Sorry chaps, the paint on our Kuga's is waterbased basecoat (the layer under the clearcoat) and this has basically only a coloring effect. All of the other properties of chemical resistance, abrasion resistance and stone chip properties come from the very last clear coat layer only and has no bearing on waterbased paints in any way.
Ford use a very very good product in this area (my company) and I can tell you that this is 98% the same as every other car maker except BMW who have a special clear coat.
I view cars professionally with so called paint defects for warranty claims that are normally chips from flying stones (the same ones that smash glass and headlights on impact). Dents and scratches will happen and the darker the color the more visable the are.
After having 3 Silver cars I chose Chill for my Kuga, after six months and 10,000 miles no dings, some "normal" stone chips. and a brilliant gloss.
It is true to say that we have a thinner layer today but that helps towards lowering emmisions and keeping the vehicle weight down (to get our magic 39mpg)...
Dont wash with washing up liquid as this will remove all the surface protection, remove bird droppings when seen by soaking with wet kitchen roll for 10 minutes, wash with a premium wax shampoo and, keep hand-waxed as often as possible...wet wax is good after every wash and works well in between normal waxing.
Have fun
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