Red cars

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 7:31 pm

Anyone here got a red car ?. If so what do you use on it to keep the colour nice ?. They fade so quickly if you don't constantly polish them.

I ran the clay bar over the roof this afternoon which removed months worth of bonded crap and it felt real smooth afterwards. I then added two coats of Autoglym Super Resin Polish which brought the colour back quite good and left a nice shine.

How can I keep it nice ?, or do I just have to give it a coat of resin polish every couple of weeks.

Are polish/waxes etc good at protecting from UV because obviously the sun 'bleaches' red so quickly ?.

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 10:18 pm

I have no clue about what to do with red paint. My Alfa Romeo (a while back) had red non-metallic paint too, and it faded like it wanted to be white the next day.

Nothing really worked.

The only thing that seems to be helping is adding a few layers of clear coat, similar to the OE red found on newer VW's. That lasts much better than the old stuff we have/had.

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 9:26 am

Thanks Alex.

I think I will just have to make the effort to wax it more often.

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 10:03 am

What *may* work is a Protech treatment, but it's a big 'may' -

Protech first cleans the paint, then coats it with a Teflon based layer of clear stuff. It's pretty expensive, and I don't know if it'll protect the paint from fading.

Also, I don't know if it's available in the UK, although there will probably be something similar.

Click here for their brochure (in English)

Brochure (PDF File)

And/or see their site: www.protech.nl

A complete treatment of a small car costs around 500â‚¬ a while back.

harry · Post by **harry** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 7:43 pm

i have the flash red all i do is rinse it down 1st then wash it with car plan car shampoo then rinse it off with cold water and shammy it dry then it's done leaving it nice and shiny if it fades then i'll get it sprayed up again. I find the car plan shampoo leaves a nice shine haven't tried any other products to wash it with so don't know what results you would have with the other stuff.

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:11 pm

Does the Flash Red have a clear coat on it?

I know that VW has a color, called 'Signal Red' here, that is basically red (non-metallic) with a clear coat to keep it shiny. That actually holds up pretty good, as far as reds go.

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 11:52 pm

I don't think it has a clear coat although I'm not 100% sure on that.

hayesey · Post by **hayesey** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:17 am

I clean mine with Auto-glym car shampoo every 2 weekends (if not more often) & then polish it every couple of months.

I've been using Rain-Dance wax to polish it which really restores the colour. u can see the difference in a panel u have done & one next to it that hasent been done. I should imagine that most decent waxes would do pretty much the same. Its an R-reg in Flash red & the colour seems to be staying fine. the worst red for fading is the older Tornado Red which VW stopped using once they realised it ages so badly.

Also inbetween giving a proper wax every now & then I give it a quick polish with Turtlewax Minute-Wax which is really easy to do (good for at shows).

harry · Post by **harry** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:18 pm

the honda accord type r i have is milano red and that doesn't shine like the flash red, as for the clear coat i'm not sure but it is shiny and this guy at work asked me for the colour code as he wants to respray his honda prelude in the same colour as he thinks it got a really nice shine compared to some red colour cars. I was told not to polish new cars until they needed polishing as the colour tends to stay fresh for a few years and then later on polish them if they need it.

polo2k · Post by **polo2k** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:44 pm

the reason why you shouldnt polish a brand new car is that for about 2 months after painting the new paint needs to breath as it still contains solvents which are volitile enough to damage the luster of the paint but not volitile enough to traverse a layer of wax

harry · Post by **harry** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 4:41 pm

which is the best wax to use ? it has to be easy to apply and easy to take off don't want to spend all day polishing....

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 5:42 pm

Harry,

Your question can actually turn into a multiple page topic. There are just so many different waxes out there, and everyone has their own favorite. For me, I'd say Autoglym or Liquid Glass, but ask Josh, and he'll probably say ZymÃ¶l.

Since there isn't a topic concerning your exact question, feel free to open one to get some more opinions, if you prefer.

harry · Post by **harry** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 10:47 pm

ok it's open new topic car wax and tyre shine and why...

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 9:24 pm

@Hayesey I was having a look at your car at the Polo Show and the paint had a nice colour and shine. I spent quite a while on mine for the show and it look good in my mind.
I will have to just wax it more often from now on !.

delipolo16v · Post by **delipolo16v** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 12:13 pm

My polo is flash red and i just bought a vw touch pen and it came with clear coat so that means flash red does have clear coat on it.
Btw i use autoglym everything give it a wash,polish really brings up the color if it's good enough for royalty it's good enough for me!!