I don’t remember exactly what years anymore but there was a switch from petro paints to water based paints and some folks had some problems trying to adjust to it to get a decent finish. There were product problems I think and also learning curves on getting the paint to adhere to the primers and base coats. Also back then they switched from a single stage paint to a base coat/clear coat system to try to provide a higher gloss finish that people had been complaining about. I still don’t think we are getting a very smooth finish but a lot better than what it was. EPA was involved.
Not sure I can agree to that statement. The paint on our 2010 Volvo still polishes up like it should and feels smooth when waxing. Same for our 2018 Ford Fiesta .
may be different dates for different makes, for Nissan for example they were transitioning in early 2000s and my 2001 was still “old paint” and held up for 10+ years before I sold it, then I had 2003 Sentra painted “new formula” and it flaked off everywhere after 9 years
I did find one complaint about 2002 Celica’s.
According to the website, Toyota did not use a clearcoat on red and white paints.
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