I was wonderng with the people on here how many have red cars (original GM) paint and how well it held up so far. I ask becasue i just waxed mine 2 times this weekend and do not get me wrong, it is still awesome, but the rear bumper on top below the taillights seems to be a little faded. I waxed that section 3 times each session, it came out pretty good.

I use to have a white 91 and she started to peel on the clear coat back in 2000. It was like a cancer, once it started on the roof and hood, it just spread. I had it professional repainted, I am afraid it might happen to my current red car, trying to keeep it covered and waxed every few weeks now as it is getting older. The hot sun down here don't help either. Andy

Ive got a bright red 86 T/A. It was assembled in Cali, so the paint is junk really all the horizontal surfaces(top of car , top of quarter panels and both bumpers the paint is coming off. Doesn't look too good at the moment

Mine is original and still in great shape.


But mine has never seen winter or salt and has been sitting in a garage all it's life except when out for a drive. The sun itself can cause a great deal of fading and damage. It was built in Van Nuys plant.
Due to environmental issues and with state of California enforcing many controls, petroleum based paints were being phased out and replaced with water based paints. While these perform great today as most new cars and many body shops use this method now (soon all will have to by law in Canada), when water based paints were first introduced, they did have adhesion problems and were prone to peeling and early failure.

Also, the rear bumper can become dull quicker than the rest of the car due to it being a great place for dust and dirt to settle. Anyone who has just finished detailing their car will attest to the fact that as soon as you drive it there's a layer of dust on the bumper. It seems to be an areodynamic calm location prone to gathering grime. Extreme caution has to be exercised when cleaning this area.

Waxing alone is not going to help with any fading. It sounds like you need to use some mild polish, with a quality random orbit polisher like the Porter Cable version that detailers use. For paint in otherwise good condition, I'd clay bar the whole car once per year, followed with a couple passes with mild polish, then a few layers of wax.

I made the paint on my LT1 Formula look many times better than when I started by doing this, but I made four separate passes with three types of polish. Quite satisfying.

my red 91 GTA has the clear peeling off the rear wing.

My 92 has bright red paint that held up very good. The clearcoat never peeled and the top of the body/hood never faded. I have had the car 9 years and do not have a garage, although I do keep it covered always.

My car still has the original paint, but it has the fading on the rear bumper like yours. I'll be getting that done here pretty soon to match the car.

the clear on the hood, top, and tops of the quarter panels was peeling on mine when i bought it

I have 2 87 Irocs, both red. One has faded orange, one has faded purple. Both Norwood cars.