pman6

Who has a dark color car with clearcoat, and leaves it outside all the time?

Is your paint still intact on the sides (vertical surfaces)?

I'm too lazy to wax my whole smoky granite car. I just wax the hood, roof, and trunk. just the horizontal surfaces that get the most solar abuse.

But I wonder if sides will fail in time.

On my other silver car, I've never waxed the sides in 13 years, and it's still shiny like new. The horizontal surfaces however have failed with clear coat bubbling and peeling.

Smoky granite is a different animal though. much hotter temps

lexusrus

Back a few year ago (2012)I had sold my old BURGUNDY RED 1995 Volvo 960 4dr sedan. I was the original owner. It had like 180k miles on the odo. It was bought new in a northern state with harsh winters. Lots of salt. After about a year, moved to south FL for a couple of years by the beach. Then to one of the Gulf Coast States for about 5 more years. Then to SoCal. Most of the years it was parked outside in the elements. The garage had other cars more important, I guess. I got too busy after during the last 15 years or so of its life to constantly washing and waxing it.

I noticed after moving to SoCal the car's top and hood and trunk began to fade and peel. The doors are still very shinning.

When I sold it, the top was peeling badly and fading out. No rust though.

mmarshall

It's usually normal for the top surfaces to fade and peel before the sides. First, they are exposed to a higher sun angle each day, especially in the southern locations described here. Second, the hood gets added heat from the engine, despite the underhood insulation, and, if the interior is not protected, the top gets added heat from the interior as that heat radiates upward. Side door panels and fenders are general not subjected to as much heat stress or direct, high-angle sunlight for as long a period.

Clearcoat paint, though, in general, helps delay the fade/peel process, since the extra coat of clear paint (with some cars, sometimes more than one coat) protects the actual color (pigment) in the paint from ultraviolet sun contact.

If the paint has started to fade, try SCRATCH OUT. This is an excellent product, and will often take off the very light surface-oxidation if it isn't too deep, and leave what is left of the shiny clearcoat underneath. For deeper oxidation/fading, you might need a heavier-duty product.

SW17LS

My old Black Garnet Pearl 03 ES is still in the family, is very dark, and its sat outside for the past 6 years or so after being carported or garaged for its life prior to that. The paint hasn't faded, and it doesn't really get cared for cosmetically at all, headlights are totally yellowed over, etc.

Aron9000

I had a 1999 Camaro Z28, navy blue metallic. I sold that car in 2008 when it was 10 years old, the paint still looked brand new and it sat outside the whole time I owned it(02 to 08). Of course I was very fastidious about the paint on that car, never ran it through a car wash, always waxed about every other month, car had zero swirls in the paint. Of course like any good GM car of that time it did have a paint defect on the roof panel section, off gassing of the adhesive that held on the plastic roof panel was causing the paint up there to get wavy