collision repair paint question

love2shine · 02-21-05, 11:55

My wife was in a fender bender last week and the rear driver side door, quarter panel, and rear bumper have to be replaced. I thought it would be simple, but after talking to the body shop(s), they mentioned that not only the 3 parts are painted, the adjacent panels have to be "BLENDED". This meaning the front driver door and trunk lids would have to be painted to match. They said this is necessary otherwise the paint won't match. I thought the paint matching is pretty good these days and the original paint is only 2 years old and I have kept it in good shape. Would the new paint really still be so far off compare to the rest of the car?

Also if anyone can recommend a nice (and affordable...it's coming out of my pocket and not insurance) body shop in the East Bay area I'd really appreciated...Thank you for your input.

Black240SX · 02-22-05, 02:00

That doesn't sound right to me, either. I don't see how having a panel be a blend of old and new shades would be desirable.

Jimmy Buffit · 02-22-05, 03:41

Basecoats can be blended; Clear can't be blended. The painter finds a line/panel to establish an endpoint

Ask them to explain their process.

Jim

love2shine · 02-22-05, 03:02

Thanks for the replies, guys.

From one shop, the blending process is to send away the clear coat, respray new paint, then clear coat again... I don't know. My paints are in good shape (swirl-free) but afterall it's two years old... I just don't know if the body shop can do as a good job as the factory paint. If they do blend, one side of car would be brand new while the other side of car would still be two years old!

Accumulator · 02-22-05, 05:44

Some clears can be blended, they did it on the S8's driver's door after the "deer incident"; they blended basecoat about 1/4, and clear about 1/3, of the way into the door but did not reclear the whole door. Did it again when I had them redo portions of one panel. Definitely depends on the paint and painter though, and they'd better know what they're doing.

Sometimes it *is* better to blend, other times it's not. I'd go with what the painter wants to do and then be *very* particular about what you accept.

The whole idea of blending is so you *don't* see a big difference between the new and the old. Usually works pretty well.

I dunno if you're gonna get "factory quality", but it should turn out OK. Being *very* picky myself, whenever *my* cars get damaged and repaired, I know it's usually just a matter of time before I sell them over it..but Accumulatorette's A8 got pretty messed up a few years ago and it still looks pretty good. Good enough for her (after 2 re-dos) and she's rather picky. They blended on both sides and you really have to look to see what was done.

Bill D · 02-22-05, 06:31

IIRC silver is more challenging to match to the original too.

Accumulator · 02-23-05, 08:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill D
IIRC silver is more challenging to match to the original too.

Yeah, it sure seems that way...

love2shine · 02-23-05, 01:19

Thanks for all the advices. I've been told that lighter colors are harder to match than dark colors...

Accumulator · 02-23-05, 05:54

But sometimes you get lucky. Accumulatorette's A8 just had a huge chip spotted in, with the clear blended out a few inches in either direction. Turned out *much* better than I'd expected.

love2shine · 02-24-05, 01:05

I am hoping for the best...thanks Accumulator!

GoodnClean · 02-24-05, 01:15

You'd actually be surprised how different the color can be on two cars of the same model year in the same color. No two batches of paint are the same, just try and paint half a wall in your house with a new bucket of the same color, it will be VERY noticable.

Thats why they have to blend. The difference is less noticable when its spread out across a panel then if its clearly one shade on one side of a panel line and one shade on the other.

Now, there are shops that have new computerized paint analysis machines that tint new paint so that it exactly matches the old paint, including the differences in factory color and differences due to age. They don't blend, but they are 150-200% more than the competition that does blend. They charge $600 just to repaint a bumper for instance... Those machines cost $30-$100,000 depending on how complex they are.

BUT they do unbelievable work...

So, ask around. I know after seeing the work of these guys with the paint matching machine and the work of people that blend that I would never be happy with paint that was blended. But, had I never seen their work I may have been.

One big thing is the flake. When cars are painted at the factory the metal is electified with a current to make sure the flake all lays the same way. Shops do this also, but its harder to do when blending then when repainting just one whole panel.