Does clear coat diminish by itself?

[Nicolas]

Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be detailing a family member's car. The car is now about 10 years old, and has never been detailed by my family. The car has no previous owners, so the only people that could have detailed the car, is the dealer. (I doubt they would've done that, except when we bought it)

If I now take a paint thickness reading, can I assume this reading to be the entire coating as it was put on in the factory? (And thus have 0.3 - 0.5 mils of margin) Or will environmental effects cause the clear coat to diminish in a measurable quantity over the years? (I'm living in Belgium, so no extreme conditions)

An other question related to that detail:
Can I just use a bottle of water and spray that on the car when claying? Until now I've always used Quick Detailer as a lubricant for the clay, but I'm going through 3/4th of a bottle for each car I clay. Using water would be a little less expensive.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Does clear coat diminish by itself?

The clear itself really shouldn't diminish on its own over time. Unless you're seeing some sort of clear coat failure then your paint thickness readings should indeed tell you the total thickness of all layers of paint combined (primer, color coat, clear coat) and your assumption that the clear coat comprises that top 0.3 - 0.5 mils is correct.

If you must deviate from a traditional quick detailer as a clay lube, at least add a couple drops of car wash soap to a spray bottle of water rather than using just plain water. Water alone isn't a great lubricant so a couple of drops of car wash soap will give the lubricity you want. Of course, you may find that you need (or at least want) to rewash the car after claying this way to remove any soap residue, which you don't need to do with a quick detailer. Keep in mind, also, that some dishwashing detergents, if used this way, can cause some clay to degrade rapidly. Stick with a small amount of car wash soap and you should be fine.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Does clear coat diminish by itself?

I've had a few cars that I've cared for for years and all of a sudden the CC fails!
It really stinks and I have to explain to customers all the time that it's not the wax that is put on TOP of the paint that won't affect the CC and Basecoat bond and there is nothing you can do to prevent it.

I've always used water and car soap. As Mike stated you might want to rewash but I don't do that. I pay close attention to the amout of suds I'm producing and wipe with a detaile spray after cleaning the paint.