Or more specifically, does red paint oxidise any more than any other colour?
I have a red car. Not my first choice, I got it second-hand and that’s the colour it happened to be. Now it’s suffering from a particularly bad case of oxidised paint and the roof and bonnet is heading towards the land of pink.
Those in the business I’ve spoken to have insinuated this is my own fault for a having a red car and not taking care of it. The suggestion is that red cars are particularly at risk and need love and attention to prevent this happening.
They also say that while they could do a polish job on it that removes the oxidisation, that’s a short term solution that will only have us back at oxidation within the year. So a respray is the only answer. It isn’t an answer that appeals as the cost of the respray would amount to a significant percentage of the worth of the entire car.
So are they right? Do I only have myself to blame and is a respray my only option?
I never heard of it. My wife (g/f at the time) and I both had red cars when we met. Mine I got used (Dodge charger 85) and red wasn’t my first choice. She got her’s new (Toyota corola? 91?) and wanted that color.
After some years my red car was still red except for the front fiberglass ‘nose’ which was pink (apx 92). I had the front (only) repainted and it matched till I got rid of the car.
Hers turned pink in about 5 years we sold it as pink.
So it seems that there are different qualities of paints out there and some are more subject to oxidation then others but it also seems that there are red’s out there that last many years.
What causes the bleaching of the paint is of course the sunlight, keep it out of the sun all day and you should be OK. Some waxes have UV screens in them which may help if regularly applied. I have noidea what kind of love and attention they mean. Some classes of red pigments are very light stable, some not, depending on the precise shade.
Depends on the car. Mid-to-late '70s red GM products are notorious for fading to chalky pink within 24-36 months. At the time, the switch to water-based paints required reformulations that weren’t very durable. Nowadays most cars sold in the US have pretty decent paint jobs and the quality of the materials is much better than it was 25 or 30 years ago.