Leave a waxed car in the sun for 20 years. Will paint fail?

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pman626

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I have never kept a car for 20 years, but would like to.

If the car is waxed every 3 months and left in the sun everyday for 20 years, will the paint fail, considering only the sun's effects?
 
I see many twenty year old cars with paint that's perfectly fine. If you're waxing religiously every three months, i'd say you're doing much better than most people.
 
Depends on the wax, environmental fallout, UV intensity, etc...
Too many variables. Read something here last year about the UV inhibitors of clear coat residing it the top 10% of the CC. 80 waxing sessions itself will somewhat abrade the CC.

Chris@Optimum said:
I was tapping out a reply, then realized I was speaking from experience. While my experience is documented with pictures and testimonials...it's not scientifically presented.

A couple of things I find remarkable about Optimum Protection Products:

  • Regarding Optimum Car Wax:

    With continued use, Optimum Car Wax's UV ingredients actually permeate the paint and restore OEM UV inhibitors that were used up/lost.
Click to expand...
Just playing devil's advocate.
 
There's a 14yr old minivan sitting in my driveway that's lived outside its whole life here in NY (so not just sun but ice and snow) and has NEVER been waxed and has probably been washed 5 times in those 14yrs. Despite it being a scratched up, dull, water mark etched, swirl mark on wheels the paint is all still there. So 20yrs with proper care shouldn't be a problem.
 
XSSIVE said:
There's a 14yr old minivan sitting in my driveway that's lived outside its whole life here in NY (so not just sun but ice and snow) and has NEVER been waxed and has probably been washed 5 times in those 14yrs. Despite it being a scratched up, dull, water mark etched, swirl mark on wheels the paint is all still there. So 20yrs with proper care shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...

My point exactly.
Seems to me that the more one rubs on the paint, the more CC that's minutely removed.
Even if it's only a wash and wax.

14 years of crud may provide an excellent UV inhibitor.

Also, read something here about the half-life of CC paint systems...12-14 years ~ death knell.
 
With modern clear coats and some preventive maintenance, there should be no reason why a car that sits outside 24/7 cannot look good 20 years down the road.
 
pman626 said:
I have never kept a car for 20 years, but would like to.

If the car is waxed every 3 months and left in the sun everyday for 20 years, will the paint fail, considering only the sun's effects?
Click to expand...
I'll just consider your: "considering only the Sun's effects".

-Even though, IMHO, it's nigh unto impossible to omit all other environmental factors...
and even Human factors---you are going to wash & wax, possibly clay twice a year...aren't you?...
-It makes it so much easier when leaving out all of these:
'other factors' that could influence paint-failures and their rates-of-failing...Thanks!

As such:
Many OEM's have "paint exposure farms" in places such as Florida and Arizona.
There...paints are exposed to more than just the "Sun's effects".

-I feel this is important to point this out because at least one OEM...GM in this case...
has panels that are painted in every conceivable "color" that undergo the Florida paint exposure tests.

-These stringent and independently conducted tests (consisting of: the "Sun's effects", saltwater, heat, humidity, and bird-poop, among others)
are for up to 1,825 days of constant exposure in the harsh environment of South Florida:...Miami.

-According to Maureen Midgley, executive director of Global Paint and Polymer Engineering at GM:
"We have panels nearing 10 years of constant exposure."


Now if these particular "painted panels" can endure such hardships for a given 10 year period...
I can only "Imagine" your quarterly waxing-sessions can only serve to have your subject-vehicle's paint-life to be
extremely protracted into many future decades of serviceability. [Your heirs will thank you (?)]


However...What about:
-Rubber/EPDM seals
-Tires (natural/synthetic/hybrid rubber-mixes)
-Auto-glass
-Cabin-'materials'
-etc.

I would not want to leave these components to wither & die for the
next twenty or more years under: "High Noon" conditions.

:)

Bob
 
Here is my 17 year old GMC, I bought it new, the paint is factory and has always been parked in the sun,the outdoors.
The shine speaks for itself, this pic was taken 2 weeks ago.

I wash it weekly.
Wax it every two months.
Clay it every six months.
Rinseless wash daily.

I also make sure to keep it sealed which is a plus.
Shines just as good as my new car.

It's all about maintaining the paint.

20130714_174543_zps6f3a53f9.jpg


[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6kxAwFGb8I]Walk Around Part Two - YouTube[/video]

I polish it about every six months with m205
 
My 13 and 9 year old cars have perfect shine still that people think they are brand new. But I also wonder, has paint technology improved in the past decade such that a car produced now will have even more durable paint that my old cars do?
 
Well with environmental factors now playing more into how cars are made I know a lot of companies have switched to a water based cc instead of a harder more durable ceramic based cc
 
I asked this question because I see 10 year old hondas and toyotas with completely failed, peeling paint on the horizontal paint surfaces. I don't want my car looking like that.

had to make sure wax was sufficient to protect against the sun, and not merely for water beading and extra gloss.

The horizontal paint surfaces of my dark colored 6 year old car are completely covered with micro-pitting, which has severely reduced the gloss, and I'm in the process of polishing it out. I have waxed it 2-3 times a year at least, and it's parked under the California sun all the time, but still has pitting.
So that made me question what protection wax actually provides.
 
pman626 said:
I asked this question because I see 10 year old hondas and toyotas with completely failed, peeling paint on the horizontal paint surfaces. I don't want my car looking like that.

had to make sure wax was sufficient to protect against the sun, and not merely for water beading and extra gloss.

The horizontal paint surfaces of my dark colored 6 year old car are completely covered with micro-pitting, which has severely reduced the gloss, and I'm in the process of polishing it out. I have waxed it 2-3 times a year at least, and it's parked under the California sun all the time, but still has pitting.
So that made me question what protection wax actually provides.
Click to expand...
You may need to wax more often or use a coating for more protection.
 
Funny you bring up a Honda.

Tomorrow I have to travel to correct a 2011 Honda Accord Coupe, black of course. Lol
Customor says the car is in decent shape accept for scratches on the hood.
I'm hoping I don't see any early signs of pitting as I want to protect his car for him and help in down the road to avoid this.

Haven't worked on a newer Honda, can anyone who has chime in and tell me if the paint if soft or not?






pman626 said:
I asked this question because I see 10 year old hondas and toyotas with completely failed, peeling paint on the horizontal paint surfaces. I don't want my car looking like that.

had to make sure wax was sufficient to protect against the sun, and not merely for water beading and extra gloss.

The horizontal paint surfaces of my dark colored 6 year old car are completely covered with micro-pitting, which has severely reduced the gloss, and I'm in the process of polishing it out. I have waxed it 2-3 times a year at least, and it's parked under the California sun all the time, but still has pitting.
So that made me question what protection wax actually provides.
Click to expand...
 
Just my two cents worth, but all the trashed older cars I see....are obviously not washed and waxed on a regular basis. Take care of your vehicle and it will take care of you. Just like a car that gets regular oil changes will run much longer than one that never gets one.
 
Vegas Transplant said:
Depends on the wax, environmental fallout, UV intensity, etc...
Too many variables. Read something here last year about the UV inhibitors of clear coat residing it the top 10% of the CC. 80 waxing sessions itself will somewhat abrade the CC.


Just playing devil's advocate.
Click to expand...


I've seen that info posted by several people over the last few years....I reached out to Dr. G for clarification a while back. I guess one just has to choose who to believe based on their resources. ;)

Chad,

UV absorbers are distributed throughout the clearcoat paint. They are not just on the top 1-2 microns. The main effect of the UV absorbers is to block UV light from oxidizing the pigments and colorants. Removing more than 0.2 mils can cause clearcoat failure, not because of the removal of UV absorbers, but because most factory clears only have 1.5 mils of clearcoat (to reduce paint costs) which is just over the minimum film thickness for the paint to be stable. With refinish paint where there is more clearcoat, you can sand and polish more paint off without any issues.

With ceramiclear type paints on the other hand, fumed silica does migrate to the top of the paint and removing the top 0.2 mils will remove the hardness and the clearcoat will become very soft. I think most people confuse the fumed silica migration to the surface with the UV absorbers migrating to surface but you have to remember that UV absorbers are in the molecular range (0.0000000001 nm) and fumed silica is in the nano range (0.1 nm).

As for waxes, the statement that they do not offer UV protection is correct. That is why we add the same UV blockers that is in clearcoat paint to Optimum Car Wax to add UV protection to paint. Let me know if this helps. Thank you.
Click to expand...
 
HateSwirls said:
Funny you bring up a Honda.

Tomorrow I have to travel to correct a 2011 Honda Accord Coupe, black of course. Lol
Customor says the car is in decent shape accept for scratches on the hood.
I'm hoping I don't see any early signs of pitting as I want to protect his car for him and help in down the road to avoid this.
Click to expand...


Dark cars seem to get pitting earlier, often, I would guess. That paint is burning hot all the time.
My older silver car does not have pitting issues.

I hope I'm saving my dark paint in time. I used cutting compound and da polisher on a few sections of the roof, and it looks a lot better. Hopefully this isn't the precursor to peeling paint.

Honda 2011 accord is made in america with severe EPA restrictions, so you can bet the paint is soft.
 
RaskyR1 said:
I've seen that info posted by several people over the last few years....I reached out to Dr. G for clarification a while back. I guess one just has to choose who to believe based on their resources. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, since you also saw these posts here on AGO, then you also know the culprit as well as I do. But since I can't find the thread, I can't attribute that quote to the author. Not gonna open that can of worms. But I do remember and respect the author of said.
But what I remember the most about the topic was the author attributing the info directly back to Dr. G.

Big fan of the good doc and OPT products :dblthumb2:...and always look forward to seeing your posts/threads/articles on the internet :props:

Anyhoo, thanks for the clarification forum friend. Always a good feeling to be set on the right track.
 
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