Paint Colors: Which are easiest to match for repair of chips?
I do tons of highway driving, and get lots of chipping, gouging, and scratching on my car. I'm buying a new car soon, and want to try to find a color that will repair easily with touch-up paint.
Obviously, metallic, pearl coat, and tinted clear coat finishes are the most difficult to touch-up. But how about solid colors? I'm thinking that white might be the easiest to match for color, but I could never bring myself to buy a white car.
Suggestions?
Obviously, metallic, pearl coat, and tinted clear coat finishes are the most difficult to touch-up. But how about solid colors? I'm thinking that white might be the easiest to match for color, but I could never bring myself to buy a white car.
Suggestions?
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Odie
I have a friend who owns a high-end custom bodyshop. So I do have some first hand information about what it is like to fix various finishes. Pretty much all the metallics and Pearl finishes out there now are multistage paints, meaning there is more than one pigment layer that is applied. It is difficult for even the best paint man to replicate the factory finish, and this is exceedingly true int eh case of the pearl finishes. For that reason, it is really a better idea to avoid buying pearl, despite how great it looks in the showroom. If you ever have to fix it, short of a whole body repaint, you are never going to be happy with the result. Chrysler's candy apple red is also another example of a multistage paint that does not repaint, well (I know from our own van).
Silver is difficult because of the blue pigment that is present, and this usually results in a slightly different hue than the original. Generally, you can pick out silver cars with repaint work from a mile away. Stock, non-metallic red, also does not repaint well.
Or.... you can get yards of clear vinyl and contact cement it to the front of your new car. That should protect it. And think of the trendsetter you will be!
1. Use a thin 100% cotton cloth. A thick or terry cloth one will clean out the scratch as well.
2. Use in a well ventilated area. This stuff is potent.
3. Be patient and use very light strokes at the end.
If you want to use it, do only small sections at a time.
Since the car is brand new the detailer shouldn't have any problems with oxidation throwing off a color match. With older finishes oxidation tends to lighten the original color, making it impossible to gain an exact match.
Here are a few things to look for and steps to take before you accept the car:
1. Insist on a lifetime guarantee on the the paint work they did. Rust, peeling or chipping, and different weathering patterns than the surrounding paint could be a problem down the road. Make sure they cover these issues since they damaged your paint.
2. Look for an exact color match in both direct light (full sun) and indirect light (shade).
3. Sight down along the length of the car door (with your face against the sheetmetal), and look for any variations in the surface of the door panel. Since the paint was scratched, they need to fill the scratches so they are exactly even with the surrounding paint. You'll see any variations present by looking at shadows and reflections when you sight down the door.
4. Look for overspray in areas around the door. Make sure they didn't spray any molding, windows, or other parts that shouldn't have been sprayed.
5. Ask for a complimintary hand-wax on your car to compensate for your inconvenience. New cars need a good wax job with quality carnuba wax to keep the finish protected. This is especially important with silver.
Remember, they messed up your brand-new car. They are in a liability situation and must correct it to like-new status, so be picky.
I too need help with touch up paint... I have 3 minor chips (smaller than a pencil eraser, more like tip of a ballpoint pen? And I could see gray inside the chips) on the hood on my new 2014 "Blizzard" (White) Pearl Corolla.
I started using a toothpick and a needle to dab the paint into the chip and quickly wiping it away if it bubbled up above the level of the existing paint or got onto to the surrounding area. At first, the color looked like a really good blend/match. Then I did another coat and now on my pearly white car they look like dull spots. The issue might be that I had to prod with the toothpick to get the color to settle into the chip, making the surface a little rough. They are still not 100% up to the level of the surrounding paint because I would rather have a slight indent than a raised point.
Should I sand these tiny chip-paint surfaces down (perhaps with fine sandpaper on the tip of a pencil? Eraser would be bigger than the chips), wash, and dry to drip again so that the surface is smoother and perhaps a better match?
I am not comfortable with doing any major sanding and I have no idea what a rubbing compound, etc. is, how to polish or any of that. I don't own any advanced car detailing materials nor would I trust myself to try to learn how to "compound" or polish...
To make matters more complex, I am looking to have a clear bra installed ASAP once I am satisfied with my touch up job. My idea was to sand down my existing touch up work, try again to drip in paint for a better look, let that dry a day or two, perhaps put on a clear coat of nail polish(??) and then have the dealer buff the car before they put on the bra. Does this sound at all like a good idea??
I need a super rookie solution to make this look as acceptable as possible...
Rubbing compound is actually a paste that works like a very fine sandpaper. You can find various brands of rubbing compound at an auto parts store (like Autozone).
This discussion in our Forums may be helpful:
http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/15094/honda/x/need-some-help-at-doing-my-touch-up-paint
I also found this.
http://autorepair.about.com/cs/doityourself/a/aa110803a.htm
Thanks, Karen. I would never trust myself to use an abrasive on my brand new car. Can I trust someplace like Maaco with this?
I feel like many people say "bring it to a professional" but I haven't found any who sound like they would do a professional job fixing it.
I have called some other paint/detail shops and they all pretty much said they don't do anything special but just blob the paint on like I did... Maaco is the first shop to say yes, we can do this, and we do it all the time, using special tools, applying clear coat, and buffing afterwards.
Maaco is a national franchise, but like most, quality can vary from shop to shop. If you haven't already, check out Yelp.com for the shop in your area to see what kind of reviews they may have.
So I ended up going to Maaco, the results were not very impressive. They are just "ok" and pretty close to the results I had gotten myself.
I am considering removing what they did and trying dr. colorchip... sigh