is silver color hard to match? Post accident repair..
05-17-2010 | 03:38 AM
#1
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From: Los Angeles, CA
is silver color hard to match? Post accident repair..
Hi, guys,
had a accident, and now I have two options:
I took it to a local body shop that i had dealt with. They estimated the bumper repaint job to be $350. I know the scratch on the headlight could be smoothed out with rubbing compound and such and the dirt on the fender could be treated similarly.
Two years ago, this shop painted my 1998 Infiniti I30 rear bumper(not because of accident. This is my first accident). It costed $300, but the metallic beige paint didn't come out perfectly. I could tell the diff especially under direct sunshine. I understand all metallic colors are more difficult to match because of the nature of them. I didn't make big deal out of it then as my old I30 wasn't worth much and I was getting rid of it.
but this time, I certainly wanna this paint job to be done right. My question is: is silver color hard to match? If it is hard, I'd like to take my baby to a better place and replace the scratched headlight too. This would cost way more than $1000 and I'd go through my insurance. If it isn't, I'd just settle for having only the bumper repainted while buffing out the dirt on fender panel and scratch on headlight.
Do you have experience with the silver paint job?
Thanks!
had a accident, and now I have two options:
- Pay for the repair myself
- Pay the deductible($1000) and let my insurance company pay the rest
here are two photos right after accident. The other vehicle's tire tar was all over my G.
I took it to a local body shop that i had dealt with. They estimated the bumper repaint job to be $350. I know the scratch on the headlight could be smoothed out with rubbing compound and such and the dirt on the fender could be treated similarly.
Two years ago, this shop painted my 1998 Infiniti I30 rear bumper(not because of accident. This is my first accident). It costed $300, but the metallic beige paint didn't come out perfectly. I could tell the diff especially under direct sunshine. I understand all metallic colors are more difficult to match because of the nature of them. I didn't make big deal out of it then as my old I30 wasn't worth much and I was getting rid of it.
but this time, I certainly wanna this paint job to be done right. My question is: is silver color hard to match? If it is hard, I'd like to take my baby to a better place and replace the scratched headlight too. This would cost way more than $1000 and I'd go through my insurance. If it isn't, I'd just settle for having only the bumper repainted while buffing out the dirt on fender panel and scratch on headlight.
Do you have experience with the silver paint job?
Thanks!
05-17-2010 | 12:15 PM
#2
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 86
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Hi, guys,
had a accident, and now I have two options:
I took it to a local body shop that i had dealt with. They estimated the bumper repaint job to be $350. I know the scratch on the headlight could be smoothed out with rubbing compound and such and the dirt on the fender could be treated similarly.
Two years ago, this shop painted my 1998 Infiniti I30 rear bumper(not because of accident. This is my first accident). It costed $300, but the metallic beige paint didn't come out perfectly. I could tell the diff especially under direct sunshine. I understand all metallic colors are more difficult to match because of the nature of them. I didn't make big deal out of it then as my old I30 wasn't worth much and I was getting rid of it.
but this time, I certainly wanna this paint job to be done right. My question is: is silver color hard to match? If it is hard, I'd like to take my baby to a better place and replace the scratched headlight too. This would cost way more than $1000 and I'd go through my insurance. If it isn't, I'd just settle for having only the bumper repainted while buffing out the dirt on fender panel and scratch on headlight.
Do you have experience with the silver paint job?
Thanks!
had a accident, and now I have two options:
- Pay for the repair myself
- Pay the deductible($1000) and let my insurance company pay the rest
here are two photos right after accident. The other vehicle's tire tar was all over my G.
I took it to a local body shop that i had dealt with. They estimated the bumper repaint job to be $350. I know the scratch on the headlight could be smoothed out with rubbing compound and such and the dirt on the fender could be treated similarly.
Two years ago, this shop painted my 1998 Infiniti I30 rear bumper(not because of accident. This is my first accident). It costed $300, but the metallic beige paint didn't come out perfectly. I could tell the diff especially under direct sunshine. I understand all metallic colors are more difficult to match because of the nature of them. I didn't make big deal out of it then as my old I30 wasn't worth much and I was getting rid of it.
but this time, I certainly wanna this paint job to be done right. My question is: is silver color hard to match? If it is hard, I'd like to take my baby to a better place and replace the scratched headlight too. This would cost way more than $1000 and I'd go through my insurance. If it isn't, I'd just settle for having only the bumper repainted while buffing out the dirt on fender panel and scratch on headlight.
Do you have experience with the silver paint job?
Thanks!
If the answer to the above answer is "yes" and you're not at fault, then - hands down - let insurance pay for it. You would have already lost money if you decided to sell it since there is a high probability that if the car is in a police report, it will be on CarFax.
If not, what I would either do is to not repair it if there is no structural damage or do a cheap repair job for now. Later down the road if you are fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get into another accident and it damages in the same spot, have it fixed for real then.
05-17-2010 | 12:20 PM
#3
with any quality shop, they will just use whatever paint code you give them (ie it will be the exact same paint that is on the car already)
personally I would spend what is needed to get it fixed. If it costs more, so be it, but you get what you pay for.
And if this accident was determined to NOT be your fault at all, then the other person/person's insurance should in some way pay for it.
personally I would spend what is needed to get it fixed. If it costs more, so be it, but you get what you pay for.
And if this accident was determined to NOT be your fault at all, then the other person/person's insurance should in some way pay for it.
05-17-2010 | 01:35 PM
#5
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Joined: Apr 2005
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Paint looks different on plastic bumper covers than on metal panels, so a bumper repaint can be a challenge for color matching. That said, any decent shop knows that they have to blend with surrounding panels, etc. to make it look right. If your shop can't get that done, I'd definitely go elsewhere.
You stated that they already did a crappy job once with matching the paint color...why would you even consider using them again?
You stated that they already did a crappy job once with matching the paint color...why would you even consider using them again?
05-17-2010 | 04:46 PM
#6
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From: Los Angeles, CA
Re: police report, CarFax
Yes, we called cops and had accident police report. I don't care about CarFax because I'm gonna keep this car for a long time.
I also reported it to my insurance company, and they also believe the other party was at fault. I don't know what our police report says who was at fault. Is there anyway for me to find out what the police put down on their reports?
The different thing about this accident is that the other vehicle was from a big organization which insures themselves--they don't have an insurance company. Of course I called their claim department for claims and was told basically their claim dept would do everything to protect their own interests(money) and own employees. The adjuster wouldn't pay me directly, and said they only look into it when my insurance company goes to them and ask for money. Until then they will decide whether to pay my insurance company or go to the court. You know I can't involve my insurance company unless I pay my deductible($1000) upfront for the repair.
Re: why am I even considering going back to this body shop
As a matter of fact, metallic paint is hard to match, so many other body shops wouldn't have been able to match that metallic biege perfectly, even good shops. Am I right? As a result, I can't blame my body shop that much. If this is ture, this shop should be able to paint regular paints just fine. After all, now all good shops use computer to mix the paint. This is my reasoning. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
by the way, how to find out good body shops with good reputation? I mean, not many people in our lives are involved in accidents everyday. What do you think of the insurance company recommended shops?
It's certainly some difficult time for me these weeks. Just picked up my G in Feb and now this happened... Thanks to all for your input!
Yes, we called cops and had accident police report. I don't care about CarFax because I'm gonna keep this car for a long time.
I also reported it to my insurance company, and they also believe the other party was at fault. I don't know what our police report says who was at fault. Is there anyway for me to find out what the police put down on their reports?
The different thing about this accident is that the other vehicle was from a big organization which insures themselves--they don't have an insurance company. Of course I called their claim department for claims and was told basically their claim dept would do everything to protect their own interests(money) and own employees. The adjuster wouldn't pay me directly, and said they only look into it when my insurance company goes to them and ask for money. Until then they will decide whether to pay my insurance company or go to the court. You know I can't involve my insurance company unless I pay my deductible($1000) upfront for the repair.
Re: why am I even considering going back to this body shop
As a matter of fact, metallic paint is hard to match, so many other body shops wouldn't have been able to match that metallic biege perfectly, even good shops. Am I right? As a result, I can't blame my body shop that much. If this is ture, this shop should be able to paint regular paints just fine. After all, now all good shops use computer to mix the paint. This is my reasoning. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
by the way, how to find out good body shops with good reputation? I mean, not many people in our lives are involved in accidents everyday. What do you think of the insurance company recommended shops?
It's certainly some difficult time for me these weeks. Just picked up my G in Feb and now this happened... Thanks to all for your input!
05-17-2010 | 05:04 PM
#7
Metallic and pearl paint can be hard to match, Ivory pearl being one of the hardest.
Paint will look different on different surfaces like someone else has mentioned. So silver on polyurethane bumper might be a little off from silver on metal body panel.
But with all that said, if you leave the car at the shop, they should be able to match it.
A reputable shop here in So Cal matched my hood and bumper to the rest of the car. The hood was around 300.
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Paint will look different on different surfaces like someone else has mentioned. So silver on polyurethane bumper might be a little off from silver on metal body panel.
But with all that said, if you leave the car at the shop, they should be able to match it.
A reputable shop here in So Cal matched my hood and bumper to the rest of the car. The hood was around 300.
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Last edited by ucla bruin; 05-18-2010 at 12:17 AM.
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05-17-2010 | 05:05 PM
#8
Just saw that you're in LA. PM me if you want the name and location of the shop. They've produced a lot of best overall show cars in the import scene.
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05-17-2010 | 11:28 PM
#9
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 287
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From: Seattle, WA
Based on your description, what I would do in your case is work with your insurance company. If both insurance companies for both parties agree that this was not your fault, they will help you recover your deductible from the party at fault. So just get it fixed by a reputable shop and let the insurance people butt heads.
Also, hit them up for diminished value of your ride, although it is not an easy process as insurance companies don't advertise the fact that this option even exists and make it extremely difficult for you to get paid for the decreased value of your car. You may want to look into companies that specialize in estimating diminished value, they will create the paperwork for you.
Also, hit them up for diminished value of your ride, although it is not an easy process as insurance companies don't advertise the fact that this option even exists and make it extremely difficult for you to get paid for the decreased value of your car. You may want to look into companies that specialize in estimating diminished value, they will create the paperwork for you.
05-18-2010 | 02:41 PM
#10
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From: Los Angeles, CA
FourT2,
Thank you for your reply! I never heard of 'diminished value'. Thanks a lot.
I went to a very good body shop this morning, and it turned out their estimation is 'very good' too. For the bumper pain job, their estimation is $500-$700, which is double of what my old body shop estimated. They also told me my Liquid Platinum(hence silver) is also metallic. I have questions now:
(1) Given the color code, how can we tell if it is metallic? Is there anywhere to look up?
(2) I was told they would scrape the whole bumper but would only sand down that peeled area of the bumper. I thought since the bumper has to be repainted, they would scrape all old paint off the bumper before sanding the whole bumper. Does this body shop do the paint job right?
(3) Both my old body shop and this 'pricy' body shop told me that since bumper is plastic, the color will be off a little bit. But don't they spray primer before spray real paint? Doesn't the primer give decent foundation to the whatever paint comes upon it?
Have a great day, everyone!
Alex
Thank you for your reply! I never heard of 'diminished value'. Thanks a lot.
I went to a very good body shop this morning, and it turned out their estimation is 'very good' too. For the bumper pain job, their estimation is $500-$700, which is double of what my old body shop estimated. They also told me my Liquid Platinum(hence silver) is also metallic. I have questions now:
(1) Given the color code, how can we tell if it is metallic? Is there anywhere to look up?
(2) I was told they would scrape the whole bumper but would only sand down that peeled area of the bumper. I thought since the bumper has to be repainted, they would scrape all old paint off the bumper before sanding the whole bumper. Does this body shop do the paint job right?
(3) Both my old body shop and this 'pricy' body shop told me that since bumper is plastic, the color will be off a little bit. But don't they spray primer before spray real paint? Doesn't the primer give decent foundation to the whatever paint comes upon it?
Have a great day, everyone!
Alex
05-18-2010 | 02:57 PM
#11
Where is this "pricey" body shop?
I think for a $500-$700 job, they should sand down the entire bumper and reshoot it the trouble area won't have blending problem with the rest of the bumper.
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I think for a $500-$700 job, they should sand down the entire bumper and reshoot it the trouble area won't have blending problem with the rest of the bumper.
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05-18-2010 | 04:18 PM
#12
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It's L monty Body Shop in South El Monte. It's recommended on my insurance company website. From this morning's impression, they look clean, big and professional. That was just my first impression. I'm googling this shop to check on the reviews/experience.
Auto Body Shop - Bodywork and Collision Repair Services | El Monte, CA
If the whole bumper is gonna be repainted, the entire bumper shouldn't have blending problem at all. If a body shop can't even get this right, the technician should just go back to school. I only worry about the metallic color match with the hood and quarter panel.
I don't mind paying a little bit more. I wanna the job to be done right. After all, I'm gonna drive my G for a long time. I certainly don't wanna shake my head every time I walk to her noticing the repair.
Thanks for your reply, ucla bruin!
Auto Body Shop - Bodywork and Collision Repair Services | El Monte, CA
If the whole bumper is gonna be repainted, the entire bumper shouldn't have blending problem at all. If a body shop can't even get this right, the technician should just go back to school. I only worry about the metallic color match with the hood and quarter panel.
I don't mind paying a little bit more. I wanna the job to be done right. After all, I'm gonna drive my G for a long time. I certainly don't wanna shake my head every time I walk to her noticing the repair.
Thanks for your reply, ucla bruin!
05-18-2010 | 08:12 PM
#13
I don't know if I PMed you Bernie's number. But I believe you'll find most shops give you the "different surface will reflect the paint a little bit differently" speech just to be on the safe side, but talk to Bernie about your concern, he should be able to take care of you.
If not, AE is also an option. They were able to color matched my CF hood with the body.
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If not, AE is also an option. They were able to color matched my CF hood with the body.
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