Hi all, Well when I bought the car I was told the cars bonnet was a bit faded and when I looked at it a didn't think there was much of a difference until I got home and thought I would just get the bonnet resprayed. Well that was the plan until I was out at the other car and looked across at the coupe and saw no difference to the paint on the drives side to the bonnet? strange? so I went round the other side of the car and right away saw the difference in colour of the passanger side of the car to the bonnet and drivers side.
what is going on?

 

It's wierd. It almost looks as though the front passenger wing has been resprayed & faded up the pillar & into the door & front bumper plastic. That said maybe the bonnet has faded unevenly or been repaired because the bonnet vent looks darker in your pics.

Look around the passenger fender bolts for signs of repair.

Whatever, I have never seen factory paintwork fade out like that even on red cars. There has definitely been some paintwork done on that car.

 

Sorry to jump in on your C forum, but I saw this on the home page. The hood did not "fade" that much. Something on that car has almost certainly been repainted. Judging by the color of the vent in the hood, which looks darker, and the bumper, which looks darker, my guess is the hood has been repainted. The driver's side fender matches the hood, so it may have been reapainted or "blended" - where the new paint is on part of it and blended so it doesn't look different by the time it reaches your dirver's door.

 

surly if they went to that much trouble to do that they would have done the other side also and the whole passenger side and bumper is a lot darker than the bonnet and drivers side.

 

Well, yes, you would assume that the body shop would have done a better job of color match, but the evidence is otherwise. Like I said, something has been repainted. Whether it is the hood or the bumper and passenger side I cannot tell from the photos. There is probably other evidence on the car if you look closely. But there really is no other reasonable conclustion than that some portion of the car was repainted.

 

I opened the hood and looked inside the engine bay for evidence of colour change or Balts that have been removed but nothing. It's very strange

 

It has been repainted at some point. It might have been a small cosmetic defect, or a panel replacement. I see this all too often with yellow colors because they were formerly made with cadmium that contributed to the stability as well as making rich yellow colors. The Europeans banned six hard working substances with a law called RoHs that has made life difficult for many durable goods manufacturers. The cadmium in paint was replaced by vegetable dyes, but these wilt in the sun.

I'd avoid a respray if the current paint is smooth and shiney. I would only repaint a car if there were major defects in the paint that could lead to rust or corrosion.

Some owners of older cars wear the paint fade like a badge of honor and would never refinish it much like antique furniture owners place high value on the patina of age.

 

found some nice yellow spray marks on the fog light grills so bumper defo been repainted and the rust is starting to get bad on the arches and wings so I might just bite the bullet and get the whole car resprayed

 

Might as well, at this point. 2002s are notorious for rust, and mine's no exception. At least then you'll know that you'll get an even yellow over the whole car (unless you want to take this opportunity to do something really interesting, of course). Make sure they look at the undercarriage as well - mine was rusting there too.

 

There is a pen like tool used to measure paint depth,.... It will tell you which panel or part has been reprinted already,..... Body shop, used car dealers, insurance inspectors usually use this tool. Ask around when getting quote for paint work,... See if you can get body shop to figure out your mystery for you.

 

might get it sprayed in black