Been toying with taking the stripes off. Of course, paint fading a big concern. Anybody have experience doing this with an Astro Black car (pics in gallery) -- it's going on 4 years old. Guess worst-case I could just have new stripes applied (the current ones are getting a little tattered looking).

Appreciate any info

 

Unless the car's finish has been abuse or not waxed during it's life, fade, if any is typically negligible.
What it's more shown is that the small scratches in the clear coat make the rest of the car look dull compared to the paint under the stripes.
A talented professional detailer with good polishing compound can make the finish look like there's never been any stripes on the car.

- Erik

 

I had my viper stripes on for about 3 years and you could see where they were in the LB paint on the hood. I don't notice it anymore. You should be fine

 

I can still see a faint ghost image where the old graphics were on my car ("Cool Blue" paint, parked outside 24/7, graphics were on the car for three years and have been off for about a year now.) It doesn't jump out at you though, and I'm sure I'm the only one that sees it.

The fading in the paint that wasn't shielded by the vinyl is actually down in the colored pigment layer, which is inaccessible under the factory clearcoat. If you've had stripes/graphics on for any significant amount of time, there *will* be a color difference between the covered and uncovered paint, especially with a pearlescent or metallic color. There's nothing that a detailer can do about it, no matter how talented.

 

good info, thanks