Water-based paints are the rule in the U.S. (thank you EPA; that little rule
> change is the reason for so many late '80's/early '90 US cars having paint
> adhesion problems, by the way), but I don't know that to be true in Europe,
> Japan, or Korea.
>
> Anyway, automotive paints were NEVER lead-based in your lifetime nor mine
> (maybe never). What they were was volatile (organic) solvent (VOC) -based
> and that's what the EPA put an end to in the late '80's. That caused big
> problems for a while since the rules were changed before the technology was
> there for water-based paints. (Thank you, EPA. I had an '87 F150 that had
> paint problems for exactly this reason.)
>
> Also, a "hard" paint or coating is much more likely to be brittle and chip
> than a "soft" coating. The soft coating will deform in an impact and absorb
> the energy of impact while a hard coating can't deform and is more likely to
> crack and chip to dissipate the energy. I think the biggest factor, though,
> is the strength of adhesion to the primer layer under the top-coat. Combine
> a hard surface coat and weak adhesion to the primer and you have a formula
> for chip damage on impact.
>
> --
>
> - GRL
>
> "It's good to want things."
>
> Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist,
> Visual Basic programmer)
> > I noticed the same thing on my 2001 Mercedes E-430. I asked the service
> > manager about it and he said that all automotive paints are now
> > water-based and are much softer than the lead-based paints they used to
> > use...therefore they are more prone to chipping. I am not an expert on
> > automotive paints, so don't know if this is true or not, but it was a
> > plausisble explanation.
> >
> > dulles wrote:
> >
> > > I've noticed a lot of paint chipping from rock strikes on my two Lexi. > A
> > > buddy of mine does detailing on the side and said he has noticed more > than
> > > the usual paint chipping on LEXUS cars. He does a lot of cars other > than
> > > LEXUS. Anyone else notice more than usual paint chipping?
> > >
> > > -d
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>