Faded colour from stickers: paint over or leave?

LuckyBenski

LuckyBenski

LuckyBenski

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I've had a car from a previous employer for about 5 years. Over that time we've slowed the business down and folded up my role, but remained friends. He had the car covered with branding and stuff all over, which I left on as I'd got used to driving around in something that gets funny looks by now. I bought the car earlier this year and now am removing the stickers but there's mild sun fading.

To make it worse, it's a Smart so the fading is actually in the plastic panels as it's just clear paint over plastic. It's really hard to photograph but definitely visible to the naked eye. Would you leave it, or get it painted as cheaply as possible? Or just leave the stickers and put up with driving a silly car?

I'm tempted to paint it myself with Plasti-dip as it's easy to work with. But even that would probably cost more than I feel is worth spending on the thing...
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I would take the stickers off and leave it for a bit to see if it bothers you. The faded areas might start to blend in after a while.
 
Hades said:
It depends on the value of the car and the price you paid for it.
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I paid £1k, probably worth £1-1.5k but there's nothing special about it. Probably slightly more knackered than similar models on Auto Trader. So not worth more than a hundred or so investment really.

keylion said:
I would take the stickers off and leave it for a bit to see if it bothers you. The faded areas might start to blend in after a while.
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This is a good point, it might all fade in. I also haven't compared the side which gets less sun as it's always parked on the same side of a one way street. Cheers.
 
I had a red car with the remains of branding on it on for my first car. I chose to leave it since I could only see it in certain light conditions and I doubt anybody else bothered to look close enough to see it.
 
^ That. All you need to do is give it a quick run over with an all in one like Meguiars Ultimate Compound or Scholl S20+. By hand would work, by DA or rotary would be better.
 
I like the thinking but I'm pretty sure the fade is in the plastic panels, not the clear coat. I used Meguiar's 4000 to remove the sticker residue.

TBF I think as mentioned above the fading might even out before long, if I peel the stickers. I want them off first and foremost.

matthab said:
Its a Smart can you not buy new or used panels and fit them on?

I have no idea what the time and cost is involved.
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Unfortunately the stickers are on the majority of panels - at least 5-7 of them. It's a nice idea actually as I could change the colour. But at probably £50+ per panel it might get pricy. I'll take a look, swapping them is quite straightforward.
 
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