What’s different about paint on new cars?

New cars come with new features and effects everyone should be aware of.

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September 8, 2023 - 2:41 PM

The 2023 Honda CR-V Sport Touring. (Honda/TNS)

Q: What is different about the paint jobs on new cars? It looks distinctively different than that on all older cars — like a hard shell coating.

L.F., Park Ridge, Illinois

A: I have noticed the same phenomenon but haven’t given it much thought. After all, I’m a nuts-and-bolts guy. So I turned to PPG for help. “A traditional automotive paint process begins with the application of pretreatment and electrocoat followed by a primer layer. After the primer layer is cured, a topcoat layer of basecoat and clearcoat is applied and cured.…

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