Hi,

I am eagerly awaiting my Chili Red R56 CPS...I have always wanted a red car I know that red fades faster than other colours. What is the best way to prevent this from happening? What wash/polish/wax regime do you guys recommend, and how often?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I am definately not afraid of elbow grease!

 

my way would be to garage it during the week and take it out on weekends.

keep it well wax'ed or seal'ed, keep it away from the sun as much as possible...but i dont recommend car covers unless you're going to keep it parked for months at a time.

 

Grey is much worse (err, I guess it's actually better) at fading than any other color. But, that's after years of paint fade. Your red should do just fine as long as you follow the advice of the guru's who come to this thread. And don't let em fool you, there's much more than hydro and prima out there!!! Check out OctaneGuys threads, a ton of how-to's for just the questions you asked.

Conga rats on the new MINI, and welcome to the family!

 

I had a torch red 1998 Corvette and in the year 2007 I put a front spoiler on it. I bought the original GM torch red paint and it matched the rest of the car perfectly. I used nothing but Zaino on that car and the paint never faded at all. The Florida sun is very hard on anything as well as the dreaded Florida "LOVE BUGS"
I now use Zaino car wash as well as the new Zaino Clear Seal on the whole car including the black plastic trim around the wheels Etc. I use the Zaino spray "Grand Finale" (Z8) to keep the shine up after a washing with the Zaino car wash.
I have to say I do NOT work for or sell Zaino products. I buy them just like anybody else can.
Ronnie948

 

The good news is that although single-stage (non-clearcoated) red paint does fade more quickly than most other colors, clearcoated red paint doesn't have much more of an issue with fading than any other clearcoated color.

Of course, you still want to protect your clearcoated paint with a durable protective synthetic wax (Zaino, Prima Epic, Klasse Sealant Glaze, etc). The durable style synthetic waxes (aka sealants) will provide you with the best protection; however, if you like the look of carnauba waxes you can also protect your paint with these waxes... you just have to apply them more frequently to maintain the protection.

Polishes, both abrasive and non-abrasive, will help clean up your paint over time but do not offer protection. (note that I'm using the traditional definition of "polish" here... some manufacturers interchange the terms- just ask on this forum if you're not sure which is which for a particular product) So, although you don't need a polish to prevent fading, you're paint will look its best over time if you polish it from time to time. Most folks here polish once or twice a year (although some OCDers do it more often!).

Again, the good news is that you can keep your new CR looking gorgeous and not faded really quite easily these days! Just a coat of a durable synthetic twice a year and you're set.

Enjoy that Chili Red!!

-Heather

 

Great response Heather and thanks for the suggestions Hmmm to my articles.

I just want to add that a lot of time people confuse oxidation with paint fade. That is, the paint oxidizes, and the paint looks faded. Polishing the paint using abrasives will remove this dead layer that dulls and lightens the paint. Of course, oxidation on clear coat paints isn't really so much an issue as it is on older single stage paints (non clearcoat).

Richard

 

Thank you for all the responses! Mr. Mini will be kept either in carport or garage at work so sun will be minimum (neither of us are sun worshippers - think of the wrinkles <GASP>!)

Richard, good point about oxidation, I think I made that confusion. I'll go check out your threads!

 

This is what polishing can do to oxidized/neglected red paint.





Mark