How much sun will damage your paint longterm?

[hellohello123]

if you were looking to really preserve your car paint to BE new indefinitely, on top of good maintenance, how much sunlight does damage?

obviously if you leave it under outside in the sun every day (especially in Australian sun) the car will probably fade within 3 years?

Does leaving it out in the dessert sun once in a week or once a full moon repeatedly damage it long term?

im assuming black wlll be affected the most, or do other colours just not show the damage as much

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[Brisvegas]

if you were looking to really preserve your car paint to BE new indefinitely, on top of good maintenance, how much sunlight does damage?

obviously if you leave it under outside in the sun every day (especially in Australian sun) the car will probably fade within 3 years?

Does leaving it out in the dessert sun once in a week or once a full moon repeatedly damage it long term?

im assuming black wlll be affected the most, or do other colours just not show the damage as much

Metallics will show damage quicker as well but darker colours absorb the heat and that's what does the damage . White obviously does best in hot climates

 

[KeyLime]

It's a complex problem. Like Brisvegas said metallic and metal flake supposedly fair worse. Lighter colours will do better than dark.

But it also depends on paint quality, surface prep and the condition of the steel/aluminum (aluminium where you come from) sheet metal. Contaminants and imperfections at any stage of processing can reduce the longevity of paint. There can be a wide range of longevity and quality from the factory. Some colours just last longer. Just Google "Nissan Frontier Electric Blue Paint Problems" to see what I'm dealing with.

If you plan to keep the car for a long time the best thing is to reduce sun exposure. Forever in a deep underground bunker, garage when not driven, to something simple like a good car cover will do. Anything helps.

And remember to use sunscreen. You can repaint a car, carcinoma...Bondo don't fix that.

 

[ice445]

Wax helps a whole lot.

 

[DFB5.0]

UV and heat are the problem here, UV especially in Australia.

Some paint colors can be worse than others, mostly the fault of the paint itself rather than the car company or application quality. (Ford had a color called Mandarin Orange that turned silver after a few years, they all did it eventually, so it was more a case of a bad formulation rather than environmental conditions.)

Ideally, park the car under cover as much as possible, be that a garage, carport or car cover. But please don't park under a tree, that presents another whole set of issues. And make sure to keep up the protection as well, this is your sacrificial layer. That can be in the form of a wax, sealant or ceramic coating.

And this goes against all that I believe in, but it has been shown that dirt covering the car can actually protect it from UV damage. Not that I am recommending this at all!

 

[Gnatsum21]

And this goes against all that I believe in, but it has been shown that dirt covering the car can actually protect it from UV damage. Not that I am recommending this at all!

That coming from you??

 

[tobaccokid]

The earlier comment that black is affected most does not jive with my experience.

I have found that reds have a tendency to chance to a purple color. There actually are many other factors that contribute to sun damages problem other than just color, such as chemical composition, paint manufacturer, application, surface preparation, etc .

 

[AZlb5.0]

Depends of the quality of paint how much clear coat it has and UV protection within that clear coat and the intensity of the sun where you’re at. A factory paint job will fair better in northern states then let’s say places like Arizona. You have to see where you live and how strong the sun is.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

The earlier comment that black is affected most does not jive with my experience.

I have found that reds have a tendency to chance to a purple color. There actually are many other factors that contribute to sun damages problem other than just color, such as chemical composition, paint manufacturer, application, surface preparation, etc .

This is correct, black will not fade anywhere near as bad as say, neon green/yellow. I used to work for a helmet company and when we released hi-viz colors we had to put all kinds of warnings on them that the colors fade really quickly, even with the highest quality paint available.

 

[PonyLance]

Wax helps a whole lot.

No, it doesn't. Wax melts at 80 degrees.

 

[ice445]

No, it doesn't. Wax melts at 80 degrees.

I'm not talking about caranuba, lol. Any modern coatings do just fine in the heat. Ceramics are even better.

 

[stannypack]

I'm not talking about caranuba, lol. Any modern coatings do just fine in the heat. Ceramics are even better.

Does something like turtle wax carnauba wax and dry do anything to protect the paint from sun damage? I've started to use that after my rinseless washes every week

 

[BlackandBlue]

Any sunlight does damage. It’s all about exposure.

The damage you are talking about is mostly in the clear coat in lower exposure and can be somewhat mitigated with a good wax to keep the oxidants off the clear.

It is also my experience that brighter color base coats do fade quicker than colors at the far ends.

 

[Deleted member 35644]

Anything is better than nothing. This truck's been sitting outside in Texas every day since 2015. I did an initial paint correction, a coat of wax, (three times since 2015) and it gets Bead Maker after every wash. It most certainly wouldn't look like this had I done nothing. It would be reddish-pink and very hazy.

 

[DFB5.0]

Does something like turtle wax carnauba wax and dry do anything to protect the paint from sun damage? I've started to use that after my rinseless washes every week

That should be fine, especially if used on a regular basis.

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