Is it all over the car or just in certain areas? Could be a previous repair job that's starting to fail? 
opcornsoda:
+1
This further extends my dislike of previous owners who don't disclose anything. It gives people new to the brand the wrong impression. "Yeah I had a MK5 GTI once, hated it. Paint all fell off and it rattled like a barstewards". Yes, because some berk(s) ruined the car before you got hold of it sadly. But 10 years is a long time by modern car quality standards. It's a cliché (for good reason) because it's true: they don't make 'em like they used to. To expect paintwork perfection after 10 years with little to no maintenance is bordering on the unreasonable.
But before taking my rant too literally, perhaps pop it down to a dealer for a paint depth test to confirm?
Luke is right about red though, it's terrible for UV attack.
Complete agree with this. You have to trust your wits about the history of a car, and then be prepared to put the work in yourself.
Red can turn into a complete mess if it's not looked after. I've often heard the phrase 'Tornado Pink' in jest. Mine is Tornado, and fingers crossed it's holding up well. I've had it for two years and it's also ten years old.
It boils down to knowledge and effort. The knowledge that paint degrades if it only ever sees a bit of water and car shampoo, rather than a proper regime of wash, clay, polish, wax. And then the effort to stay on top of it and keep that regime going.
One of my friends had a red Astra VXR. Quite a decent drive in all honesty, fast and with much fewer rattles than the mk4 I was in at the time. Problem is, he didn't look after it. And it went pink. Literally, pink. He kindly asked me to have a look at it, and it was just beyond help. I think it'd have taken a week by hand.
Lesson learnt.
