beerme986

iTrader: (2)

Long story short, I had my bumper repainted. The first shop I went to could not color match well so I got my money back. Went to another pro shop and this is the best they could do. They repainted it twice, the 2nd time they had a representative from the paint company come out and created a custom paint to match.

In the sun, it does not look too bad. In the shade is when you can see the difference. They said it is not possible to perfectly color match the bumper to the body due to many factors. couple being, plastic vs metal. also that painted bumpers from the factory are painted then clear coated at once then baked for 600 degrees.

Wondering if you guys think this is true? I been to many body shops and they said it will never match 100% as well.

ChOy BoY

iTrader: (2)

That's what I was told about IP and yeah the same thing goes for the plastic vs. metal

Did they try to blend it at all?

iinviktus

BS. I had to get my back bumper repainted from a hit and run when my car was 1 month old and the body shop I went to matched it perfectly. How much were they charging you to paint?

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

Paid 350. I needed to paint half the bumper and clear coat whole bumper. They said they could blend it in the quarter panel but it would cost a lot more. This is the 2nd body shop that cannot perfectly color match.

iinviktus

See attached photo above. My body shop repainted the entire bumper, not half of it FYI. They didn't recommend trying to partially paint it. My body shop charged me $450 ($150 deductible).

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

Ugh now I have to go back and try to fight them to repaint it. But if they could not get the color right the first 2 times, leaves little confidence they would get it right the 3rd time. Nevertheless I will go back next week and have another chat with them.

iinviktus

Get your money back and go to a different body shop.

ONEighty

iTrader: (15)

95% of the time you wont get a perfect color match, it's almost impossible, only way to properly do it is to blend it with the qtr panel.

iinviktus

Try taking it to the body shop that the Infiniti dealership uses, but go there directly, don't go through the dealer.

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

I took it to the shop that my Infiniti dealer sends all their cars to. They said that no matter what there would be some color difference. That shop wanted almost $600 for half bumper repaint. I also went to the body shops that local bmw and mercedes dealers send cars too. all said the same thing, the bumper(plastic) will always looked different.

The shop I took it to is reputable and I have had cars painted there before flawlessly. I will have another talk with them next week or so.

iinviktus, I envy you and maybe you got lucky on your paint job. Too bad I'm in the Northeast and cant go to your body shop.

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

I am going to call tomorrow and discuss blending the quarter panel. Does this require them to repaint the bumper again then blend from there or can they just blend the quarter panel without bumper work? thanks for all your help

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

Nevermind the blending into the quarter panel. That will be a whole other mess. But question for all you paint experts. In the sun it matches 95% which is acceptable. But in the shade it looks 3 shades darker then the rest of the car. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Body shop said to call on monday so they can talk to their painter. They told me the repainted it twice already and they cant keep redoing it.

blackfunk

iTrader: (1)

Ok, so I feel like a pro in this arena, as I've had my bumper repainted 4 times already (LOL). It will NEVER be a perfect match. I did loads of research before I came to this conclusion. To get the best results you MUST blend the adjacent panels and even then it will not match perfectly. I used the dealers body shop and they had two paint experts come down with the special lights and instruments and it wasn't perfect.
If you research 'paint flop' on google it will shed some light into why it will never be a perfect match. Also you have to take into consideration the fact that the bumper is plastic so they use a rubber additive to help the paint adhere and the rubber makes the paint appear darker.
This all has to do with the way cars are painted bumpers are done seperately from the body then an automated system selects the bumper color/reflectivity that matches that car best. Don't beleive me? Walk through a dealers lot and there are brand new cars (no body work done) where the bumper from the factory does not match AT ALL. To summerize -- blend the panels and call it a day.

Ruvik

iTrader: (2)

Well as a painter myself I know that PPG and ICI paint gets several shades of paint that the manufacture provide them with do to different mixture dates, and if the painter at the body shop used DBC or OMNI paints then 99.9% it will not match ever even with a blend. The only paint that is possible to match is ICI paint (price is 68$ pint) they have up too three paint chips to choose from. I would go to a auto paint store (not Napa or CarQuest ) and ask for ICI paint chips and choose the paint yourself from those chips ( outside in real sunlight) to a metal panel thats on your car not plastic. Then find someone that painted high metallic paints like graphite and silver colors and ask if you can see their previous work on other cars that are in the shop already painted. (Make sure you tell them your story) and if you like their work have them paint it for ya. Good Luck.

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the advice. I will be talking with the body shop tomorrow and see what we can do. Sounds liike they are going to give it one more shot but this time I may say, to let me choose the color to paint the bumper. The painter will make a bunch of test strips and from there I can decide what color to paint it. If I only get one more respray, I rather be the one to choose it.

Im assuming I should choose a lighter color since blackfunk said the rubber additive will make the paint darker?