New iQ purchase : paint colour match and wiper arm questions

[efb]

Hello, I'm poised like a cobra to buy an iQ3 after looking at far too many tatty ones.

Couple of questions for now:-

So many I've seen have poor colour match between bumpers and particularly the engine cover. This includes the one I'm looking at which is white 070, what's the best way of improving this, anything DIY or can a pro detailer improve matters?

The wiper arms are badly corroded, I cba respraying them, those days are behind me, is there any good source for replacement, are they common with Aygo? All I can see is ~£80ea new..

Thanks, Luke

[glimp]

I bought a 2009 IQ a fortnight ago. One of the wiper arms was badly corroded (paint flaking off, white corrosion). Unusually, the other one was okay (I'd looked at several IQs and they all had the same issue).

I simply took it off (10mm nut under the plastic cap - I think it was 10mm), scraped off the loose paint with a flat bladed screwdriver (3 mins), sanded it down with emery paper (3 mins) and painted it with some black Hammerite I had in the shed (2 mins). I also painted the other one, in situ, to match. It's dark now, so I can't take a photo, but trust me, they look fine and the job took no time or effort. If you didn't know, you wouldn't notice.

Actually, here's a night-time photo I just took. The difference between plastic cap and newly-painted arm looks much more pronounced in the photo than it does in real life...

[Falomain]

2 hours ago, glimp said:

I bought a 2009 IQ a fortnight ago. One of the wiper arms was badly corroded (paint flaking off, white corrosion). Unusually, the other one was okay (I'd looked at several IQs and they all had the same issue).

I simply took it off (10mm nut under the plastic cap - I think it was 10mm), scraped off the loose paint with a flat bladed screwdriver (3 mins), sanded it down with emery paper (3 mins) and painted it with some black Hammerite I had in the shed (2 mins). I also painted the other one, in situ, to match. It's dark now, so I can't take a photo, but trust me, they look fine and the job took no time or effort. If you didn't know, you wouldn't notice.

Actually, here's a night-time photo I just took. The difference between plastic cap and newly-painted arm looks much more pronounced in the photo than it does in real life...

'black'???

[glimp]

4 minutes ago, Falomain said:

'black'???

Trick of the light/flash - it's black.

[Falomain]

I know, just joking... good job & thanks for the post 👌

[glimp]

On 9/30/2023 at 8:51 PM, efb said:

The wiper arms are badly corroded, I cba respraying them, those days are behind me, is there any good source for replacement, are they common with Aygo? All I can see is ~£80ea new..

Thanks, Luke

Here's a daytime photo I took just now - much closer to what it actually looks like in real life, which is barely indistinguishable from OEM. Easy, quick job...

 

[Jimota]

Hammerite and other similar paints can bring back metal to a very high standard. Used it quite a lot in my younger days when I was a DIY enthusiast. 

[glimp]

3 minutes ago, Jimota said:

Hammerite and other similar paints can bring back metal to a very high standard. Used it quite a lot in my younger days when I was a DIY enthusiast. 

I like to use it to make rusty car boltheads look nice. 🙂

[efb]

3 hours ago, glimp said:

Here's a daytime photo I took just now - much closer to what it actually looks like in real life, which is barely indistinguishable from OEM. Easy, quick job...

 

Yes, fair enough, good job. I just remember taking 2 days to do my old Fiat Panda arms, hanging on the washing line to spray, multiple coats. Perhaps I can achieve a decent result with less effort.

Edit to say: I thought the arms might be found for £20ea somewhere...not £80. Cygnet arms are cheaper on line.

[glimp]

15 minutes ago, efb said:

Yes, fair enough, good job. I just remember taking 2 days to do my old Fiat Panda arms, hanging on the washing line to spray, multiple coats. Perhaps I can achieve a decent result with less effort.

Edit to say: I thought the arms might be found for £20ea somewhere...not £80. Cygnet arms are cheaper on line.

Just to be 100% clear, I've only refurbed this bit, not the entire wiper arm...