Paint Hardness Chart

AudiTTman

AudiTTman

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I got bored this cloudy Sunday morning, and i decided to make a helpful little Paint Hardness chart that goes with the make of each vehicle. I'm already under the impression that Corvettes, Audi's, BMW's have some pretty hard CC. On the other hand Honda's being very soft. I was hoping maybe you guys could tell me how Mazda, Nissan, Toyota(Lexus), Mitsubishi..etc just so i have any idea for future details. I'd rather know what I'm dealing with before hand, than find out while doing the job haha.
 
toyota(lexus) has some of the softest clear coats, bmw's flat blacks and carbon blacks also have extremely soft clear coats
 
AudiTTman said:
I got bored this cloudy Sunday morning, and i decided to make a helpful little Paint Hardness chart that goes with the make of each vehicle. I'm already under the impression that Corvettes, Audi's, BMW's have some pretty hard CC. On the other hand Honda's being very soft. I was hoping maybe you guys could tell me how Mazda, Nissan, Toyota(Lexus), Mitsubishi..etc just so i have any idea for future details. I'd rather know what I'm dealing with before hand, than find out while doing the job haha.
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Good idea, wish I had some useful info to contribute.

I'd also be interested in knowing if the reported Corvette hard CC is exclusive to Corvettes or whether it's a feature across GM models. As I'm now going to have a relative's Hyundai to detail regularly I'd be interested in any info re: their CC/paint properties.

TL
 
I'm no expert but I have worked on 3-4 GM vehicles this past year. They ALL seemed to be pretty hard IMO. This included a CTS, an Avalanche, and GMC sierra. Not sure if they're as hard as the vette CC, which might have a different paint process....but maybe it doesn't.

Lexus seemed soft to me...easy to correct with a PC
Mazda SEEMED soft but I've read where people reported them as on the harder side. I've also read in the past where Ford (read MAZDA also) is a MEDIUM level on the hardness scale. Medium is my impression on a F-150 I worked on.
 
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I have found that the hardness of ford's CC's are vehicle dependent. My friends Rangers's CC was a medium hardness where as the CC on my GF's Escape is pretty darned hard. Harder than the CC on my TBSS
 
Rocket,

I did a search and couldn't locate. If you have an idea where it might be located, that would be great.

Thanks
 
Its gone. Paint hardness will vary with year and color within the same manufacturer. You cant categorize every brand. In order to do this correctly, you need to log year, and color too. Also, you have to watch out for repaints.

For example, infiniti paint in 2005 was soft, than they switch to a hard clear coat, now they have a "self healing" clear coat.
 
Anyone have any idea on hardness of 2006 Pontiac G6 (slate grey metallic) and 2008 Pontiac G5 (black) ?
 
D&D Auto Detailing said:
Its gone. Paint hardness will vary with year and color within the same manufacturer. You cant categorize every brand. In order to do this correctly, you need to log year, and color too. Also, you have to watch out for repaints.

For example, infiniti paint in 2005 was soft, than they switch to a hard clear coat, now they have a "self healing" clear coat.
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Do you know if the clear coat on a 2006 infiniti is soft like you said it was in 2005? I have a 2003 g35 but was thinking of upgrading to a 05 or 06 model.
 
waynekj said:
Do you know if the clear coat on a 2006 infiniti is soft like you said it was in 2005? I have a 2003 g35 but was thinking of upgrading to a 05 or 06 model.
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I have a 04 G35 and it's med soft. Had a scratch on my hood that wasn't very deep, but it took some SIP and orange pad to get it out with a pc. Tried a white pad, but it didn't work, made several passes. Steped down to 106 and a white pad and finished off with 87MC on a blue pad. So it tells me that the cc is not that soft. Hope this helps.
 
waynekj said:
Do you know if the clear coat on a 2006 infiniti is soft like you said it was in 2005? I have a 2003 g35 but was thinking of upgrading to a 05 or 06 model.
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Black 2003 Infiniti M45 checking in... and I must say this paint is pretty solid. Now, I've read on an Infiniti forum that the newer (06-08 M's) paint isn't as solid.
 
Dodge seems pretty easy to correct. . as least mine does
 
waynekj said:
Do you know if the clear coat on a 2006 infiniti is soft like you said it was in 2005? I have a 2003 g35 but was thinking of upgrading to a 05 or 06 model.
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I have had three infinti from 2005 g35 to 2007 g35 and now a ex35 the 2005 chipped really bad i hated how the paint help up on the hood and front bumper.The coupe was like night and day same driving same roads never had a chip or a problem keeping the car looking new .We have an ex35 now 9000 Miles still looks new
 
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