The Best Auto Paint Type for Your Car

Selecting the best type of auto paint for your car or motorcycle can be overwhelming with all the different types available and sales hype associated with many commercial sites.  My goal in this article is to summarize the factors that are most critical in selecting an auto paint type and use the factors to give recommendations for a paint type to purchase. 

There are many factors that go into choosing the right type of auto paint for your situation but likely the most critical factors are:

• Appearance
• Longevity
• Ease of Use (Both for the car owner and painter)
• Total Cost

Focusing on these considerations I’ll walk you through the process and hopefully we will have helped you make the best decision for your prticular situation.

Do I Really Need Primer?

This question comes up a lot and the short answer I give is yes. If you are truly looking for the best finish in the end you must begin with a good foundation.  The first step to ensuring a paint job that lasts is the proper selection and use of a primer. Primer is a wide category consisting of the  following categories:

• Anti-corrosive Primers – prevent metal surfaces from corroding
• Primer Surfacers – designed to fill small dings, dents and scratches
• Primer Sealers – seal off undercoats in preparation for applying color coats
• Adhesion Primers – ensures adhesion to a particular surface (typically metal or plastic)

This may seem overwhelming at first but keep in mind that most paint jobs require only one or two of those types for a great finish since products will often function in multiple categories. I’ll give more detail on which primers are best in our next section.  If the paint on your vehicle is already in good condition (no cracking, peeling, severe gloss loss, fading etc) then primer may not be required but it is best to use one when you can afford to do so. However, you should check with the manufacturer of the paint brand you choose to confirm it is recommended for use without a primer.

What kind of primer should I buy?

As I mentioned in the above section, there are a lot of primer options in the market. Choosing the best primer depends on the condition of your vehicle.  However, we’ll summarize the best options for purchase based on the factors we discusses earlier and our knowledge of the industry as a whole. To begin, if you have any bare metal on your vehicle we strongly recommend a 2K (2 part) epoxy primer to recoat those areas first. Epoxy primer is generally the best option for adhesion to metal and providing corrosion resistance.  While you may nor have bare metal on your car or motorcycle to begin with, some bare metal areas may be exposed as you or your painter sands out imperfections and applies body filler to repair dents, dings, and the like. Often only a quart or two is all that is needed to spot prime areas where bare metal is exposed over the whole vehicle. Although spot priming may be sufficient, for best results I recommend using a quality epoxy primer over the entire vehicle for added corrosion resistance and adhesion. On areas where there is a lot of small dings, scratches or body filler it’s a good idea to use a 2K (two part) urethane primer surfacer after you have applied the epoxy primer. Urethane primers typically offer better filling and sanding than epoxy primer so a combination of epoxy primer for the adhesion and corrosion to metal followed by a good urethane primer for filling and sanding is the best approach for preparing your vehicle for painting. If your vehicle is in pretty good shape already, (meaning it doesn’t have a lot of dings, scratches, flaking etc), a 2K urethane sealer is a great option for providing a good foundation for your color coats. Some paint manufacturers offer urethane sealer in a wide range of colors so you can match the color of your primer closer to the color of your final finish. Matching the color of your primer closer to the color of your final finish reduces the amount of color coats (usually the most expensive part) needed and when those inevitable stone chips or scratches happen they are less visible over a similar color primer than over just a typical grey primer which is commonly used. For primer selection we generally recommend avoiding lacquer type primers, aerosol or spray bomb primers, and enamel primers due to potential issues with lifting or wrinkling, and cracking long term.

What kind of color coat should I use?

There are a lot of color coat options available to auto paint refinishers today with varying performance and costs. Considering the durability, appearance, and general cost of these many types of product I would highly recommend either purchasing a 2K urethane single stage topcoat or, for easier long term maintenance, a urethane base/clear system. A urethane single stage is a product that provides both the color of your finish and the gloss sheen in one product while a base/clear system consists of a color layer (the basecoat) and an additional clear layer (called clearcoat) to provide the final glossy appearance. Seemingly the urethane single stage is the obvious route because it requires only one product to achieve both gloss and color, however, the base/clear approach has some key advantages in the ease of use, and durability aspects.  In fact, despite the added cost and extra steps,a vast majority of all car or motorcycles rolling off assembly lines today are painted with a base/clear process. Base/clear offers enhanced metallic and pearlescent application and effect and generally last longer than single stage finishes. Comparing the two I find that in the early years after painting base/clear and single stage finishes may have similar appearance but as time goes on the base/clear finish will require less maintenance (ie waxing and detailing) to maintain the high gloss finish. Costs are higher for a base/clear system versus a single stage system but the overall service life improvements will reduce maintenance cost and likely preserve a greater resale value for your vehicle. Savvy shoppers are finding deals online for base/clear kits that are comparable or even less in cost than many single stage finishes. Other color coat finishes available include acrylic enamel and lacquer types of finishes.  While acrylic enamel can offer some nice finishes with decent longevity, it generally does not last as long as a urethane finish and when you do smart comparison shopping most find the cost differential is not large between an acrylic enamel single stage and a urethane single stage. I do not recommend lacquer finishes unless you are trying to accomplish a period correct restoration of a vintage vehicle.  Lacquer finishes tend to lose gloss faster, and ultimately crack and chip more than urethane, or acrylic enamel finishes.

What clearcoat should I purchase?

Choosing the clear coat should be a decision based on the base coat you purchase.  Nearly all manufacturer’s of basecoat also make clear coat and you can be assured that buying their clearcoat and basecoat together will be the safest approach to achieving a long lasting finish. In some cases one brand’s clearcoat will not work over another brand’s basecoat so it is best to stick within a brand for your entire system, primer included.  Smart buyers are finding deals online for auto paint and motorcycle paint kits that include all the needed paint materials for great prices.