Just out of curiosity, I checked with my friend with the body shop.
1. He doesn't do wheels so he isn't terribly familiar with what the clear is like.
2. He is pretty sure that some wheels have a coating that seems closer to a plastic coating than paint.
3. He does think that the wheels may have more clear on them than the body panels.
4. It still sometimes lifts/peels.
5. He feels that in general, factory clear is more durable than people give it credit for.
6. There definitely is a lot of difference in the hardness or resistance to scratching between different manufacturers. Sometimes between different vehicles from the same manufacturer. Just a guess, but probably from different plants.
7. There are several different clears available with varying degrees of hardness.
8. He uses two coats of clear when doing either a repair or repaint.
9. The clear he uses is very hard and it is not easy to sand through other than on a ridge.
10. In his opinion, the original factory paint job is probably as good as your vehicle will ever have. Even though it's what he does for a living, he would repaint only as a last resort. Polish, wet sand, touch up as needed and unless the flaw absolutely drives you crazy, live with it.
11. His common statement, "What the heck, the minute you drive it off the lot, it's a
used car".
Addendum: He thinks I'm crazy.
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