DB11 Wing Mirror Arms going purple?

[Brian_Blessed]

Shopping around early DB11s and noticing that several have wing mirror arms, and to a lesser extent some body trim where the rear of the roof strake meets, that seem to be fading to purple instead of black. I assume they weren’t like that when new. I’ve seen them in the flesh and sometimes it’s significant enough to notice it on autotrader adverts.

Any owners noticed this and can confirm? Presumably if it is a uv fading issue then repainting black in the future will solve it?

[Brian_Blessed]

[Brian_Blessed]

[Brian_Blessed]

Saw this one in the flesh so can confirm it’s not a trick of the light….

[cb804]

Unfortunately the wing arm trim turns purple after time. I have a 2019 Vantage and have the same issue. It's not as bad as some of the pictures above. I can really see the color difference under LED lights in my garage. Not as noticeable in natural light. I suppose the only way to correct it would be to get the wing trim repainted.

[bents99]

Agree. Mine are very slight but noticeable when you’re washing the car. Same for the strakes over the roof.

[Brian_Blessed]

Seems like it's a thing then. I guess the first few people to get it sorted can let everyone else know how easy/effective/expensive it was. Probably every one will need it doing at some point.

[skhannes]

I've some fading/discoloration of the black plastic trim on my 2018 DB11. This is not a surface coating; instead, appears to be a discoloration of black plastic which gets its coloring from the primary material. Doesn't look to me like a repaint of anything, just a black plastic suffering from too much UV exposure.

Here is an example along the trim of my driver's door. I do see it on the wing mirror as well.

[Peter McKean]

Yes, I had some of the same UV discolouration on the gloss black trim pieces at the rear sides of my DB11 (the floating C pillar), which were replaced by Aston Installations and now look much better. I can see a little of it on the wing mirror stalks, too, and might get them repainted in future, rather than replaced, as they are quite expensive parts.

It's a common issue, I think. Especially amongst cars that have been kept outside for a while.

[Mikebentley]

Could they be wrapped?

[skhannes]

Mikebentley said:

Could they be wrapped?

Yes, they could be wrapped. I've had SS trim on my Bentley wrapped black. The problem with wraps is that material is very delicate to any kind of physical contact.


I had an entire car wrapped. It is like a wrapped Christmas present, where the wrapping isn't made to be the durable part. Made me nervous, so much so I sold it rather than chance some random damage to the wrap that, normally, paintwork would have survived.

[Cold]

Just continuing the tradition of dodgy AM mirror stalks. Still, at least they aren't turning to a crumbly white powder like earlier models.

[LTP]

Cold said:

Just continuing the tradition of dodgy AM mirror stalks. Still, at least they aren't turning to a crumbly white powder like earlier models.

To be fair to Aston, it's the mirror supplier's coating, not Aston. Still, Aston approved them, are buying parts from them and they sold the car.

One thing does surprise me is that the finish would have gone through UV durability testing at both the supplier and through Aston's labs, to (usually) a Ford standard - and you don't see Fords with purple mirror arms. Plus County Durham is not known for weeks of blazing equatorial sun.

[Vet Guru]

BMW models have the same issue with a lot the cars going from black plastic to a purple overtime and sunlight