Red Paint

Forgive what appears to be a silly question to most of you but I have to ask
as I'm in the process of purchasing a the 300C Heritage.

I have a Black 300M and while it looks really nice, it also is a lot of work
to keep it that way. Unfortunately, even with keeping it really nice, it
still shows swirl marks and scratches in what appears to be the clear?

I don't want another car where I have to be that meticulous with. For
instance, during the winter I couldn't wash it myself so I took it to the
local car wash. Even after the attendants dried the vehicle, you would see
water spots everywhere on the car. Does this happen with Inferno Red? How
about swirl marks or those scratches I mentioned above.

I know White and Silver are safe but this Heritage looks sweet in Red.

Thanks!!!

Ken

 

I am always concerned about silver paint. If you look around at older cars,
silver never seems to age well unless its a Mercedes. Perhaps people with
Mercedes wax their car more often (or have it done). I once had a beautiful
red Subaru Legacy wagon. It was delivered to me new with horrible swirl
marks but they disappeared as the wax wore off. With those polymer coatings
that you don't buff, I don't think swirl marks were a problem on the Subaru
red. We have 2 white Honda's now. Boy do they get dirty fast. One thing I
always consider is visibility. I don't consider silver gray very visible.
White is extremely visible. Red at night would depend on the lighting.

 

I remember that about the paint. I wonder if it has been corrected? I have
seen many cars in Silver and they look fine. At least for now.

I spoke to several body shops today and they said nothing is worse than
Black or Dark Blue so Red should be fine.

Ken

 

By the way, you do have to wonder if they are already rolling out special
additions, have sales peaked already?

 

Red paint is ALMOST as much of a PITA as Black. The only real problem with
black is that if you buff it using off the rack stuff, you'll have swirl
marks like you wouldn't believe. You need special compounds for black.

The problem with red is, if you don't keep it cleaned and waxed, it
oxidizes very easliy, and gets 'chalky'. But, you won't have the swirl
mark problem, so buff/polish your heart out!

Just keep it clean and wax it 3-4 times a year. I have a red 1985 Corolla
GTS that the paint is beutiful on.

Too bad the body is disintegrating...

 

Somehow I don't believe that. Red paint has the same clear coat on it
that other colors have. "Chalky" is a surface phenomenon. What you
said may have been true before clear coat (what? 35 years ago?).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

I can't speak from personal experience (I can't afford to be anal about
my car's appearance since I work in a mining area - my Concorde is Candy
Apple Red - very similar to Inferno Red - and it is dirty 90% of the
time - but not because of the color - it's because it really is really
dirty), but judging from constant chatter on the 300M forums on the
subject, I get the impression that black and white are the two colors to
have on a car that will drive an anal person crazy though they look
super nice when cleaned up perfectly - for few hours.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Well, my main experience is with Toyotas, and their red paint chalks up
easily.

I have also seen a number of New Yorkers and LeBarons with lousy red paint.

Now, I have an '85 Corolla GTS in my backyard that the original paint
still looks mint on.

 

I guess I don't understand how any paint can come up thru the clear
coat, which sounds like what you're saying. Like I said - chalking is a
surface phenomenon.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')