Found this on the net, does it apply to our Crossfire?


"At the end of 2003, Mercedes Benz put into production a new scratch-resistant clear coat lacquer made up of nano-sized ceramic particles, which are baked and hardened in the paintshop oven, just like you’d bake pottery in a kiln. This process results in an extensively cross-linked, very hard paint finish that stands up better to mechanical car washes and day to day abuse. This clear coat, called CeramiClear from PPG, is the only nanotechnology clear coat used on Mercedes production lines and is approved for the repair of Mercedes and Nissans."

 

Hope it is on all of our Crossfires.

 

I would not doubt that it does because it's also more difficult to remove swirls than any other paint I've had.

 

Plus our cars were built by Ghia and not Mercedes.

 

I am curious because I have read posts in the past about soft paint on Crossfires ala lots of paint chips in the front. I went to a car bra for this reason.

 

The paint seems fine on these cars. The clearcoat is way too soft imo.

 

Crossfires do not have the "nano-paint" that is used on upper end Mercedes products. Sorry.

The process used to paint and cure that type of paint is very expensive as I remember. There's a special procedure needed to apply the paint, and afterward it needs to cure in a 300+ degree oven.

FYI.....on a Mercedes-Benz vehicle......the way to tell if the car has nano-paint is the letter "c" preceeding the paint code.

 

We had a paint care clinic at Maguiar's here in SoCal. It was determined that our clear coat is hard and as a result took more work to remove the scratches than if is was "soft".

 

I have more chips in this paint than any car I have ever owned. There are hundreds of tiny holes to the primer. IMHO this is the worst paint I've seen.

 

Funny thing I hear this on every forum I am a member of.....and thats alot...best paint i ever had was on a VW bug

 

Amen to that. I use Adam's products exclusively and I have to use his Swirl and Haze Remover and the orange pad on the 7424 to see any improvement.

(I'm not affiliated with Adam's in any way. I just really like his products.)

 

There is a big difference between "hard paint" that is difficult to remove swirl marks from and "hard paint" that will resist stone chips. In the very brief time I've owned my Crossfire (7 months, 5000 miles) I have gotten many, many more stone chips in the front end than I have in my PT Cruiser (4 years 4 months, 36,000 miles). Of course most of the chips I've gotten happened one particluarly windy day, specifically in a singe 100 yard stretch of road.

But, the products and techniques I use to very easily remove defects from the paint on the PT do absolutely NOTHING to the paint on the Crossfire. There is a huge difference in how hard (workable) the paint is on the two vehicles, that's for darn sure. It should also be noted that the paint on the PT has remained 99% defect free since my last full clay/polish process 13 months ago. I'm insanely particular about my products and processes when it comes to washing and quick detailing my cars, and if 13 months later the paint is still near perfect I know I'm doing something right.


As to the Crossfire specifically using Mercedes CeramiClear paint, I can't say with 100% cetainty. I do know that the workability of our paint is on par with CeramiClear finished MBs I've worked on in the past.

 

Ditto here. BTW, they do offer our members 10% off with the code crossfire.

Just a reminder.

 

After a nice hot soapy bath to remove all the old polish and wax, (on the car that is) I was amazed how many marks there were. Im surprised how easily my Aero Blue paint has got stone chipped, and also the markes in the laquer. Once I had the stone chips repaired I wanted to build up a good shine again so I used lots of Meguires Chrystal 2 with the help of an electric buffer, giving extra attention to the areas where the chipps and laquer marks were. After buffing this up the results were stunning. So next I applied the Carnuba wax by hand, let it dry for 30 mins, then back with the buffer with the fluffy bonnet. Best results ever! I know and understand some folks dont go for the electric buffer but wow it works for me!
Cheers Steve

 

Sweetness!

 

Same here, love Adam's products.

 

Three years and 26k miles - total of two paint chips on the hood from stones. I've used a bra the whole time (well - the car has) and you may not like the look, but it protects the front end completely. Even better, those damn bugs that bake on the spoiler and grill come right off the bra, especially if you treat it with Armor-All on a regular basis.