Talk to me about ceramic lacquer chaps
Discussion
Ok, got a new (to me) car. Had a few stone chips on it front and bonnet (sloping bonnet so vulnerable), looked into getting these sorted for purely cosmetic reasons, spoke to a reputable local body shop (they do all the repairs for the local VW/Audi dealer), got a quote (£500 for front wing, bonnet and bumper area).
Eventually decided against it mainly because I was concerned about the car not being original any more, fresh paint and all that, and to be honest it just wasn't that bad, me being fussy.
Two weeks later, something flicked up from car in front on motorway and hit front wing with a hell of a bang. Slight dent and minor paintwork damage, enough that it's really got to be done.
Now being ultra cautious I thought I'd get a quote from Mercedes, knowing it'd be dear, but thinking if it wasn't a lot more it'd maybe give me peace of mind that it had been done as well as poss.
Unsurprisingly it was a lot dearer so I'm back with using first guy.
However the Mercedes chap mentioned that the car has ceramic lacquer, you can tell because the paint code has a C in front of it. Apparently it's slightly more scratch resistant, the Germans use it because they like putting cars through car washes. So he says it'll have to have ceramic lacquer again to be a perfect match.
Spoke to bodyshop after deciding Merc too dear, mentioned the ceramic lacquer, do they use it? Chap says it's just a gimmick, they use the same normal stuff they use on Porsche's, Audi's etc, no one could possibly tell the difference.
So now I'm wanting to use the local bodyshop but mildly bothered about their lack of using ceramic lacquer. I guess lacquer is clear so it must look the same, so am I concerning myself with this unnecessarily?
Eventually decided against it mainly because I was concerned about the car not being original any more, fresh paint and all that, and to be honest it just wasn't that bad, me being fussy.
Two weeks later, something flicked up from car in front on motorway and hit front wing with a hell of a bang. Slight dent and minor paintwork damage, enough that it's really got to be done.
Now being ultra cautious I thought I'd get a quote from Mercedes, knowing it'd be dear, but thinking if it wasn't a lot more it'd maybe give me peace of mind that it had been done as well as poss.
Unsurprisingly it was a lot dearer so I'm back with using first guy.
However the Mercedes chap mentioned that the car has ceramic lacquer, you can tell because the paint code has a C in front of it. Apparently it's slightly more scratch resistant, the Germans use it because they like putting cars through car washes. So he says it'll have to have ceramic lacquer again to be a perfect match.
Spoke to bodyshop after deciding Merc too dear, mentioned the ceramic lacquer, do they use it? Chap says it's just a gimmick, they use the same normal stuff they use on Porsche's, Audi's etc, no one could possibly tell the difference.
So now I'm wanting to use the local bodyshop but mildly bothered about their lack of using ceramic lacquer. I guess lacquer is clear so it must look the same, so am I concerning myself with this unnecessarily?
Hm, I am no expert, but I have never heard this term before, smells like snake oil to be, but happy to be corrected if I am wrong.
No offence OP, but you seem to be a world class procrastinator, as my mum used to say, the army needs "gunners" like you
The number of cars on our roads that have not had paint is minisicule, believe me, it doesn't make them less original.
Edited to say I know about ceramic pottery laquer, but never heard the term in relation to car painting.
No offence OP, but you seem to be a world class procrastinator, as my mum used to say, the army needs "gunners" like you
The number of cars on our roads that have not had paint is minisicule, believe me, it doesn't make them less original.
Edited to say I know about ceramic pottery laquer, but never heard the term in relation to car painting.
Edited by Speedracer329 on Thursday 28th April 18:57
Speedracer329 said:
No offence OP, but you seem to be a world class procrastinator, as my mum used to say, the army needs "gunners" like you
Yup, you're dead right, I admit it. Thing is, having decided not to have the car painted because I preferred to keep it original, I'm now forced to by this blimmin ding in the wing.
Just don't want to get it wrong and this ceramic paint thing is bothering me (but possibly not enough to pay Mercedes an extra £500 for the same job!)
http://www.talkford.com/topic/66995-ceramic-lacque...
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&a...
From surfing the net, it apppears to be used on vases and household items including laminate flooring so may be tougher but not indestructible. It seems the actual cost difference is small so maybe try and find another company who does use it.
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&a...
From surfing the net, it apppears to be used on vases and household items including laminate flooring so may be tougher but not indestructible. It seems the actual cost difference is small so maybe try and find another company who does use it.
Just a quick follow up to this.
The local bodyshop (who do repairs for the local VW and Audi dealers, have a low bake oven, mix paint on site, and generally seem a pretty professional outfit) quoted me £500 to repair and paint the minor ding in the wing, respray the bonnet to rid the stone chips, and paint the front bumper to rid the stone chips. The chap told me that as a rough guide they work on about £200 a panel, and because I'm having three areas done together he's doing it for £500.
Given my concerns about the ceramic lacquer I decided to get a quote from the Mercedes bodyshop thinking if it were a couple of hundred quid or so more then maybe I'd have them do it to assuage my concerns and keep it all MB original.
Got their quote today (had just been a guide price over the phone before), £1,317-56
I think I'll go with the first bodyshop...
The local bodyshop (who do repairs for the local VW and Audi dealers, have a low bake oven, mix paint on site, and generally seem a pretty professional outfit) quoted me £500 to repair and paint the minor ding in the wing, respray the bonnet to rid the stone chips, and paint the front bumper to rid the stone chips. The chap told me that as a rough guide they work on about £200 a panel, and because I'm having three areas done together he's doing it for £500.
Given my concerns about the ceramic lacquer I decided to get a quote from the Mercedes bodyshop thinking if it were a couple of hundred quid or so more then maybe I'd have them do it to assuage my concerns and keep it all MB original.
Got their quote today (had just been a guide price over the phone before), £1,317-56
I think I'll go with the first bodyshop...
PPG WEBSITE
I used to repair Mercedes leasehire/fleet cars and they insisted all their models were repaired using ceramic clearcoat. TBH, on a secondhand car, I very much doubt you would be able to tell the difference but it does dry noticably harder than "normal" lacquer. So hard that if the car had stood for a day after coming out of the oven, it would take forever to flat & polish!
I used to repair Mercedes leasehire/fleet cars and they insisted all their models were repaired using ceramic clearcoat. TBH, on a secondhand car, I very much doubt you would be able to tell the difference but it does dry noticably harder than "normal" lacquer. So hard that if the car had stood for a day after coming out of the oven, it would take forever to flat & polish!
Vulgar LS2 said:
you really cant tell the difference.
No you can't, but the car really does look stunning, nice one 
OP, get yourself to the first bodyshop. Unlike a
Oh, and it's about a third of the price, FFS!
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