Styling Taking vinyl strip off ....colour change underneath??

[slimgimli]

Hi,

Has anyone taken off a black side stripe from a yellow 500 ? The car that I am looking at for my mum has one and she isn't keen, the garage aren't sure if the colour underneath might have changed, or vice versa? It's a 58 plate so coming unto 3 years old and I am assuming it was a factory fit??
Advice on the chances of colour change ASAP would be brill thanks again


Suzi

 

[RUI]

It should be all OK, I doubt that the paint will have faded in that time.
To take it off just heat it up with a hair drier and it will peel off with no problems.
Don't forget to polish and wax the area where the strip was after you have taken it off.

 

[jrkitching]

It should be all OK, I doubt that the paint will have faded in that time.

I'm not so sure about this. Yellow is one of the worst colours for fading and after removing this kind of sticker even the tiniest difference in shade will be noticeable. And with a lacquered paint, the differences aren't going to polish out, either.

Probably down to how much time the car has spent standing out in the sun.

 

[RUI]

If it has faded it will look like you have a custom paint job...

 

[loveshandbags]

I would recommend not taking the stripe off. On a '08 Black 500 there was a difference in the paint colour and the stripe had to be re-instated. As JR rightly pointed out Yellow would have 'strong' fade characteristics like the Red has.
Also I quite like the black stripe on the Yellow and it might be better to have the factory fit item at re-sale time.

 

[306maxi]

I'm not so sure about this. Yellow is one of the worst colours for fading and after removing this kind of sticker even the tiniest difference in shade will be noticeable. And with a lacquered paint, the differences aren't going to polish out, either.

Probably down to how much time the car has spent standing out in the sun.

Tend to agree. All depends on how much it's been in the sun.

 

[grimwau]

Suzi, if your Mum is adamant that she doesn't want the stripe then it will need to be removed. If the paint on the rest of the car has faded then a professional valeter with the right equipment would be able to machine polish the car to bring it all back to the original pristine colour.

As this removes the top layer of paint he will need to use a paint depth gauge to determine the thickness of the existing paint but I am sure that this will be adequate. The bonus with having the car polished this way will be that any swirl marks will also be removed giving you a blemish free finish. Afterwards he can seal the paint to make it more durable to the elements and easier to keep looking immaculate.

 

[slimgimli]

Thanks for all the replies, the dealer has said that he could ' mop ' it after taking the sticker off if there was a problem, asked what that meant and he said basically polishing it!!!

Will have more words with ' mother ' as the dealer is only happy to remove stripe once she has brought it which is fair enough!!

 

[bgunn]

Suzi, if your Mum is adamant that she doesn't want the stripe then it will need to be removed. If the paint on the rest of the car has faded then a professional valeter with the right equipment would be able to machine polish the car to bring it all back to the original pristine colour.

As this removes the top layer of paint he will need to use a paint depth gauge to determine the thickness of the existing paint but I am sure that this will be adequate. The bonus with having the car polished this way will be that any swirl marks will also be removed giving you a blemish free finish. Afterwards he can seal the paint to make it more durable to the elements and easier to keep looking immaculate.

Not if it's faded under a clear coat, he wouldn't. The swirls and damage could be removed, but if the yellow pigments in the base coat have changed, the only way to get a match would be to respray.

 

[eco sTAr]

... a professional valeter with the right equipment would be able to machine polish the car to bring it all back to the original pristine colour.

As this removes the top layer of paint he will need to use a paint depth gauge to determine the thickness of the existing paint but I am sure that this will be adequate. The bonus with having the car polished this way will be that any swirl marks will also be removed giving you a blemish free finish. Afterwards he can seal the paint to make it more durable to the elements and easier to keep looking immaculate.

I don't know about the yellow, but as jrkitching said...

...with a lacquered paint, the differences aren't going to polish out, either.

I can't see how you can polish out any fading on a modern 2-pack paint system where the top layers are clear lacquer. You'd need to take all the lacquer off first, polish out the yellow and then reapply the lacquer.
Sounds like a major issue if this needs to be done.

Hopefully, the paint won't have faded, but I wouldn't rely on that. Best to leave the stripe in place. She'll get used to it.

 

[arorat]

Thanks for all the replies, the dealer has said that he could ' mop ' it after taking the sticker off if there was a problem, asked what that meant and he said basically polishing it!!!

Will have more words with ' mother ' as the dealer is only happy to remove stripe once she has brought it which is fair enough!!

Use WD40 first to remove any stickiness then gentle polish. TBH it will be fine, the black pigment of the sticker is protected via glue and then there is a layer of lacquer on the paint. RUI's answer is the best.

 

[loveshandbags]

Use WD40 first to remove any stickiness then gentle polish. TBH it will be fine, the black pigment of the sticker is protected via glue and then there is a layer of lacquer on the paint. RUI's answer is the best.

No it's not. LOL.

 

[jrkitching]

...the black pigment of the sticker is protected via glue and then there is a layer of lacquer on the paint. RUI's answer is the best.

No it's not. LOL.

Let's be clear about this (sorry about the pun).

If the glue or the back of the sticker has discoloured the first couple of microns of the clearcoat (lacquer), that can be polished out.

If the colourcoat (yellow paint) on the rest of the car has faded, then no amount of polishing will make any difference and the 'ghost' of the sticker will remain.

If you polish through the clearcoat, you'll need to respray.

Solid Red & Yellow are the two finishes most likely to fade. One reason why I keep my car garaged whenever I'm not using it.

 

[RUI]

No it's not. LOL.

It is

 

[grimwau]

We're talking about a car less than three years old. Even if it hasn't been polished and/or waxed every three months or so I am pretty sure that the paint won't have faded to the extent that a good polish won't make it look like new, done properly it will look better than new.

When the garage said they would use a "mop" they are talking about using a dual action polisher probably with a cutting compound, something like G7 which is fairly abrasive. Personally I would want to know that the guy using it had plenty of experience in this field as on edges it can take the paint right off if not really careful.

 

[arorat]

This may sound excessive but worth a try

Remove the stickers but cover the rest of car in black stickers for a few years to blend any blemishes... another job done

 

[loveshandbags]

We're talking about a car less than three years old. Even if it hasn't been polished and/or waxed every three months or so I am pretty sure that the paint won't have faded to the extent that a good polish won't make it look like new, done properly it will look better than new.

When the garage said they would use a "mop" they are talking about using a dual action polisher probably with a cutting compound, something like G7 which is fairly abrasive. Personally I would want to know that the guy using it had plenty of experience in this field as on edges it can take the paint right off if not really careful.

So if you were buying the car would you pay for it first and then 'allow' them to get at it with a cutting compound on the hope that they could get the colour 'right' ?
Would the OP not be better off buying a different car if her Mum really didn't want the stripe ?
Also - even though it's registered on a 58 plate it was probably sitting for a while which could make it over 3 years old.

Does the OP have a decent picture of the car so that we can see the condition of the paintwork ?

 

[slimgimli]

Thanks everyone for your replies!! They are going to see it tomorrow and she says that she'll see how it looks in the flesh!! At least we would be able to tell them apart!! We live in the same village and i would never ever let anyone else have the same colour as me........apart from 'mumsy' .

Just got to buy her a new personalised plate for her 75th birthday now!! As a surprise. Is it a load of hassle buying one for someone else and then registering it for her car??
Did mine but it was on an unregistered new car and the dealer dealt with most of it!!!

Suzi

 

[slimgimli]

Does the OP have a decent picture of the car so that we can see the condition of the paintwork ?

This is all I have........

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....525273&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1961wt_937

 

[slimgimli]

Would the OP not be better off buying a different car if her Mum really didn't want the stripe ?
A

Believe it or not I could only find 2 in the whole country that fitted her criteria...... The other one is in Devon, bit more money and sent him an email with no reply!!!

Looking for a 1.2 Lounge, YELLOW , and £7,000 or less!!!

Scarcer than hens teeth!!