Average paint thickness

llively

llively

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Any one know what the average paint thickness is for a new car? Also what measurement is used?

Thanks.
 
llively said:
Any one know what the average paint thickness is for a new car? Also what measurement is used?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
•Which paint-system...
-Single-stage (SS); or BC/CC paint systems?

-Which part/parts (film/film layers)
of a particular paint-system?


•Measurement:
-I've seen it represented in both mils and microns



Bob
 
I am looking for the average thickness for a two stage paint job.
 
llively said:
I am looking for the average thickness for a two stage paint job.
Click to expand...
Again:
The entire paint-system's thickness?
Or, each particular/individual film's thickness(es)
that constitutes the entire paint-system?


Bob
 
llively said:
I am looking for the average thickness for a two stage paint job.
Click to expand...

What kind of car? Most European cars are on the thicker side and most Asian cars are on the thinner side of the scale. American cars can vary greatly.
 
Im looking for mostly asian and american cars.
 
llively said:
Im looking for mostly asian and american cars.
Click to expand...

Asian cars, I would estimate between 100 and 130 microns. American cars can vary greatly, 120 to 180 microns.

You could have the same year and make and have vastly different readings. Nothing is set in stone as far as paint goes.
 
Ok, if I take my car to a detailer for some paint correction. How will they know how agressive they can be without taking the clear coat down to far? For example you generally do not want to remove more than 25% of your clear coat over the life time of the car. Otherwise you risk clear coat failure. So if each manufacture is that different this can make it difficult to judge?

Thank you
 
My 2014 Mazda 3 has 55-80 microns depending on where I take the reading. My hood and doors are around 70. The trunk is 55, while the thicker panels on the lowest part of the car are 80.
 
Dmb5450 said:
My 2014 Mazda 3 has 55-80 microns depending on where I take the reading. My hood and doors are around 70. The trunk is 55, while the thicker panels on the lowest part of the car are 80.
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That's some scary thin readings. Paint cleaners only, no compounds on those readings.
 
Rsurfer said:
That's some scary thin readings. Paint cleaners only, no compounds on those readings.
Click to expand...


I agree, I checked others at the dealership, all the same readings. I have read another thread saying Mazda has the lowest they have ever seen. I'm not sure why they have such low readings.
 
llively said:
Ok, if I take my car to a detailer for some paint correction. How will they know how agressive they can be without taking the clear coat down to far? For example you generally do not want to remove more than 25% of your clear coat over the life time of the car. Otherwise you risk clear coat failure. So if each manufacture is that different this can make it difficult to judge?

Thank you
Click to expand...

It takes some common sense on the detailers part. If you owned the car from new and never had it polished and he got readings of 120-150 mic. he would probably feel it's safe to compound and polish.

However, if he was getting reading of 55 mic. like the poster above, he would probably past.

I'm a huge believer of having a paint gauge before doing any correction work. If there is thin paint you can forewarn your customer and relieve yourself from the liability of a burn through. This will also put the customer on notice in case he uses another detailer the next time.
 
Dmb5450 said:
I agree, I checked others at the dealership, all the same readings. I have read another thread saying Mazda has the lowest they have ever seen. I'm not sure why they have such low readings.
Click to expand...

Thin paint equals more bottom line.:props:
 
Dmb5450 said:
I agree, I checked others at the dealership, all the same readings. I have read another thread saying Mazda has the lowest they have ever seen. I'm not sure why they have such low readings.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's for weight reduction :laughing:

Makes me wonder about my 08 Mazda3
 
llively said:
Ok, if I take my car to a detailer for some paint correction. How will they know how agressive they can be without taking the clear coat down to far?
Click to expand...
I would ask the detailer if I could take a look at their
EPTG before I'd hand them the keys to my vehicle.

llively said:
For example you generally do not want to remove more than 25% of your clear coat over the life time of the car. Otherwise you risk clear coat failure. So if each manufacture is that different this can make it difficult to judge?
Click to expand...
See...You already know what some people fail to
recognize: it's not all about how many times a certain
CC-paint thickness can be buffed/buffed before going
through the CC, to/into the BC...
It's also about preserving the CC's UV
protection that's another very important factor.

Thinning out CC dramatically, reduces its
ability to protect the paint from UV damages:
resulting in premature CC-paint failure.


Bob
 
The industry average for clear is 2.0/2.5 mils.
Having said that I have seen Asian cars with 2.5 total. Just had a 2015 Mini here with 3.0/3.5 total. The paint gauges that do each layer have been proven to be not accurate at all. You should only remove .5 mils over the life of the car.
 
Can you guys recommend a inexpensive tool for measuring paint thickness? I am just a hobbyist and I would rather play it safe.

Thanks

Sent from my HTC M9
 
Chadwilliam1 said:
Can you guys recommend a inexpensive tool for measuring paint thickness? I am just a hobbyist and I would rather play it safe.

Thanks

Sent from my HTC M9
Click to expand...

AG has the High Line Meter for a budget price or you can google it.
 
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