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Wondering if any others here have this occurring. I have a 2017 Base Cayman with only 3000 miles. Came with matte black calipers. They are fading pretty badly and I have not used any iron removing chemicals or any other type of chemicals on my wheels. I only use Griots shampoo which is pretty PH balanced and would not harm the paint on the calipers. I contacted my local Porsche dealer and after 10 days they came back with an answer of this is NOT warrantable as they say this if from outside influence. I plan on calling 1-800-PORSCHE to see if they can help but I am curious if anyone has any ideas on escalating this? Also if this was from outside influence why is the entire caliper faded. I've attached a pic.
My wifes 2017 Macan base has similar calipers in black with 20,000 miles and they are not faded at all.
Unfortunately that’s normal, to my knowledge. The Cayman base calipers I BELIEVE are in a finish called “black anodized” NOT a painted gloss finish like the S brakes and PCCB (not an expert, that’s just what the parts person told me). Mine looked just like that before I had them refinished. My 996 had black brakes as well but the WERE in a black gloss paint finish so I don’t know why they don’t do the same on the base Cayman. I attached a photo of what mine looked like now and, if I find a “before” will attach that as well. Good luck with the dealership...-Dom
Found more, from how they looked originally, the last photo is the car now (with re-finished calipers, x73 suspension and side scoops - there's more changes but those are the ones you can see...
After a year, 6K miles, and a hand wash by myself every other week my 718 base's calipers have not faded a bit. Like you I only use Griot's Wash & Wax, and never use wheel cleaners. I do wash the calipers and finish with Spray Wax every wash, and put a fresh coat of sealant on the calipers about every 3 months. Could be the dealer used a wheel cleaner during the prep. I had a pair of black Stoptech's bleached almost white by a touchless car wash who used a very aggressive wheel cleaner.
After a year, 6K miles, and a hand wash by myself every other week my 718 base's calipers have not faded a bit. Like you I only use Griot's Wash & Wax, and never use wheel cleaners. I do wash the calipers and finish with Spray Wax every wash, and put a fresh coat of sealant on the calipers about every 3 months. Could be the dealer used a wheel cleaner during the prep. I had a pair of black Stoptech's bleached almost white by a touchless car wash who used a very aggressive wheel cleaner.
The sealant may have been the differentiator here - however, I would caution that I did NOT need this level of maintenance with my previous 996 painted gloss black calipers or my current 991S painted gloss red calipers and they look phenomenal after 20k, where the 981's "base" caliper coating was kaput after 10k and I see this very commonly on Porsche's other model's with "base" calipers so there IS a difference in the finish. Best of luck to you, let us know how it turns out!
We see that a good bit it is a normal/common occurrence as least down here in Florida. However, what is odd is how quickly it happened to your car. 2017 and 3k miles? Haven't seen it happen that quickly.
Wow that seems fast for any finish to come off. Kind of surprised the dealer wouldn't just do something to make it right with you. Caliper powder coating is not that tough a job though/not that expensive - might be the opportunity to have them turned into the color you want.
Before I picked-up my base 718, I was looking to by a CPO base 14-16 981. Almost every example I found had faded calipers, which was a definitive turn-off, and big motivator to do everything I can to prevent it on my 718.
So I submitted a request through my local Porsche dealer, who took pictures and contacted Porsche NA to see about getting them replaced with warranty. They said NO both times I made a request. They said it was outside influence. Whatever!
Anyway I did put this question out on the pca.org forum as well and someone came back with this:
The finish in those particular calipers is not paint. It’s an annodized aluminum finish. It’s not that it’s fading but rather that contaminants and oxidation make it look lighter in color (this is known as chalking). You can use a product like Everbrite Restoration Kit to bring it back to the original finish.
So I will be looking into either painting them myself or taking them to be painted or powdercoated.
So I submitted a request through my local Porsche dealer, who took pictures and contacted Porsche NA to see about getting them replaced with warranty. They said NO both times I made a request. They said it was outside influence. Whatever!
Anyway I did put this question out on the pca.org forum as well and someone came back with this:
The finish in those particular calipers is not paint. It’s an annodized aluminum finish. It’s not that it’s fading but rather that contaminants and oxidation make it look lighter in color (this is known as chalking). You can use a product like Everbrite Restoration Kit to bring it back to the original finish.
So I will be looking into either painting them myself or taking them to be painted or powdercoated.
So this was consistent with my response above - though I was not aware of a product that would 'restore' them. That's good info and will have to research. Anyway, I looked into painting and powder-coating. My understanding is that paint would not last as long/hold up as well as powder-coating but would be cheaper and dissipate heat better (for track sessions - which is not a high priority for me), so I went with powder-coating. Not sure who said powder-coating would not be expensive (I guess what is expensive is relative ) but I paid $300 and change a corner plus tax (so I think between $1.3 & 1.4k), and that was consistent with what I saw other high end shops charging. They were removed to do so (obviously), bled, etc. and I am EXTREMELY happy wit the results. Good luck, if I ever get another model with a caliper with that finish I may try that "Everbrite", might be a good alternative! -Dom
So this was consistent with my response above - though I was not aware of a product that would 'restore' them. That's good info and will have to research. Anyway, I looked into painting and powder-coating. My understanding is that paint would not last as long/hold up as well as powder-coating but would be cheaper and dissipate heat better (for track sessions - which is not a high priority for me), so I went with powder-coating. Not sure who said powder-coating would not be expensive (I guess what is expensive is relative ) but I paid $300 and change a corner plus tax (so I think between $1.3 & 1.4k), and that was consistent with what I saw other high end shops charging. They were removed to do so (obviously), bled, etc. and I am EXTREMELY happy wit the results. Good luck, if I ever get another model with a caliper with that finish I may try that "Everbrite", might be a good alternative! -Dom
Update: I tried Everbrite. Seems like a nice product but does NOT restore the calipers to black; it made them look NICER, but not back to OEM. And I followed the instructions to the LETTER. -Dom
06-19-2018, 11:42 AM
Brake Calipers fading
) but I paid $300 and change a corner plus tax (so I think between $1.3 & 1.4k), and that was consistent with what I saw other high end shops charging. They were removed to do so (obviously), bled, etc. and I am EXTREMELY happy wit the results. Good luck, if I ever get another model with a caliper with that finish I may try that "Everbrite", might be a good alternative! -Dom