Had some left over vinyl. Sideview mirrors were lookin beat after 7 years of Cali sun. Instead of getting them resprayed for $75 bucks or rattle canned (ghetto). I decided to wrap them with some leftover vinyl i had. Heres the before:

Compared to the mica on the A-pillars you can really tell how faded theyve gotten.

A further back shot


and the after


What you guys think?

And on a sidenote, NO this isnt the cheap vinyl with just grey and black rectangles printed on it. This is the quality 3M Textured Carbon Fiber Di-Noc Vinyl

 

Its ok....lol

Wow how did ur side mirror covers get like that??...I am in SoCal too my car is 5yrs old mine look brand new still...

 

Looks good, don't forget to wax your mirrors too!

 

huh... DO NOT PUT WAX ON THE VINYL!

 

That came out wrong. I meant don't forget to wax your side mirrors in order to avoid what happened to them above so vinyl wouldn't be necessary.

 

i'm thinking the same thing. does the hood and trunk have similar fading?

 

Im in NorCal, our heat is a little drier then the other California microclimates. I know socal is more consistently warmer then up here, but with summers reaching 100+ with 0-5% humidity, i can see how it happens

Funny thing is, the rest of the body is in immaculate condition. I babied the car since i bought it brand new in the fall of 04. No crazy rituals, just regular washings with Meguiars every 1 1/2-2 weeks, and a wax and claybar every 3 months along with it.

Although there was discussion back on YSTC when the tC first came out in mid-04 about the early model FM's having some oxidation issues. The sideview mirrors being the biggest culprit. People were saying ToyCo didnt spray as many coats as opposed to the body panels. idk...

 

Nice.

B@t

 

Yikes, the fading....great work.

 

looks good man

 

wow a tC "legend" like Bat commenting on MY vinyl work? Im flattered haha. Thanks for the comments people

 

looks a lot better. nice, cheaper alternative. let's see how long that vinyl lasts now...

 

yah we'll see. 3M has a pretty good track record of holding up in harsh weather. If not, i still have some more, so ill just rip off that one and put on some more haha