Shine On Auto Detailing

My paint is faded and blotchy, can it be saved?

Oxidation is caused by exposure to UV light. Mostly seen on red cars with a single stage paint (no clearcoat), yellow can suffer badly too, and can be seen where the colour fades and becomes blotchy. Although not always totally removable, the colour can usually be significantly improved, and by using UV resistant products it will help to reduce further fading.

It does affect other colours too, but they are not as obvious. If the colour has faded under the clearcoat it will not be possible to rectify with repainting.

This is the bonnet of a 1990 BMW with single stage paint. The whole bonnet looked like the right side of the picture, dull, faded and stained. Careful polishing made a massive improvement, as can be seen on the left of the picture.