[Peppergirl]

Hi everyone. I just got my beautiful Micra Crystal Blue 2023 CX-30 GX up in Ontario, Canada. I put a car cover on it the second day I got it and then noticed swirl like micro scratches on the hood in particular. I had it buffed out and then got it final coated. Does anyone else have a soft paint issue like this on their new car?
Totally advise getting the Final Coat paint protection done right away.

 

[SDH]

Paint on most new vehicles today is fragile & basically requires a professional-grade 6+ layer "lifetime" hard ceramic coating applied to properly seal/protect the paint/clearcoat/plastics & prevent scratches, chips, etc. It adds about $2K to the price of an already-expensive new vehicle though. I had that done to my 2022 CX-30 CE after I bought it 13 months ago, & there still isn't a single paint scratch, swirl or chip anywhere to be found on the vehicle today. For clean-polishing, I use Adams Ceramics Waterless on it after it is washed/dried, to reinforce the ceramic coating further (it adds another thin layer of si02/Silica over the "lifetime" ceramic coating to keep it in tip-top shape).

 

[Quix]

The way current clear coat works is that it protect the paint, but shows tiny scratches worse than older paint did. If you wax or ceramic coat your car regularly it'll cover it up. It's either that or give up caring, it does get less obvious when there are more.

Otherwise you can wrap your car in new vinyl every 5 years. That's a good option for expensive cars.

 

[vladyro]

Car covers are sadly known to scratch the paint. Even a small speck of dust caught under it will cause scratches.

 

[Rafletcher]

Modern car paints are water based, and not as hard or durable as they used to be.

 

[kefkafloyd]

There's always PPF... that said, coatings won't help against mechanical swirl marks or rock chips. I noticed a small rock chip on my hood the other day but it's too cold out right now to do touchup paint. Will have to address it in a month or two.

 

[Peppergirl]

Man I wish the dealer had told me this at the get go. Can't they just be upfront so people can get the ceramic coating right away.
Thanks for your input. Appreciate it.

 

[agentSmith]

Man I wish the dealer had told me this at the get go. Can't they just be upfront so people can get the ceramic coating right away.
Thanks for your input. Appreciate it.

I doubt that the ceramic coating is going to protect against the damage done by a car cover, in particular if you cover the car outdoors. There is always going to be some movement of the cover in the wind and, therefore, the cover will rub over the paint in some places causing swirls and other damage. I've seen a lot of evidence of covers making more damage than the elements it was supposed to protect the paint from.

 

[SDH]

A good ceramic coating does make the finish a lot more scratch resistance than just the factory paint/clear-coat. It also adds a lot of depth/luster/nuance to the paint, since you are essentially adding a thicker, more dense/hard (+damage/UV resistant) clear-coat on top of the soft factory clearcoat/paint.