Hi was wondering whether anybody had some opinions for my situation. My car got backed into by another so I opted to have my front bumper cover and passenger fender replaced at a local auto body shop. The car is a 2004 Acura TSX in Premium White Pearl. I am aware that the sun exposure over the life of the car has changed the tone of the paint and that it will be difficult to match, however, the paint job that was done is distinctly different. The paint was "blended" into the passenger door and it looks as if half the door is dirty now. The same type of blending was done to the other sides fender. Please see the pics below (there was not much sunlight). Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Questions I have are: 1) Is this type of a paint job acceptable, or should the auto body shop have been able to better match the colours? 2) Can this noticeable differences be mitigated through polishing? or any other type of paint correction? Any opinions or inputs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advace!
1. Yes. Pearl is a very tricky paint. It's a 3 stage instead of a normal 2 stage most cars have. That being said the body shop should of match the pearl up better. You can add more or less to match the rest of your paint. It takes some time but your paying for it. Take it back!!! 2. No. No polishing will make it look better. The pearl is all under the clear. In fact buffing may make it look even more of a difference.
Did you pay for this repair out of pocket or did you go through your insurance? Most car insurance companies offer a satisfaction guarantee if the body shop refuses to fix it. Pearl white is a PITA to match, but they can do better job. I wouldn't take it to the same shop that fix it, so I rather deal with the insurance than with the mediocre body shop. I had a similar issue with a 2004 Pontiac GP GTP I used to own. The body shop used a silver color from the 2003 model that had pearl tint to it. I took it back and it was painted correctly. Don't know how the paint held up after the repair because I traded it in after fixing it.
Holy crap they messed up. Show them what they did...in the sun. They have to fix that. No one blends half a door, and why would they do half a door. Freaking idiots. I used to Work at a shop so this makes me upset.
I would've left the car there and told them to fix it. They should've had the paint code to match the color thats not even close. I work at a body shop for a long time and we would've never let that out the door.
Also agree with the above - the color was not matched to the existing paintwork, no one in a real bodyshop would paint half a door. The standard practice is to paint the entire panel (door, fender, etc.), and then blend into the next panel if needed, The panel blended into would have been prepared by cleaning really good, and then compounding it really nicely so your blend ( a very thinned down version of the paint used) would adhere properly, and you (the painter) would have a really good look at the color of the existing paint next to the panel he painted, and if he had to adjust the color again, he could do that so that in the end, the repair and paintwork is seamless all the way across the entire vehicle. That is how I was taught and how we did it at all the shops I worked at. Dan F
pecka13, you would know this...what exactly does a body shop mean by "blending"? Is it just wet sanding/buffing?? Is there actual paint involved?
Thank you all for the replies. Unfortunately this repair was not done through insurance. I needed the reassurance that it wasnt just me being picky about the tones of the paint and that this infact was a poorly done job. I will bring the car back to the shop and have them look at this, hopefully, they will be flexible in helping repair this problem because I cannot stand looking at the car in the daytime. What really pisses me off is I don't think they even cleaned the passenger door panel before they "blended" there appears to be dirt beneath the clear coat that I cannot wash off!! Is it standard practice to polish and clay bar the painting surface before painting?
Blending is where the new paint job ends and the old begins on a panel. They spray blender on that area so it looks like it was never repainted. Not always achieved. I'm sure someone can explain it better. Lol
Having been paining for 27 years-I can tell you that is not acceptable. Bring it back. There are numerous factors that affect a paint job. Gun-pressure-paint manufacturer are just a few. A blend is where a repair is made and the base applied to area-( being we are starting with a good sanded surface or a primed one). Since the paint is not the same as the original- the base is reduced and an area surrounding the repair is sprayed. Depending on the area -surrounding panels would be sprayed with an ever decreasing amount of base as to "feather ' it out. Afterwards all affected area's would be re-cleared. This is oversimplified,but you should get the point
I don't know much about paint and I do know that Pearls paints are harder to match than regular 2 stages, but that is just bullshit. I would take it back.
Yes it is standard practice to wash, and now clay, and use a body shop safe rubbing compound on the panel/s next to the repair, so that the paint and blend can be done correctly. How else will the paint stick to the blended panels if they are not first cleaned and compounded? There is no such thing as a blender, except for that machine in your kitchen that makes those great margarita's and stuff.. I believe I already said this earlier but here again - . Paint the panel/s with enough paint to allow color sanding and compounding . As you get near to the end of the coats of paint on the damaged panel, you start spreading this paint over the adjacent area/s, panels, just a little ways . You start thinning down the paint in the gun cup and keep spraying just a little more onto the adjacent panels, just a little farther than before. . Your last blend coat is almost all thinner with just a little paint in there, to help get the new paint and the old paint to flow together and stick to each other really well and the color of the new paint is now transferred onto the adjacent panel/s and you should not be able to tell where it started and where it stopped. . Put the entire area in the sun or next to heat lamps, dry, maybe colorsand everything on the original damaged area - whatever it takes to match the existing paint texture on both sides of it. . Compound the entire area carefully especially on the blended area, you dont want to remove it all, just smooth it all out so it matches the rest of the side, etc., of the vehicle. . Inspect it, look at it in the sun from every angle, if its good, apply a nice glaze and/or whatever the shop uses. Make sure its perfect before the Client comes to pick up the car. . Wash the car, clean inside and out, make sure there is no overspray of any kind on the vehicle and glass. Reapply a glaze or what ever your shop uses . Let the Client look at the work, make sure he/she is happy, tell them not to do anything to the repaired area for a few weeks, so that the chemicals used can come from the bottom up to the top and completely dry. . If they are happy, go to the office and settle up the repair. Dan F
