BRIANxJDM

i want to go CTR sometime in the future and i want to see how long will factory paint last because i dont want to paint my whole car.

teggsr925

depends on how you take care of it, the weather, wat it goes thru. but itll last a long *** time

FijiBlueFG2

I'd worry about the clear coat more than the paint.

batallic

also what it goes through, like rain, snow, heat, salt, road grime

K5^

SoCal doesn't see much snow ergo no road salt. Garage is a plus for longevity as well.

FijiBlueFG2

SoCal? Oh please. SoCal and Florida...where even POS cars look nice.

K5^

^Haha. We don't have mad tyte cold airs like you east coast cats do.

BRIANxJDM

well car is in garage and is outside for about 10 hours a day for work and school, and thanks guys!

BRIANxJDM

how much is it to clear coat my car. if that is the problem?

xkrntamax

clear coat is very thin. clear coat is less than 1/100th of an inch thick.
Use wax that has safe to clear coat. Use Clay bar once a month.
Use good product, like zymol or zaino...(only available at the online store)

Clear Bra will help a lot! = $$$$

rileyrat

Unless you get a factory fail hood like mine...Had it for about a month when I noticed the paint is a bit wavy, meaning it's too thin in spots. Honda isn't the greatest about quality factory paint these days, it's one of the ways they save money.

Just take good care of it, and use clear coat safe products like everyone else said. Chances are you will be ready to repaint it long before the paint is "bad" on it.

FijiBlueFG2

I've given up on the paint. Too much upkeep. When my 16hr-per-day garaged, rarely-sees-inclement-weather, gets-washed-once-a-week Si is still dirtier than my neighbors never-seen-a-garage-or-car-wash F-150, I start to not care anymore. Every time I wash it, the paint seems to get worse.

I figure a couple years down the road I'm going to shell out a few bucks for a quality OEM re-paint.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Age: 16

Now this thread makes sense. How many older cars with good paint do you see driving around? Let's use logic.

My car was almost 14 years old and had good condition paint. It's a case by case basis with tons of variables.

i-VTEC_DOHC

you know what? i did notice that last summer when i was there. i was like damn that car is old and doesnt fit in with the traffic, but damn that paint is nice lol but so-cal we are graced with sun, smog, and rain in some seasons. it snows up here where im at, but they use snow plows, not salt.

i-VTEC_DOHC

my neighbor's teal green ef si has original paint and i think it looks better than my fbp.

theineffable

here's my opinion after owning my 02 si for 7 years...

primer appears good...rock chips usually don't get past the primer...
paint is ok...i just hate how paint fades over time.
clear coat...not very good but far from being the worst. the clear coat is fairly soft and is very susceptable to chips and swirls

in contrast, mazda paint is horrible...their solid colors are still single stage paints that fade + oxidize after a few years. mazda rust protection also sucks. my protege5 has signs of rust all over the car.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

It's the oil based vs water based deal. But it's still not going to affect a well cared for car as much. A poorly maintained one will see the differences though.

rileyrat

Going to respray my car in OEM GGM once I put a lip kit on it. I love the OEM colors for the 06-08. Figure a quality paint show will spray it on to the proper thickness. On a side note, paint at a proper thickness on one panel only is what tips Honda dealers off that you had body work done.

vladd

honda uses single stage paint on certain colors too; the 2 colors that i know of off the top of my head that are single stage are taffeta white and phoenix yellow (only available on the 00-01 itr). just because a paint is single stage doesn't mean that it's bad quality, that has more to do with the type/brand of paint used.

as far as factory paint in general goes, it all sucks; that probably has more to do with "being green" than anything else. i'd guess that most paint that you buy from autobody supply stores these days is more enviromenment-friendly than what you'd buy 10 years ago and it shows.

for me, my main issue is from rock chips, not from salt or anything else. i've managed to even get a rock chip on my quarter panel, which is ****en lame .

96DelSol

My dad had a 92 3000gt with factory black paint, I had never seen a paintjob look so good on a 17yr old car. No fading at all.


Sorry for bad pictures, they are the only ones I have now that the car is sold

wilwaxu

I dont know about Honda, but Ford pretty much gives the "standard issue peeling paint" to every car off the line lol

exvelocity

as many mentionned before,it depends on how you take care of it,what it's exposed to during it's life, you can make it last over 100 years, if it stays in garage it's whole life under the cover, but I'm sure that's not gonna happen,average lifespan of a daily driver's paint that never gets garaged in Cali or Florida is around 7-10 years if it's well taken care of and waxed regularly,it will last longer,depending on what products you use

NitrousG35

Brian, your paint should last a long time if it is properly taken care of. My car is 2 years old and looks as good as when I first took delivery of it. A good sealant and carnauba wax will go a long way towards preserving that paint. As others have mentioned, the environment your car is exposed to will have an impact on how often you detail your car. Using a clearbra protects the front end. The rest of the car's paint can be kept up with proper polishing using a good DA machine and Meguiar's 105/205 polish.

Zumo

Here is a 95 Odyssey van

FijiBlueFG2

Cliffs:

Texas