Always wondered this:hihi: Most red car always have a pink bonnet... Why??
I'm sure JoeP will have an answer to this one!

People was them using detergent or washing up liquid, that ruins the paint.

Is the stuff for car washes different to normal washing products?

I dont know, but my Mum always told me "Red cars go faster",

I may be wrong about this, but I believe it may have something to do with UV rays, and how violet and red are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I know that I've had coloured wind wheels (windmills), and it's usually the red blade that fades first.

Don't wash cars with washing up liquid, it ruins the paint.
Same with other products that have strong detergents in them, use propper car shampoo if you really feel the need to wash the car!

I'm going to have to dig out my car shampoo when I get home to have a look at the label.
AFAIR it has ionic and non ionic surfactants in it. Ie exactly the same as washing up liquid, it's just grease loving chemicals that allow the grease to be dissolved into water.

Ann_x has got it right. Red pigmentation is far less stable than other colours and react badly to light. Proper care of the paintwork seems to help a lot though.

Newer paints seem to have cracked it from what I can see. It's only the much older cars that suffer. I hope so, my new car is red and I intend to keep it quite a while :o

As Tony says, it's the stability of the red pigments, or lack thereof, in UV. The same applied to a lot of colours in the past, but the newer paints are far more stable.

I travel to Arkansas with work, it's still mid-eighties there in early October and the effect of the climate with so much sun is that most cars are badly faded, and a great many also have badly cracked dash plastics. Hot sun isn't good for cars!

Yeah my old car was bright when i bought it (2nd hand) but after sitting in the sun over the years it did turn to a lovely shade of pinky/red. I found using red T cut worked wonders to bring the colour up - but be careful u cant use this too much or youll have no paint left on your car!

Yeah my old car was bright when i bought it (2nd hand) but after sitting in the sun over the years it did turn to a lovely shade of pinky/red. I found using red T cut worked wonders to bring the colour up - but be careful u cant use this too much or youll have no paint left on your car!


T-cut to restore original colour then a good wax, if you wax it a number of times you should build up a good protective coat.

After the first wax it should get easier to wash and wax in the future.

Don’t use detergents, washing up liquid on the car or all that elbow crease you put in when waxing will have been a waste of time.

Is the stuff for car washes different to normal washing products?

Washing up liquid usually contains a lot of salt which speeds up oxidation of metal. It is also very harsh compared to specially formulated car shampoo. Washing detergent is made to shift grease so it removes the oils from the paint which keep it deep and glossy and also strip any protective layers like wax you have applied much easier than a goo car shampoo would. Never use washing detergent on your car.

As for red paint fading quicker than others i don't think thats at all true. Some paints oxidise quicker than others VW's tornado red is said to do this quicker than other red paints (think Audi and Seat use this colour also). Red appears to fade quicker because red only looks good when it is deep and glossy, other colours just don't need such high standards to keep them looking okay.

It completely depends on how you treat the paint on your car at the end of the day.

Please tell me that my poor red car is not going to turn pink!

Anything that is red or wears red will fade eventually. Utdites take note :hihi:

Please tell me that my poor red car is not going to turn pink!
Wash you're car regularly esspecially in winter when roads are salty. Wax it every month or two (or more if you have the time) and it'll be fine.

Look out for cracking or dryness on the top surface of the paint. If it gets this bad use a polish to remove the dead layer of paint and give it a good waxing.

oh no i hope my car doesnt turn pink:huh:

Does anyone know if stardrops will fade the colour?

We also use auto glym on it too!!!!