tC (or any car) paint matching issues

Kwiksilver · Nov 16, 2004

being that i need a new trunk on my tC, due to the long story that many of you know, i will need the new trunk painted and then put on my car. the body shop i use says that if they do it they will also paint the quarter panels and bumper i think in order to blend the paint and make the whole car look like nothing ever happened. i trust these people completely and have used them many times in the past. but i have heard from a few people that there is a chance that the paint won't match my car and it won't look right. in this case there will be no putty or anything used. everything will still be metal. plus the car is new and it's silver so it won't have faded. so my question is have any of you had an experience where you had parts of your tC, or other cars you've owned, painted due to accidents or whatever, and the paint didn't match the rest of the car?

moriarty, i know, i know. but i'm just trying to ease my mind.

*SweetPea* · Nov 16, 2004

i don't know S**t about cars. Except how to check/watch a guy change the oil...oh and make it look pretty. I depend on people like the wonderful members on this site and friends/family to help me with those sorts of problems...sorry

PDM72 · Nov 16, 2004

I had to get a new rear bumper. I had it replaced at a collision center operated by a Toyota dealer. It was painted there, since they come unpainted, and I haven't noticed any problems with the paint matching. Maybe because it's such a small area, I don't know. My car is BSP. That's one of the reasons I got it done there--I have a vague idea how the automotive paint process works, but I was still more comfortable having a Toyota shop doing it. I figured they knew best how to work with their colors. But considering my bumper is likely to need to be repainted fairly often because of where I park, I'll probably be headed to Maaco after this.

Geneo · Nov 16, 2004

If you trust the body shop as much as you say..believe them. My family used to run a body shop in Richmond and there are some paint match issues on any car regardless of the like new condition of the original paint. A pigment like silver can appear to be a mis-match even if the paint is a dead on match. The reflective qualities of many paints ..including silver... are very dependent on the fact that the paint has to match in the smoothness of application and the thickness as well. All factory paint has a touch of unevenness...I must admit that the tC paint job is about as good as a manufacturer can get. The Indigo Ink on my tC is really smooth, but there is a very small amount of unevenness. The paint shop that wants to paint your car is trying to blend that paint to the poiint to make it as perfect as they can. Painting the quarters is a bit extreme, but the bumper painting is one thing that most likely needs to be done since it is basically reflecting light in the same plane as the hatch. I guess they want to do the quarters to get rid of any other potential mismatch.
I had a silver Volvo 240GT quarter painted once by a local shop that never matched. The car was done by one of the best body shops in Richmond at the time. It could not be blended and always looked lighter to me that the other panels. It was paid for by Volvo since there had been a problem with the panel. The car was only 10 months old at the time and the paint was in great shape. To be honest, I was the only one who ever noticed the slight mismatct. It may have been in my head.
If you trust the paint shop,trust their judgment on the re-paint. They know pretty much what the end results will be and they most likely want to satisfy you so you will not complain to them.

basilisk4 · Nov 16, 2004

My last car, a 1999 Corolla which was "Ruby Red Pearl" in color, was rear-ended by a delivery truck about a week after my mom bought it. The bumper was replaced by the dealership. By the time I got it just about a year and a half later, you could already vaguely see that the paint on the bumper was fading to a different color than the rest of the car. This became more pronounced over time, but it never stuck out like a sore thumb (after a total of about 3 1/2 years).

I had to get work done on that area of the car anyway about a year before I got my tC, and they repainted the bumper. They blended the colors of the bumper and surrounding panels to make them all the same shade, and I never had a problem with fading after that.

Good luck!

noteri · Nov 16, 2004

my flint mica tc was hit a few weeks back....got it back a couple of days ago got it back and i couldn't even tell that anything happened paint wise or other. the dealership matched the paint perfectly.

Kyle · Nov 16, 2004

usually you can't tell the difference after the paint job, but depending on the quality of the work you may see some differences in the years to follow. so just find someone that does quality work.

Kwiksilver · Nov 16, 2004

well, thanks guys. it is comforting to know that no dramatic changes should occur. scion is a little weary about me using the body shop that i trust instead of a toyota body shop, so i hope that i can finally just convince them that that is the only way i will go. i've been traumatized enough, i don't need anymore. i feel better using a place that i know does excellent work and i have experience with. i know that some of you have suggested the the toyota body shop is the best route because they know their own paint best. but the body shop that i trust has a lifetime guarantee for the paint color. if it ever looks off or starts to fade and look bad, they will repaint it at no cost and make it look like nothing ever happened again. for them to offer that means that they are confident in the work that they do and don't ever expect you to have any problems. so i think that's a good deal with that. my family never kept any of the cars that they worked on for more than 2-3 years after they worked on it, but nothing ever showed in that time. but i think it's true what Geneo said. i think if anything shows, it will be all in my head. thanks for all the stories. i'm a little calmer now. still pissed off, but calmer that my car will look like it should after this is done.

bizzyliz · Nov 16, 2004

As some of you already know, I rear ended another car with my tC back in Aug/Sept. The hood still hasnt been replaced yet since my deductable for my insurance was higher than the cost to repair my car so we are going to order the hood and have it painted and possibly put it on ourselves in the spring.
Hopefully the fenders or bumper paint wont fade or change until then so that my hood wouldnt look off color with the rest of the car. Hoping someone locally has gotten a carbon fiber hood for their black cherry pearl tC so i could just buy the hood off of em.
Best of luck with your trip to the shop and your car should come out just fine!

Eric · Nov 16, 2004

I had to have the rear quarter panel replaced on my Celica after an accident... Roseville Collision Center (a recommendation) did the repairs and tried to match the paint. Due it being black, a little faded, and them being completely inept, it didn't match at all in the sunlight... I didn't even notice until a service rep at Maita pointed it out.

krzy · Nov 17, 2004

Originally posted by bizzyliz@Nov 16 2004, 02:39 PM
As some of you already know, I rear ended another car with my tC back in Aug/Sept. The hood still hasnt been replaced yet since my deductable for my insurance was higher than the cost to repair my car so we are going to order the hood and have it painted and possibly put it on ourselves in the spring.
Hopefully the fenders or bumper paint wont fade or change until then so that my hood wouldnt look off color with the rest of the car. Hoping someone locally has gotten a carbon fiber hood for their black cherry pearl tC so i could just buy the hood off of em.
Best of luck with your trip to the shop and your car should come out just fine!

$350 for a carbon fiber hood. Problem solved.

Well, thats what I would do.

flippy · Nov 17, 2004

I just got a scratch in my driver's side door which is going to require repainting. I'm concerned about the paint matching as well. Mine is Flint Mica, so the metallic really stands out in the sun. My car is a week old so I want it to be perrrrrfect. I'm assuming that the dealership is going to be the best bet. Also, if you have it repaired somewhere besides a toyota shop does that void the paint warranty?

basilisk4 · Nov 17, 2004

Paint warranty?

asianspike · Nov 17, 2004

dont think their is such thing called "paint warranty"

Redfish · Nov 17, 2004

probably means toyo-guard

bizzyliz · Nov 17, 2004

Originally posted by krzy@Nov 16 2004, 10:19 PM
$350 for a carbon fiber hood. Problem solved.

Well, thats what I would do.

i am not planning on rice-ing out my car. i think they look best on black cars and personally not a big fan of carbon fiber hoods anyways.
On any other non black cars, it just looks like the car needs a paint job on the hood. thanks for the suggestion though.

Kwiksilver · Nov 17, 2004

there isn't a separate warranty for the paint, at least as far as i know. i would imagine that the paint is covered under the limited warranty. i mean if it started fading or pealing on any of our tCs now, i bet that it's covered under that warranty and the dealer or whatever would have to take care of it however it needs to be done. not sure if that aspect of the warranty would be voided though.

moriarty · Nov 18, 2004

Originally posted by *SweetPea*@Nov 15 2004, 10:55 PM
oh and make it look pretty.

And I am quite sure you do a fine job of that^^^

kwik, you know what I am gonna say...
everything should work out fine.... (etc. etc)

tC (or any car) paint matching issues

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