Red Mk 2's, talk to me....

[rowey200]

I'm thinking about getting another Mk 2, a late Rev 5 N/A is on the cards. As a rule I don't generally go for red cars, but I happen to think the mk 2 looks nice in red, especially with some grey / black wheels etc.

The only thing that puts me off is the risk of paint fade (I have seen some truly shocking early red mk 2's). So, my question is, do the later rev 4 & 5's fade like the early cars, or is the paint on them better and more resistant to fade.....?

Over to you

[Peter Gidden]

Give them time...

[rev3gtturbo]

+1

I agree about the red fading although I always assumed black or white cars were generally the hardest to keep looking mint before they faded.
I think a bigger problem with these old cars is the rust starting to come through, so as you sort out the rust you start repainting bits as well and eventually end up with a patchwork of similar colours fading at different rates.

Some people like black/dark grey wheels on a mk2. Not my thing. Even when I had my alloys refurbed I went for a shiny light silver colour which look great on a bright red mk2.

There are some bright red mk2s around that must have been tcut or mopped or resprayed etc.
You could wait for one of those to come up for sale, or do one up.

They will still fade but not as quick if you avoid parking them in direct sunshine and keep them clean and well waxed.

I think the worst deterioration of my red paint was in the drought a few years ago when there was a ban on car washing. It went blotchy with rain water marks etc that never came out with car wash products.

In the end I sorted it out with a respray and refurb alloys. Some people thought an old rev3 was a brand new car lol.

[Alex O]

My red rev3 is as shiny now as when it was new.

It had a respray in 2002 but since then has been garaged and always kept clean and waxed. I have averaged 5,000 miles a year since then and all is good.

So......they're not all faded and they don't all fade!

I recently had a new bumper and the new paint is exactly the same shade as the rest of the car.

[Peter Gidden]

My red rev3 is as shiny now as when it was new.

It had a respray in 2002.

[craig]

I've got a red rev3 tbar and the bonnet is white with paint fade

[Peter Gidden]

I've git a pink rev3 tbar and the bonnet is white with paint fade

Corrected for you.

[craig]

Yeah that's more accurate

[psummers]

I've got a red mk2 rev 3 that was resprayed at some point. It's not hard to keep on top of really, just a bit of polish and wax every now and then and it's fine.

I believe revs 4&5 were Super Red II and previous revs just Super Red. I'd imagine the new formulation was to stop the paint fade. Don't know if it worked though

[alan_uk]

just get the car flatted and laquered should hold it off for a few years if kept waxed

[jack-p]

Red paint either looks really good or really bad depending on it's condition in my opinion. I definitely wouldn't be put off buying a red car because of the paint fading though because it can always be polished. Take a look over on detailing world, a good going over with a d/a will get most pink cars back to a nice glossy red.

I think the colour change to super red II was because the rev5's were all new colours but I could be wrong there.

[alanmr2turbo]

If you keep on top of the washing and waxing and i dont mean the all in one wash&wax in a bottle it wont go pink on you.

If a red car is pink then its just been owned by lazy people. My old 1986 E30 was still a nice shiny deep red when i stipped her a few yrs ago.

[alan_uk]

agreed my e36 was nice and shiny red still using wax every weekend

[James Junior]

I had a mint rev5 NA a few years ago in red. It had obviously been well cared for and yet some of the plastics had still aged worse than the metal bodywork.

Our red Alfa 156 V6 is the same. Unnoticeable in some lights, but in others the bumpers are clearly a different shade to the rest of the car.

And yet I still love red cars! I really should move to a house with a garage...

[rowey200]

Cheers for info peeps

[rev3gtturbo]

...
I believe revs 4&5 were Super Red II and previous revs just Super Red. I'd imagine the new formulation was to stop the paint fade. Don't know if it worked though

Red Rev 3 paint code is 3E5 which is Super Red II.

[b4ss]

This is my rev5 original paint:
http://www.puredream.net/mr2/wheels/

You have to keep on top of washing and waxing to keep it from going pink.
Mine tends to fade in the Winter months as i couldn't be ar$ed washing it, so the first wash/wax of Spring is tough work.

Would have loved a black or Comos one myself but couldn't get my hands on one
Tony

[tsango]

Are people getting confused between fading and oxidisation here????

My 1998 Rev5 (Super Red) MR2 was badly oxidized and also is was faded when I bought it.

Cutting and polishing got rid of the oxidization but the fading is permanent.

If I don't keep on top of it the oxidization comes back and the paint looks dull.

The pink looking bits are there to stay though no matter what I have tried.

I am having a re-spray next year.

[Nails]

Have you tried a rotary and some G3? Or at least a D/A and proper cutting polish?

[tsango]

Have you tried a rotary and some G3? Or at least a D/A and proper cutting polish?

Yeah I have a Meguiars DA. Not used G3 though.

I cannot understand how you can bring back a colour that's faded though, or are you suggesting that just thge top layer fades and underneath is the original deep red colour??

I have taken the car to 2 body shops and they said that it would need a respray to get it perfect.

This is my car by the way

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=165891