black plastic fading... help...

A

a2malta

Member
wing mirrors black plastic are turning white... meaning that the black plastic is fading a little bit. the picture shows it clearly...

does anyone have the same problem? any idea on the best route to solve it? should i paint the plastic? are there any special products i should consider?

thanks a lot
 
Ive never seen this on a recent Audi car in the UK. I think it will be from your privileged climate in Malta!
There are vinyl paints that you can buy, one of our bodyshop gurus may provide good advice on this. I dont know how it will stand the test of time in the sunshine though :D
 
Could it be chemical damage? I can't see how the sun could effect that one little spot and nowhere else, but it looks like something could have been sprayed on there to maybe free up a stiff folding mirror mechanism?? Just a thought.

Whereabouts on the island are you? My better half is Maltese and grew up in Msida. I know Malta quite well and love it dearly. Nice to see the Maltija fraternity here too. ;)
 
Darren C said:
Hi a2malta,

I have always used http://www.autoglym.co.uk/enGB/product-proddetail.asp?v06VQ=EM&Range=1 myself; with a very good success rate. Yes, you may need to apply it annually to ensure that the discolouration doesn't reappear, but it should return a factory look without too much effort.

Darren
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Seconded, just used AG bumper care on my tyres too, excellent result. Also on the front black flap thing and the black pillars between the door. Most of the AG range is very good I think.
 
Lee S said:
Could it be chemical damage? I can't see how the sun could effect that one little spot and nowhere else, but it looks like something could have been sprayed on there to maybe free up a stiff folding mirror mechanism?? Just a thought.

Whereabouts on the island are you? My better half is Maltese and grew up in Msida. I know Malta quite well and love it dearly. Nice to see the Maltija fraternity here too. ;)
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as a matter of fact the car is English. We just imported it to Malta last month :) so the Maltese sun is definitely not the culprit. To be honest I never tried to close the mirror, but you could be right.

I am from Santa Venera which is less than a mile away from Msida, but for that matter anywhere in Malta is 30 mins away. My sister lives in Blackpool... it is a small world... :rolleyes:
 
Small world indeed.

Well all I can say is I hope you have some FSDs and 15" wheels fitted to your A2 as the Maltese roads are, erm.... less than adequate. :D

I remember seeing a silver A2 TDI SE in Mosta in April. It had some real nice gouges out of the 6 spoke rims and a nice big egg in the sidewall of the tyre. :eek:

Next time I am there I will keep my eye open for you.

Hope you can get your mirror sorted anyway. Good luck.

Cheers,
 
so true. have 16" but the Maltese roads are horrible.

on a positive note the Audi has a really good shock absorbing system. My other car (hyundai coupe) has a much less relaxed drive and the bumps and potholes are less absorbed.
 
Spent 7 weeks in Malta last year, saw a dolphin grey A2 in Pieta area quite a lot but never saw a black A2!! Didn't see any other A2's actually, did you import your car yourself or did Audi sell it there?
 
audia21991 said:
Spent 7 weeks in Malta last year, saw a dolphin grey A2 in Pieta area quite a lot but never saw a black A2!! Didn't see any other A2's actually, did you import your car yourself or did Audi sell it there?
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audi used to sell it in Malta. A friend of mine got a new black A2 1.4 TDi back in 2003. until now I counted about 10 A2's.

In my case we imported a used A2 ourselves.
 
I use AG bumper care myself on my car (non a2) and wouldnt personally recommend it. Prior to using it my trim was black, almost as good as it came out me the factory and i used bumper care to make it look shiney and now i hav to apply it every time i was the car because it has made the trim go grey now and it looks rubbish if its been a few weeks since its been on. It seems as tho its weakened the trim and made it more prone to the sun.
 
James23 said:
I use AG bumper care myself on my car (non a2) and wouldnt personally recommend it. Prior to using it my trim was black, almost as good as it came out me the factory and i used bumper care to make it look shiney and now i hav to apply it every time i was the car because it has made the trim go grey now and it looks rubbish if its been a few weeks since its been on. It seems as tho its weakened the trim and made it more prone to the sun.
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Interesting experience you have there James. I have never had any problems in all the years that I have used the product. There have been times when I have had to re-coat an area within several days that had previously been heavily covered in white polish, but I haven't the experience of "greying" that you describe - quite the opposite.

I have known Bumper Care to sometimes be "watery" in the past and I have returned the product accordingly. Perhaps you had a bad batch, but either way it doesn't sound right.

Cheers,

Darren
 
a2malta said:
wing mirrors black plastic are turning white... meaning that the black plastic is fading a little bit. the picture shows it clearly...

does anyone have the same problem? any idea on the best route to solve it? should i paint the plastic? are there any special products i should consider?

thanks a lot
Click to expand...
As one other posted it could be something that has been sprayed on for the hinge part, from the photo it looks lik,e there is a bit on the painted part aswell ??? which if it is makes me think this could be just polish as some poor polishes will stain the plastic (G3) for 1 but it should come up with plastic treatment, but if it does need painting remember that it will need to be cleaned properly as all that bumper care stuff could effect the paint you put on, keep us posted

Cheers Phil
 
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