my mk3 breadvan has faded really bad the last year and t cut just doesent cut it as I'm sure many might agree,

i need to do some filling and minor bodywork repairs and dont want to get fresh 'tornado red' paint and put it to faded paint...

have thought about getting it mopped but will it really last that long?

cheers.

sadly there is nothing you can do if t-cut wont touch it as its pretty aggressive, a buff MAY bring back a little shine but will not last and your fresh paint will not match dispite what some people may tell you, depending on budget and how good you want it to look you best bet is full respray. at the end of the day its an old car with old paint on it so no amount of paint correction and buffing will make it look exactly like your freshly painted bits, i know i will prob get loads of cowboys argueing with me but i paint cars for a living and have grown up in the trade so know what I'm on with.

this has been a a question thats been asked to death but the words i speak are the sad reality of the matter, hope this helps in some way.

quick tip, try a little t-cut with a soft mop head on and work it into the pannel, if that doesnt make it better then you may want to start looking at respray prices. all comes down to how mint you want your car

i did think the reply would be a full re spray, just wanted to see if anybody had any good top tips to avoid this! as I'm quite low on funds atm! i will def try the t cut method you have mentioned. what sort of prices would i be looking at? i want the car to be a top spec standard and long term would consider it.

thanks for the reply.

Machine polishing could help.

I did this to great effect on my mk2 polo (and other pink VW's) can look for my mk2 in the gallery section

Did the usual detailing thing, and used a DA on mine, then a good coat of wax to stop it happening again.

True it might not end up as good as a respray (but mine is better than a lot of cheaper paint jobs i have seen!!!) but it will cost you little money compared to it and train you how to properly look after your paint in the future :-)

Suggest getting onto detailing world

Machine polishing essentially cuts away the top, oxidised layer of paint so you will have on show the fresh paint underneath. The only reason it won't last as long as a new paintjob is because the paint on the car will be single stage and, thus, the fade will happen again.

A bodyshop respray will mean that it's lacquered and better protected from fade.

I wouldn't put T-Cut anywhere near my car, faded paintwork or not. There's far, far better polishes out there but, admittedly, you're better off using a machine.

If you were to approach a professional detailer about restoring the gloss, you'd probably be looking at between £200-300. How that compares to a respray cost is worth considering.

However, machine polishing to get back to good paint, then protecting properly will me it says red for a while.

Keep on top of the protection and this could keep you satisfied for a good few years!!!

Yes a respray is another option, but it may not be required.

I guess it depends how bad it is, and how good a fix you require? Without knowing both its difficult...

T-cut isn't a polish, you use that to cut the paint, then use polish to shine it up after.

Normal T-cut isn't great as it contains piss (well, ammonia), but there's a metallic version and it's very different, that's much better on non-metallic paint.

Still, your paint is past it. You'll never match the original for any length of time, or at all from a can, so your options are the forced rat look or a re-spray.

Polish cuts the paint. T-cut is some kind of horrid cut mixed with poor matching colour to hide scratches.

Saying that, some polish cuts the paint. There's a whole range of abrasiveness within polishes, from heavy cut to fillling polishes that don't cut at all.

Polish cuts the paint. T-cut is some kind of horrid cut mixed with poor matching colour to hide scratches.

Saying that, some polish cuts the paint. There's a whole range of abrasiveness within polishes, from heavy cut to fillling polishes that don't cut at all.

Cutting compounds such as T-cut and G3 are not polishes. And normal T-cut does not contain colour to hide anything, you're talking about their colour shine range (which is crap).

Polish is a very fine cutting compound yes, but only designed to very finely cut good paint to perfection. It is not the same as a cutting compound.

Cutting compounds (such as T-cut and G3) are to cut the damaged top layers off the paint (scratching, oxidization etc) leaving good paint ready for polishing. Cutting compounds won't leave a brilliantly shiny finish, as that's not their job.

Oh I know, my original point was that there are far better products available to remove the faded, oxidised paint than T-Cut. In my personal experience and opinion, of course.

I'm with you on T-cut original, a bright red bottle with caramel coloured liquid in. Wouldn't use it if it were free.

If i need aggressive stuff for really unloved paint then i go with G3.

If i don't need such aggressive stuff but it does need cutting, then i go with T-cut metallic. It's a more pale caramel colour in a metallic/glittery burgundy colour bottle.