seem to lose their shape.

Yesterday, I saw a dark Prius that looked like a rectangular mirrored box. Somebody did a great job of polishing but it didn't look like a car (didn't look like a Prius). Compared to other vehicles, its body seemed to lose dimension and shape. I could see trees, birds, buildings, curbs, sky and a church's marquis like a rolling mirror instead of the shape of the car.

I'm really struggling with this one. Have we gone too far by making rolling mirrors instead of enhancing the design of the vehicle?

What are your thoughts?

[Emile]

Excellent point but I have concluded that I am a sucker for glossy reflections and I am literally always trying to make my car look like a rolling mirror.

I'm like a fly...I am attracted to shiny objects.

[Blackthorn One]

Maybe I've been more attuned to it lately, but it seems like the newer sealants are so shiny that vehicles seem to lose their shape.

Yesterday, I saw a dark Prius that looked like a rectangular mirrored box. Somebody did a great job of polishing but it didn't look like a car (didn't look like a Prius). Compared to other vehicles, its body seemed to lose dimension and shape. I could see trees, birds, buildings, curbs, sky and a church's marquis like a rolling mirror instead of the shape of the car.

I'm really struggling with this one. Have we gone too far by making rolling mirrors instead of enhancing the design of the vehicle?

What are your thoughts?
What I think is that I don't like clear coat on cars. It makes cars look glassy and cheap IMO. I only like clear coat on pearls, metal flakes, and other metallics, because the clear acts as as a prism to enhance the sparkle of the flake. On a solid color, single stage looks so much richer than clear coat. Non clear coat paint also has the most longevity, because if it gets oxidized, it is only the very top layer, and you can always buff it off to look brand new, no matter how old it is. If it's clear coated and it oxidizes too bad, the whole clear coat fails, and flakes off of the car, or has those big dull patches on the car that CAN'T be polished off.
The problem I think is with clear coat paint, and not with the polishing of paint.
Also, let's be honest, the Prius is pretty boxy looking.

[jpegs13]

Too shiny? Too Rich? Too Thin? Surely you jest, you can never be "too shiny"

[Kurt_s]

The problem I think is with clear coat paint, and not with the polishing of paint.
Also, let's be honest, the Prius is pretty boxy looking.

Yes, the Prius has a unique look.

I tend to agree that single stage paint may look richer but I'm not sure if it's the clear coat that gives it a glassy look. I had a 2000 silver metallic 528i with clear coat that I kept up with a pure wax (no polymers). The paint had a wonderful gloss where you could easily see reflections and glow, but the paint had dimension. In contrast, the Prius looked glassy but flat, like you couldn't tell where one angle ended and another one started.

[mackdaddyhibble]

Noooo never,no such thing as too shiny.My thoughts are if it doesn't appeal to you,then only do what does for your cars,now days there are so many different products out there that you can tailor the look you want.I don't think the shine takes anything away from the car design,except if it wasn't a design that appealed to you in the first place.A wet glossy looking Yugo,is still a ugly car cheap looking car.

[ScottB]

sealants do commonly use gloss to represent the wettness of a wax. I havent however seen one that completely mimics a true wax yet but they are certainly getting closer while losing the plastic wrap look.

[Blackthorn One]

Yes, the Prius has a unique look.

I tend to agree that single stage paint may look richer but I'm not sure if it's the clear coat that gives it a glassy look. I had a 2000 silver metallic 528i with clear coat that I kept up with a pure wax (no polymers). The paint had a wonderful gloss where you could easily see reflections and glow, but the paint had dimension. In contrast, the Prius looked glassy but flat, like you couldn't tell where one angle ended and another one started.
That was a metallic, though. Metallics tend not to reflect as much the surroundings like a mirror, like solid colors do. Was the Prius a solid or a metallic blue?

[Mike Phillips]

Yes.

Yes, a car can become too shiny.

When this happens, the best thing to do is to give me the car.

I'll take care of it while you go get a less shiny car and start over. Try to make sure the car that is too shiny is a collectible muscle car with a big block and all the options. I will suffer with the paint that is too shiny.

:D

[Kurt_s]

1) The Prius was black.

2) Mike, is the collectable with a big block circa a year when single stage paint was the norm?? :laughing:

[Mike Phillips]

2) Mike, is the collectible with a big block circa a year when single stage paint was the norm?? :laughing:



Yes.

Pretty much anything with a big block and single stage paint is a collectible and BLAST to drive down the road... polishing the paint tends to be more fun too...

Speaking of which... it's time to push away from the keyboard and drive home, err I mean blast down the road...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/747/JimmysNewTop03.jpg


:dblthumb2:

[Blackthorn One]

1) The Prius was black.

2) Mike, is the collectable with a big block circa a year when single stage paint was the norm?? :laughing:
Well, that explains it. A clear coated black shiny car is just like a dark mirror.

[sparkie]

rolling mirrors :dblthumb2: I want!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kurt_s]

We come to the possibility that a black clear coat finish can look like a rolling mirror.

We know that Mike wants a shiny car with single stage paint (make that a collectable with a big block engine).

Sooo.... It still begs the question, can a car that looks like a dark shiny mirror be too shiny or perhaps the better word is "glassy?" I think that I have votes both ways. :laughing:

[DARK HORSE]

Me thinks not!!


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/755/medium/IMG_01923.JPG