Tips on repairing UV damage to plastic? Paint? Wrap?
Hi folks, I have a 2021 Chevy Colorado that has some significant UV damage to my fender flares. Unfortunately it’s a common issue, and if left long enough people online report that the plastic will eventually crack. Sadly this truck lives full time outdoors in the California sun so there’s no good way to prevent further exposure.
In hindsight I would have looked at some sort of protective wrap or paint from the get-go but now I’m looking into damage control options.
I can replace them to the tune of ~$1500, but I’m trying to avoid that. The best I’ve come up with is:
A) remove them and paint them. The same manufacturer that makes them made my steel bumpers and offers 10oz rattle cans of matching (touch up) paint. I think this gives me the longest term protection, but I fear you’ll see the marks from the damage through the paint. Any tips for this?
B) some sort of (professional) vinyl wrap or equivalent. I’m not sure on the cost of this or feasibility but it’s all I can think of
C) acknowledge there’s no good fix, pony up for the replacement flares either when it bothers me enough or when they inevitably crack, put protectant on the new flares to avoid this again
D) none of the above I’m not thinking of
Does anyone here have tips or advice? I’ve never even attempted any meaningful autobody repair or paint beyond just scratch fix pens and some rough shod rust prevention/repair on an old 4x4 wrangler.