I get what you mean about red being impossible to hide, but honestly, I’d rather have a faded red car than try to match silver or gray panels. Those never look right to me—always a little off, like someone tried to patch up a wall with the wrong paint. At least with red, you can call it “character” and pretend it’s intentional. My neighbor’s got a bright blue truck and swears it fades even faster than red... maybe it’s just the sun trying to keep us humble.
Funny you mention the blue—my uncle had an old Ford that started out a deep navy and ended up looking almost purple after a few summers. I agree, silver panels never match right, no matter how much you pay. At least with red, the fade just sort of blends in and you can pretend it’s on purpose. Sun’s brutal on paint, no matter the color...
That’s the thing with red—every brand seems to have their own idea of what “red” even means. I’ve noticed it’s not just the shade, but also the type of pigment and clearcoat they use. Some reds are more orange, some almost burgundy, and they all fade differently. I had a ‘99 Dodge that started out fire-engine red and after a decade in the sun, it looked almost pinkish in spots. The UV rays just eat up certain pigments faster, especially reds and blues.
Matching panels is a nightmare, like you said with silver—never looks quite right unless you repaint the whole side. With red, at least if you keep up on waxing or use a UV protectant, you can slow down the fading a bit. But yeah, after a while it all blends together and you just call it “patina.” Kind of wish more brands would stick to one formula so touch-ups weren’t such a hassle... but I guess that’s part of what makes spotting repainted panels so easy.
Kind of wish more brands would stick to one formula so touch-ups weren’t such a hassle...
I get the frustration, but honestly, I’m not sure a single formula would make things that much easier. Even if brands used the same base red, you’d still have fading and aging differences just from how people care for their cars or where they’re parked. I’ve tried “factory match” paint on my old Chevy and it was still off by a mile—garage-kept spots looked totally different from sun-exposed ones. At this point, I just accept it’s never going to be perfect unless you respray the whole thing. That said, keeping up with wax and parking in the shade does help slow down the fade, at least in my experience.
Even if brands used the same base red, you’d still have fading and aging differences just from how people care for their cars or where they’re parked.
That’s been my experience too. Years ago, I tried to touch up a faded patch on my old Civic—matched the paint code and everything, but it still looked weird next to the rest of the car. Sun just does its own thing. Reminds me of trying to match shingles on a sun-bleached roof... never quite lines up, no matter how close you get.
