Faded Paint - Product Choices

[reasoned]

All,

My mom has a fairly high end luxury car from the early 00's, she never takes care of it at all. The paint (red) has become a bit faded and she complains about it now (a little late, eh?). I haven't looked to closely at it but I am guessing that it has a clear coat. I did not see any clear coat failure per se on the vehicle, the paint just looks 'tired'. I have seen other red cars with this problem.

So, given my assumptions above, which cleaning/polishing product do you guys recommend starting with?

Thanks!

[Cole Ziegler]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

A polish would get you closer to what your looking for. Pics would help. If your working by hand Id try Ultimate Compound, ColorX, or SwirlX. A dual action polisher such as the PC 7424 or Meguiars G110 would make the process much easier, especially with a product like M105 followed by M205.

[ColonelCash]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

I don't know if I would jump straight into M105 for this car without seeing its condition first.

Remember, always start with the LEAST aggressive products.

Some good items to remove swirls and bring a finish back to life are:
M80, M83, D151, M66, M205, SwirlX, Ultimate Compound

Also, don't forget to clay the surface prior to using a polish like those listed above. Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit would be a good start.

[reasoned]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

Ya, by default I was planning to try:

wash
clay
swirlx <--- check here to see if it was doing the job and then move to scratchx 2.0

This sound OK?

[Murr1525]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

Yeah, thats a good plan.... any chance of getting any pics?

[reasoned]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

Yeah, thats a good plan.... any chance of getting any pics?

Ya, might be a while though, I don't live too close to her - it just struck me when I was looking at her car when we were out to dinner last week.

Also, is ScratchX 2.0 good on a DA polisher? If not, I guess I would move to Ultimate Compound if SwirlX was not doing the trick.

[Eddie6th]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

As you say your vehicle is from 00. I seen a red mitsubishi recently from that year and the paint was all faded,except for all the color matched plastic parts...bumper,mirrors,trim. They looked brand new. But the appearance of the bodywork looked like oxidized single stage paint.

[reasoned]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

As you say your vehicle is from 00. I seen a red mitsubishi recently from that year and the paint was all faded,except for all the color matched plastic parts...bumper,mirrors,trim. They looked brand new. But the appearance of the bodywork looked like oxidized single stage paint.

Ya, that is basically what it looks like. I don't think it is though...

Should I do anything different if it is a single stage?

[Murr1525]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

No.. same process really.

I would consider a pure polish after the SwirlX either way, but esp for single stage.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Faded Paint - Product Choices

Sounds like you have a good plan. Keep us posted with the progress on your mom's car. Good Luck.