red paint fading to pink on an 04 vito van

[wallopadonkey]

one of my mates is a plumber he bought a brand new vito van on 2004 said he didnt want red because an old car he had had faded "this is a mercedes it wont fade" said the enthusiastic salesman......

lovely van say wife and peers you must love it say jealous neighbours washed and waxed evry week and topped with autoglym super resin polish

feb 07 said plumber back to mercedes main dealer to complain of bloomin in all but rear small fillet to cover sliding door rail and inside paint of all panels "must be abuse on your part" enthuses salesman now employed by different company running previous main dealer.

june 2008 whole van now faded badly except for said fillet and insides of doors plus small parts that are normally shaded.

return to mercedes garage says that paint not covered at all by any form of warrantee and as a 'gesture' they will 'tcut' it to put it right with no comebacks and this will be done by dealer "Not Mercedes Benz gmbh"

however a cpouple of door bottom holes will be attended to by mercedes

what do you all think of this ???

i will happily post photographs tomorrow after the current rain has subsided

many thanks for you input into this

cheers
dave

 

[Xtractorfan]

I think if as you say the van has been washed and polished every week then yes the paint has been cared for and it has deterioated.. I do know that a few vans were recalled in the south of ireland for paint work, tho mainly rust issues..Persist and send your pics to MbUK .. Vans are normally not given the same love care and attention as cars so it is possible that dealers fob you off and hope you will go away..maybe they get a bonus for each one they stop....

 

[energysolutions]

Hi,

I have a white 2002 Vito with BAD rust and have just visited my local dealership where I was directed to the bodyshop to get it checked out

The guy I spoke to was very helpful and we had a good chat, I asked if he had seen many Vitos in for paint repairs (rust etc) and he said it`s usually one of two things:

1, Rust - Mentioned several common weakspots on vitos (mine was worst he`d ever seen!)

2, Fading - Always on red vans, has resprayed a good few due to this

Sounds like you are yet another victim of Mercedes Paint demons.

It also sounds like your paint fading will be corrected by the dealer with a rotary polisher (cleaning/cutting back the lacquer to remove the fading/oxidation) - which is strange because when I suggested this course of action to the bloke at the bodyshop he assured me that any he had come across were too far gone for this to work effectively...........................

 

[100%Bitch]

Could always try this.

http://www.zymol.co.uk/zymolrougewax8oz.aspx

 

[energysolutions]

Could always try this.

http://www.zymol.co.uk/zymolrougewax8oz.aspx

Jeeez, Its not cheap

But if it cured/disguised the problem..........................

 

[100%Bitch]

I use Zymol products and they're brilliant.

 

[wallopadonkey]

lol zymol nice stuff but i dont think it is gonna help i am a professional bufty which is why he asked me about it.

paint is goosed in my opinion and i can polish it back using the best of everything but it will come back again and again just a bit bothered that they wont help him especially as not all the panels are bad just most of them
and he hasnt even had the van signwritten
should he take it to another dealer?

 

[silverhorse]

I have been told that red metallic vehicles do not fade but plain red ones can. Is this true or false

 

[rf065]

There is something in the pigment of red paint that makes it turn pink & fade if exposed to sunshine. There are some very odd looking red cars in Florida where the paint must be baked every day. Usually cars in the UK are a bit older before they start to fade badly.

Russ

 

[st4]

I am suspicious re the paint quality on my 55 E class. It scratches very easily and much more so than the BMW that preceeded it.

 

[Xtractorfan]

I am suspicious re the paint quality on my 55 E class. It scratches very easily and much more so than the BMW that preceeded it.
__________________
Depends a lot on the colour and the lines of the car,the 05 E class sharp edge shape has a tendancy to catch the light and show up more scratches..and BMW paint is one of the hardest finishes on the market....

And with reference to the red metallics not fading.. they dont fade because they are lacquered, and modern lacquers have an ultra violet light block... the vans are painted with a basic coloured paint which offers no protection from the elements..

 

[energysolutions]

There is something in the pigment of red paint that makes it turn pink & fade if exposed to sunshine. There are some very odd looking red cars in Florida where the paint must be baked every day. Usually cars in the UK are a bit older before they start to fade badly.

Russ

Red should be fine in the UK in that case

 

[Xtractorfan]

Red should be fine in the UK in that case

Actually I think Meredes have prempted the brit weather and lack of sunshine and added more of the rogue/rouge pigment..

 

[FIBAMAN]

Actually I think Meredes have prempted the brit weather and lack of sunshine and added more of the rogue/rouge pigment..

You may have a point there. We manufacture UV curing resin systems and there is still enough uv about even on a very cloudy day to cure the materials in less than an hour. Many of our clients, especially in N. Scotland think there is not enough UV to be useful but it still works. The effects of uv can be seen everywhere if you know what to look for (ever had a plastic bucket or watering can suddenly become brittle or crack for no apparent reason?).

 

[Micman]

I've noticed many occassions of red cars fading - regardless of make.

Curiously though, I've never noticed an old Ferrari with faded red paintwork!!!

Perhaps a Ferrari owners club/forum would reveal they too suffer from this problem? or maybe they know the secret of keeping red red!

 

[silverhorse]

are all ferraris metallic.

 

[energysolutions]

are all ferraris metallic.

I always thought their red looked non metallic

Perhaps Ferraris suffer less from fade as they most likely dont cover a lot of miles and are probably garaged when not in use - thus bodywork gets less exposure to UV?