Well I recently purchased my gst spyder and both the front and back bumpers are faded along with a piece of the side skirts. My car's paint is called Cayenne red pearl. But the bumpers look just red because of them being faded. I've been told buff and wax should work, however I don't have a buffer. Is buffing and waxing the solution and can I do it with my good ol hands only?

Your going to be there for a while if you do it by hand, buffers arent to expensive but if you use one be careful so you dont burn it

ah well tho, itll be great exercise!

hell yeah man, I've never had too much luck buffing out faded paint but ive definitely it seen work. good luck

I better see results, I don't want to have to paint them .

Can you take a picture of the bumpers? Depending on how faded the clear is and or hopefully the clear isn't gone yet, you might get away with wet sanding it with 2k grid then using rubbing compound work in small areas with a wax pad and buff out with a micro-fiber towel, finish off using some kind of polish to protected the paint.

ill take some in a bit. No, its not just because the car is dirty, I've washed it before and it changes color to the original factory color but when it dries, it goes back to this state.

Bump still have the ugly bumpers haha. Really throws the car's look off. Any suggestions?

Outdorsman said:

Bump still have the ugly bumpers haha. Really throws the car's look off. Any suggestions?

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If it looks fine when its wet, then you might get away with a light cut-n-buff. Just looks like uv damage to the clear coat, not really any peeling.

It does look fine when I wash it, but once it dries up the faded color comes back.

What grit sandpaper to use for the cut and buff? I've heard the clear on factory is extremely thin? 2000 grit? 2500? 3000? On some websites it was advised to use 3000 grit for factory?

I'll use 2500 grit.

Outdorsman said:

It does look fine when I wash it, but once it dries up the faded color comes back.

What grit sandpaper to use for the cut and buff? I've heard the clear on factory is extremely thin? 2000 grit? 2500? 3000? On some websites it was advised to use 3000 grit for factory?

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The next time you wash the car, Wetsand everything 2000 grid then 2500, wipe the car clean and make sure the car is dry, then use rubbing compound working in small areas i would recommend just buffing it by hand its a slow tedious process but the results will be rewarding. Also be sure to use some kind of poslish after compounding so it protects the paint and doesnt dull after a few weeks. Wait 1day after poslishing and wax it. Take your time and don't rush it or I guarantee you will ruin it and will have to start all over again.

Will do! Thanks for the advice guys!

For off the shelf products I like Meguiars Ultimate Compound and the Ultimate Finishing Polish. They are designed to be used by hand and get very good results. I would also recomend picking up a clay bar kit and going over the entire car. Autogeek.net is a very helpful site about auto detailing and there is tons if good info that you can use to make your car shine once again.

I've been wanting to claybar my car but its just been to expensive for a piece a clay . 20 bucks but i've seen results. Right now I have the ultimate polish and rubbing compound by meguiars.

I would say that the $15 - $20 for the clay bar kit is worth it. Especially if the paint on your can has been neglected, which it seems it has been. The first time I ever used detailing clay I was blown away at the results.

I hope you haven't used sandpaper yet because it's really not necessary. Red oxidizes the worst of any color and I've polished out far worse cases than this. There needs to be a distinction made here between buffers and polishers.

1. A buffer is typically what you'll find at any auto parts store or walmart, runs about 20 bucks or so, is random orbit(vibrating), and is good for wax application and removal only. It will take forever...and ever to try and get this tool to "cut" and you'll probably go through 50-100 bonnets trying to make it work. I use them for wax only at the very end of restoring a finish.
2. An auto finishing polisher is a single action(no vibration, just spinning) tool that you can attach various buffing material to-eggcrate foam discs, lambs wool discs, etc. It will have multiple speeds usually from 1000rpm to 3000rpm..give or take. This is what does all the work for you and what you apply liquid cutting compounds, polishes, glazes, etc to. It turns a 2 full day job in to a 2 hour job. A good one will run $200-$300 new. I use a DeWalt DW849. Had it for almost 15 years now and it has never let me down.

3M makes a compound called Trizact that is a liquid 3000grit compound. I wouldn't touch it because it looks from your pictures that it's too much for what you need. It will leave a hazy finish that will need to be followed up by increasingly finer grit compounds. You'll spend a full half day getting it glossy again...days if you are doing it by hand.

I realize doing all of these steps require an investment that's probably more than you are wanting to spend just to get the haze out of your plastic parts. For your car I'd try something like 3M polishing(pad) glaze or 3M Finesse-It finishing material. More than likely it will give you a gloss you'll be amazed at with minimal work involved. It will not scratch your cars finish because it's not cutting enough for you to see. Make sure you seal it afterwards with a wax like another user suggested. This is when you can bust out a buffer

yeah I can't afford a polisher. I might as well get a new bumper at that . I haven't used the sandpaper yet. So should I cut and buff it or not . I don't want to end up with a bumper that looks worse than before. Currently, I have Megiuars ultimate polish, Megiuar's rubbing compound, and some carnauba wax. All I could find in my garage. Haven't gone out to purchase the paper yet tho.

Have you tried the ultimate compound on the bumper yet? It should bring back the color. I would use that first before attempting to wet sand. If the ultimate compound does not work then you can try wetsanding.

Here's what I would do if I were you-these steps will give you a great idea whether or not your materials are giving you the results you will be satisfied with. First, make sure you wash this area you'll be working on and dry it fully. Target a 6"x6" area on your bumper as your test spot. You don't have to tape it off or anything since these compounds you have are mild. On your test area, start with the rubbing compound and make small swirl marks about 3" in diameter going at about a rate of 1" every five seconds(assuming you're doing this by hand). When you're finished wipe all of the residue off with a CLEAN towel. Next do the exact same thing with the polish you have, in the exact same area. Use a new clean towel or a clean section of the old towel you used previously to wipe this new residue off. You do not want to get any of the previous compounds mixed in to the area you just worked-VERY important. Now on to the wax. I've never used carnuba wax, but I'm assuming it is applied like any off the shelf wax. You'll apply the wax just like you did the buffing compound and polish. Use the softest and completely clean cloth that you have to apply the wax. After the wax has been applied and has dried to a haze-take another cloth that's completely clean and soft to remove the wax in the same swirling motions. Terry cloth(bath or dish towel material) works good for applying and removing the wax

You are now finished and will be able to tell if the results are satisfactory to you. Make sure while applying all of the materials in the steps that you use some good elbow grease-except for the wax..just use a moderate amount of pressure for that.

AwD4g63TsI said:

Here's what I would do if I were you-these steps will give you a great idea whether or not your materials are giving you the results you will be satisfied with. First, make sure you wash this area you'll be working on and dry it fully. Target a 6"x6" area on your bumper as your test spot. You don't have to tape it off or anything since these compounds you have are mild. On your test area, start with the rubbing compound and make small swirl marks about 3" in diameter going at about a rate of 1" every five seconds(assuming you're doing this by hand). When you're finished wipe all of the residue off with a CLEAN towel. Next do the exact same thing with the polish you have, in the exact same area. Use a new clean towel or a clean section of the old towel you used previously to wipe this new residue off. You do not want to get any of the previous compounds mixed in to the area you just worked-VERY important. Now on to the wax. I've never used carnuba wax, but I'm assuming it is applied like any off the shelf wax. You'll apply the wax just like you did the buffing compound and polish. Use the softest and completely clean cloth that you have to apply the wax. After the wax has been applied and has dried to a haze-take another cloth that's completely clean and soft to remove the wax in the same swirling motions. Terry cloth(bath or dish towel material) works good for applying and removing the wax

You are now finished and will be able to tell if the results are satisfactory to you. Make sure while applying all of the materials in the steps that you use some good elbow grease-except for the wax..just use a moderate amount of pressure for that.

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very detailed, thank you! I have a drill bit for buffing/polishing? Could I use that instead?

I have the same problem with the side skirts.

You could use a drill. I've seen kits for headlight restorer than use the exact same eggcrate foam disk that fits in a drill. If you have something else similar go ahead and use that with a drill too. It will give you the same mechanical action as a polisher. Slower than a full size polisher, but quite substantially quicker than by hand. Make sure you use just the face of whatever pad you're using and don't let the edges hit the paint or it will leave marks that may not come out depending on how bad you nick it. Don't linger on corners or bends at all...that's where people "burn" their clearcoat. If you use this drill method, no swirling motion is needed by you. Your drill will do all the work.