My '04 TL that I purchased back in 2006 has body side moldings. I'm considering removing them using this DIY thread:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/diy-body-side-molding-removal-614850/

My question is...

Do you think this is a bad idea considering that these have been sitting on my car for 6 years? Would I risk a stripe of unfaded paint?

A little more background. My car is garage-kept at my house, but that probably doesn't mean much for sunlight exposure since it is out and about most days, parked at work/customers. My TL is Anthrocite Metallic.

Am I paranoid for no reason?

 

No, it's pretty likely that your paint will have faded some. As to how much, you can't really know until you remove one of the moldings and see for yourself.

 

I hear of detail shops claiming that they can "restore" faded paint. Is there truth to this? I'm curious since I'm about to do an exterior detail. Trying to figure out if I should pull the BSM off before it. Sounds like I should leave them where they are.

 

I had the EXACT same concern. I have an 04 ssm that I took of the bsm's just 6 months ago. NO SIGNS of paint fade and I live in the hot desert of southern utah and car came from Arizona. There will be a good hour of claying needed to remove the lines of dirt that has settled, but I was 100% happy with removing mine. I wouldn't be afraid of it.

 

So what exactly is "claying". What product did you use? If I'm getting it detailed, is this something a detail shop would be doing anyway?

 

Check with a competant and skilled detailer.....He (or she) would
use a buffer to take polish out the clearcoat. My guess is the covered areas are swirl free. Polishing out the non covered areas (and previously covered areas)will make things uniform and result in a mirror like shine !

 

even if there is a little bit of difference in time they will look the same

 

there will be a slight difference in color, however with a little bit of polish it'll go away! Check out the Wash and Wax section for more info on stuff such as detailing clay, the proper way to wash your car and some good paint sealants!

 

Never did update this thread. I pulled off the Body Side Moldings a month ago and you would never know that they had once been there.

 

Cool! Body side molding are teh suck!

 

I sometimes like BSMs on certain TLs. Dunno. Breaks the doors up a bit. The 4G TL actually looks good with them.

 

i feel like it doesnt flow with the lines on the 3g. personally i like the smooth look of the doors on the 3g

 

^
I also didn't think it flowed with the lines. There's already the indentation line, another line just looked like extra clutter to me. I thought this the second I saw my car and asked the dealer where I bought to remove the BSMs as part of the negotiation. They agreed, but after the deal, they told me it could not be done because there were bolts holding them into the doors so I would be left with holes. Unfortunately, I believed them and had these on my car 4 years too long.

As for BSMs in general, there are certain vehicles where they are designed into the car and it can look good. Look at BMWs. However, that's not the case with the 3G TL.

 

nothing looks good on the 4g

 

word!!

 

Meh. They can be done right.






/offtopic.

 

That does look good. It's a huge improvement to the looks of the 4G whenever I see one with the paint-matched snaggletooth. And those wheels look great on that car.

I still prefer my 3G though.

 

Thread ruined with pics of 4G in 3G forum!

 

Hahaha Agreed^
But it is very rare to have fading now, even if there is slight fading it can be posihed out. Fading was more of a Single Stage paint issue... or a Mitsu and Chrysler issue as they have crap paint!

 

Well I was pleased to find out that I did not have any fading and after removing the BSMs which had sat on my car for 6 years, the paint underneath looked the same as the rest of the door panels and you'd never be able to tell that there had once been something there.