TOPIC:

it was never going to fade, it affected the coating on the plastic but i never tried the orange, could i use juice? .

I am on mobility so that would lose me my clean deposit of £250 and i found the replacement on ebay for £35 so it will be fitted next year before it goes back 

No, needs to be a full on Orange but test in a discreet area first.
I have an industrial can of spray, smells of oranges too, that removes the adhesive properties from surfaces that have had sticky products labels etc.  

Update 

I have got my refund from the company so the part hasn't cost me anything 

anyone knows how the top of the dash comes off to get to the screws to replace it ?

That's not ideal is it. Looks to me like there's a chemical in the pad which has leached in the sun.

If you bought that off ebay, I would be claiming througfh paypal, not just for the original item but also the cost of the replacement vent.

Paypal does allow you to do that and you have enough photos to evince your position.

i purchased it from Amazon whos customer service i have found excellent.

as for the company who supplied it, they were from the marketplace and were a distributor for MPOW, MPOW offered £20 comp and said it was sun bleaching and it would fade.

i was very lucky to find a secondhand replacement for £35 and did get fully refunded by them without having to go to amazon 

car has to go back next year so i will be fitting the replacement then