When you purchased your most recent car, chances are the first impression you had came from the paint finish. It's what you stared at for nearly an hour, and it's what you admire still today. The manufacturer created a window sticker with an impressive list of features, but all of those features took a back seat to that initial look.
We buy with our eyes. This explains why the majority of the cost involved in building a new car factory goes into the paint finish system. Carmakers know your first impression of the paint finish is key to making the sale. The color, vividness and quality of the paint finish matters most.
Automotive paint history dates back a full century. Although man has been coating metal, wood and stone for several thousand years, motor vehicle specific coatings were not invented until a few years after Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company. These early automotive coatings were varnish products carried over from the horse and buggy industry.
Today’s paint systems, mostly waterborne, multi-stage, clearcoat systems, are better than ever. The new paint systems offer extraordinary colors, vivid depth and clarity, extremely high gloss, and new levels of durability. Still, even with the improvements, new car finishes must be waxed and properly maintained.
DO NEW CAR FINISHES REALLY NEED CAR WAX?
The improvements in clearcoat paint technology have started a distressing trend at new car dealerships. Many new car dealers are telling their clients that the paint on their new car is maintenance-free and does not require car wax. This could not be further from the truth. While the improved paint technology has created a longer lasting finish, the finish does oxidize and it is not impervious to environmental conditions. It still requires regular care, including car wax.
New car dealers who don't preach maintenance-free paintwork seem to go the route of a life-time or 5-year paint sealant upgrade. While not as harmful as suggesting new paint is maintenance-free, a true life-time sealant product is not available. The technology simply does not exist. Think about it. How can a car wax product with a coating thickness less than one millionth of an inch protect your car for a lifetime, let alone for more than a few months? It simply can't. What you're really buying with a paint sealant upgrade is a maintenance contract. Please read the fine print before you buy the package.
There are distressing signs that the message from new car makers and dealers is having an impact on retail car care product sales. I have recently noticed a trend with large retailers, starting with Target and K-Mart, that has them pushing car wax products from mid-store to the rear and reducing the shelf space.
SPECIAL PAINT HYPE
There have been some reports that European car paint systems are significantly different and require different care. According to my research, there is little difference. Any notion that the paint on European cars has better color, vibrancy or richness is a matter of personal preference.
There are a few high-end car manufacturers, namely Mercedes-Benz, experimenting with ceramic paint systems. Ceramic paint systems are still too new to provide any concrete feedback.
DuPont and PPG manufacture more than 80% of all automotive paint used worldwide. A third player, BASF, manufactures paint for many of the European car manufactures and a few car models in the United States. It is well known that both PPG and DuPont have responded to complaints that their clearcoats were easily scratched. As a result, the new clearcoat systems from PPG and DuPont are slightly harder than the BASF system, but the difference is not significant.
Paints from different manufacturers do not favor one wax coating over another. The notion that a wax is produced specifically for a make and model of car, such as an Acura NSX or a BMW Z3, is ridiculous. Car owners should beware of any company or person marketing such products. There is no factual basis for a special wax blend based on the car brand or model.
