Paint Thickness

[true-blue]

Had a quote from a professional detailer for a correction and detail on my new acquired gti and the paint measured very thin on his paint gauge?

The car is metalic black.... is this common?

Also my bonnet has significant stone chipping, is this common on the Black ?

Cheers.

[bacillus]

The previous owner(s) could have regularly machine polished the car to get rid of swirls. Swirls are more noticable on black cars! This would reduce your paint thickness (more specifically the clear coat thickness).

As for stone chips, they occur on all cars but are more noticable on a black or dark colour car as the primer is white.

[true-blue]

He measured in the door shuts as he said the lacquer was usually at it's thinest there and it was quite a lot thinner than the rest of the car. In other words the lacquer is relatively thick on the bonnet, roof etc.

I had a black golf tdi for four years as a company car (04 Plate), did over 80k miles in it and the bonnet wasn't as stone chipped as my current car. It's not a big issue as I have a mate with his own body shop so having the bonnet painted is no big deal really.

[winrya]

did he give you an actual thickness measure?

[true-blue]

he did but I struggle to remember exactly,

I have a feeling it was about 65 microns? in the door shuts and 90 odd microns elsewhere  - the paint on his own car was about 130+ microns.

He showed me the gauge as he was measuring it.

[182_blue]

as above, what are the readings ?, i have done the odd golf and there are some low points on even the brand new cars, its just how they come sometimes, even if the previous owner hasn't polished it they get mopped in the factory, parts i have found to be low are bonnet especially near the badge, roof and parts of the door

[182_blue]

he did but I struggle to remember exactly,

I have a feeling it was about 65 microns? in the door shuts and 90 odd microns elsewhere  - the paint on his own car was about 130+ microns.

He showed me the gauge as he was measuring it.

65 is very low, i really would not have a machine on those parts, at least he checked for you  , if its any conciliation i would rather it be a bit thin than it be 300 

[true-blue]

65 was only in the door shuts, everywhere else was between 90 and 100 I think

[winrya]

Polishing to remove swirls with a final finish polish will generally only remove a little clearcoat.  Generally less than 2 microns.  Door shuts are commonly thin on paint.  I wouldn't be too worried, get it looking good and then just maintain the finish with a good washing technique and some nice paint cleaners, sealents/waxes

[182_blue]

65 was only in the door shuts, everywhere else was between 90 and 100 I think

ahh, sorry didnt read that, as above thats not too bad then, still he needs to be careful , then you need to follow a proper wash dry regime so you dont inflict more swirling so another polish isnt needed 

[true-blue]

I'm pretty careful, washmits, two buckets etc.

I knew the car was going to need a correction when I bought it, helped with the price though

[Tarmac_Terrorist]

I took PTG readings all over my car prior to a recent machine polish. Generally most areas were around 120-130 microns. However, then thin areas were the front edge of the bonnet and the bottom 4cm of the tailgate where it read about 100-115 microns. You will tend to find that metallics have slightly thicker clearcoat apparently.

Apparently, Golfs typically do have fairly thin paint and even my Dad's and my Father in Law's MKV's all have similar readings to mine in the same areas.

I wouldn't worry too much - unless your taking a machine to it every 6 months and plan to keep the car several years, it shouldn't be too much of a concern. As said, I'd personally get it corrected and then maintain carefully onwards