GrigioTR

I have been lurking on the forum learning as much as I can on 996tts and have a couple of questions.

With the original factory paint what should the depth be and what if any variance could I expect as I meter around the car? Are there any specific areas that came from the factory with thicker or thinner paint coverage?

What were the OEM tires on the '03s?

Thanks

pilot996

When I metered my '02 996tt it was 4 mils all around with paint meter +/- .5.

Hope this helps.
DW

GrigioTR

Thanks Pilot996,

I metered a candidate car that went from 6mm on the hood to 9.5-10mm on the doors. Seemed to be a lot of variance and caused me to post the question to the forum

Love to hear from others!

Thanks in advance,
GrigioTR

pilot996

sounds like heavy paint to me......I'd be very cautious. I walked away from another turbo that had 10 mills of paint on the hood, when they claimed it was never painted. It had 4-6 mills everywhere else.

D

Trader220

9 to 10 and that kind of variance says the cars had paint work, no question in my mind based only on the data you provided. Best I can offer without seeing the car myself.

CLL ACAB

I just purchased a CPO MBZ for my wife and went through this exercise. On the MBZ, we had readings of 4 to 5 over the whole car. The 5's were on the top surfaces, hood, etc., as they get a little extra paint due to sun/heat, etc. We looked at one that had reading up to 12 - clearly had been repainted - and it was a CPO through a dealer! The dealer claimed the car was perfect.....just goes to show.....

GrigioTR

Thanks to everyone who repsonded, I will use this information as I continue my search.

GrigioTR

adam_

Why the concern with paint thickness?

I'd be concerned with poorly repaired damage- or extensive damage- but a coat of paint on a car that is pretty much a commodity is not something that I loose sleep over (any more, used to be nutty about it).

Anyway, there is NO cpo that I have seen that requires 'no paint work'... BMW. MB, Porsche. All repairs must be to their standards (indeed, if there are certain size dings, chips or scratches many cpo guidelines will instruct that the panel must be refinished prior to certification proceeding...)

So is 'perfect paint' of considerable value any more for a car that you are gonna drive? (Not talking collectibles)

A

CLL ACAB

Adam,

I would disagree. There is no way that a body shop is going to match the consistency of the factory paint - and the paint meter will reflect that. This was evident on one car that I did look at that had readings of 10-12. When I took it to a MBZ factory authorized shop for inspection, he told me that he didn't even need to use the meter and he could tell that it had been painted - extensively. The meter confirmed it. To the untrained eye, it was not visable. We were guessing that the car had been key'ed as many of the lower panels had paintwork. In addition, paintwork could be reflective of more extensive damage, which is I think what most people are concerned with.