patchy paintwork

[CaptainSlow]

Hi I'm after some advice please. I have a 2001 Impreza in metallic silver. Over time the paintwork seems to have faded in areas losing the colour and going whiteish. Is this likely to be the laquer...would it polish out do you think or will it require a blowover?

Captain

eta pictures

Edited by CaptainSlow on Friday 12th September 15:17

[Anatol]

Had something looking a bit like this on a customer car last week - not sure if it's the same beast, but in that case it had been hands with something slightly aggressive and sticky on, touching the paintwork and leaving handprints ever so slightly etched into the clearcoat.

A quick sand with a wet trizact disc, then quick mop, and it came up lovely... so if it's a similar thing, yes, it should polish out fine, though it might be a real pain to do by hand... is there a detailer in your area you could get to sort it for you?

HTH

Tol

[mneame]

before going the whole hog with the above, may be worth trying a clay bar and then follow up with polishing. best to try the least aggressive method first imo.

[CaptainSlow]

thanks for the replies. It has been getting worse over the last couple of years..started when the car was only 3 years old? I'll give the clay bar a go first.

[Anatol]

mneame said:

before going the whole hog with the above, may be worth trying a clay bar and then follow up with polishing. best to try the least aggressive method first imo.

Good thought to try clay first, didn't consider that. What he said.

Tol

[PJ S]

Very much doubt from the looks of it that it is a residue sitting on the surface, which a clay bar can grab and remove.
As above, a bit of abrasive polishing should do the trick - might be lucky enough to get away with Dodo Lime Prime, which would be useful if you use a carnauba based wax.
Alternatively, good old Autoglym SRP.
Presume this is going to be by hand? If so, then whilst you can get the SRP nearly anywhere these days, there's no chance of getting the necessary German applicator (or Sonus version) from the same places.
So, if you're having to get it online (cleanyourcar.co.uk) you may as well get the Lime Prime at the same time, and to make postage worthwhile.

[CaptainSlow]

ok ill give this a try...I was originally thinking it was a thinning of the paint rather than residue on top.