How many times can you polish a car (that is to effectively remove light scratches and swirls) before running out of clear coat?

 

depends on the car's paint micron level. You typically don't want to do a full polish more than twice a year with some minor touch ups in between.

I wouldnt be using menzerna powergloss with a purple foam wool pad, and a flex every month or so. But orange pad+sip and a flex along with various finishers twice a year wont hurt.

If youre really worried, invest in a paint micronometer

 

Well that totally depends on how long you plan on keeping the car. If you plan on keeping your car less than 20 years or so than you'll have no worries whatsoever.

The *average* car has approximately 160 microns of paint (about 50 microns of it being clear coat). You can polish your G at least 5-6 times (or more) before you ever remove 2 microns of clear coat. So you could literally polish your G for over 20 years before you remove the clear coat.

 

very true, now using a rotary, wool pad, and a heavy cut compound, can burn right through clear