Do all vehicles have a clear coat?
No, not all vehicles have what is traditionally referred to as a “clear coat” – all vehicles do have some sort of enamel to protect them from oxidizing and fading however a small percentage have this enamel mixed right into the pigmented paint. This is called single stage paint. Paint with a clear coat (or the enamel on top of the pigmented paint) is called two stage paint. 95% of the automobiles sold in North America today have two-stage paint. This means almost all vehicles being manufactured right now come from the factory with a clear coat. Why is my clear coat so important? Your clear coat is important for a few reasons. First of all, it protects the pigmented paint underneath it from oxidizing and fading. It also determines how much luster and gloss your paint has. Unfortunately clear coats are “scratch sensitive” which means they scratch easily and as light reflects through this clear layer of paint it backlights the scratches making them more visible. Most swirls and scratches
