On a car that has been repainted, is there an easy way to tell what type of paint was used on it or would it be impossible to know?

 

Unless you know the painter, no you won't be able to tell what product line the basecoat and clearcoat are from.



You can distinguish single stage from base clear by polishing with a white cloth. But chances are it's been sprayed with base-clear, although Maaco stll uses single stage.

 

You might be able to tell if its a real high quality paint like house of kolor but for most paint jobs you'll never know.