How many Autopian's have had successful repaint's

[imported_Mighty HD1]

I'm making myself sick over my truck since I had the accident. Seriously debating on trading it in once I get it back.



Minor front end damage: New hood, fenders, valance, bumper, grill, lights, etc.

New paint: Hood, valance, lt/rt fenders and blend the lt/rt doors.

Paint: Carbon metallic most likely using PPG paint.



I'm very good friends with the owner of the shop and have expressed my concerns. He advised he may go with another more expensive paint to repaint with.



With it being a dark color my first concern is swirls, marring and of course the paint matching 100%. The truck has 20k and is taken care of like nothing else. :waxing: I've been very, very, very careful when washing and have not had to buff the paint but once shortly after I got the truck. I can't physically run a PC very long so therefore I'm quite careful when washing. So far it's swirl free.



How many of you folks have had a successful repaint involving a dark metallic color on a large vehicle? I'm really concerned that the paint will not match, swirl too easy from being soft (like the tailage that has given me hell), etc. As stated above I'm realllyyyyyy thinking of selling the truck off once I get it back because of this. Next time I"ll get white for sure.

 

[Grimm]

Make sure he does it right if he needs to polish it. I got my car back from the 2nd go around at the body shop where they blended the fenders. The paint guy polished the fenders after paint and it looks like someone took steel wool to them.

 

[David703]

out of all the new cars and trucks I've owned in the past 20 years, probably about 15 of them, any one that was hit and I had it repainted, I sold within a month. I can't stand to know that its not original, no matter what it looks like. But thats just me.

 

[imported_Mighty HD1]

out of all the new cars and trucks I've owned in the past 20 years, probably about 15 of them, any one that was hit and I had it repainted, I sold within a month. I can't stand to know that its not original, no matter what it looks like. But thats just me.

That seems to be the problem I'm having now. Maybe It's OCD kicking in again.....:spit: :hairpull

 

[MorBid]

I had the bodyshop at the dealership where I brought my Audi repaint the front hood and bumpers after one year cause of all the chipping from the road salt. Can't tell the difference from the factory (although I could tell where they got sloppy with the finishing out and prep).



I pulled the lower skirts off and re-painted them (again due to chipping) and again can't tell the difference.



This car's paint is non metallic and has no Pearl. Those two items are going to require some blending so the quality of the paint job (as is always the case) won't depend as much on the paint as the place/people who do the work.



I have a project car (1985 Buick Regal) that I've painted several times now. It's like a light gold metallic and it's a PITA to get blends just right.



PPG is a very good paint, so is Dupont (my fav). You want to go up the ladder there is Glausirit or Spies Hecker. Cost more though.



Inspect the shop's [revious work before letting them touch your ride. I would look for a custom paint shop before going to a production one though.



MorBid

 

[tguil]

Alex,



I've been in your position lots of times. I have had twenty-one new vehicles in the past 46 years. Some metallics, most not. Metallics area real son-of-a-gun to match *perfectly*. Up until my last truck, I have bought black vehicles for the past thirty years. (Black doesn't always match in a repaint either). I currently have a white Ram Hemi and my wife has a white Tacoma 4X4. Sure hope white works better than black for repaints.



About repaints. No way is your truck going to be 100% as good as new. As a matter of fact even new is not as good as new. There are almost always some minor blemishes in the paint from the factory -- even on Toyotas. A good body shop will come darn cloose to 100%. And 99.9% of the folks who look at your truck will not notice tha the paint is not 100% perfect. They won't much care either However, you will notice for a long time. (Sort of like the scuff on the dash on my new Hemi that I see under certain light, but no one else ever sees.)



Unless you have lots of money to waste, buying a new truck really is not an option. Just think about it for a minute or two. You drive the truck and stuff happens. When stuff happens, get it repaired as well as you can and "drive on". Just tell yourself that you will buy another new truck later. Enjoy your present vehicle . I too always have a very good case of the new truck syndome when I purchase a new vehicle. It sucks.



Now a little more about repaints. Go to a custom car or rod show sometime. If you take a real close look at some on the vehicles you will probably find that they are not 100% perfect.



About your truck. The color you have should come pretty close to matching. You may notice a slight difference under certain sunlight conditions. Metallic is noted for this. If it comes darn close the first time, call it good enough. If not ask for a repaint, a reputable shop will honor your request. However, sometimes the second attempt comes out worse that the first.



Sorry about your truck. We folks who tend toward perfectionism lead interesting lives.



Tom

 

[velobard]

IInspect the shop's [revious work before letting them touch your ride. I would look for a custom paint shop before going to a production one though.



MorBid

+1 on a custom shop, that's where I finally found a body guy I was satisfied with here. It's a one-man shop and he usually does custom work, but fortunately he had time to deal with my insurance job. He used Sikkens paint on my dark red metallic and it turned out great.

 

[Accumulator]

Mighty HD- I too have had a *lot* of vehicles painted over the years, literally dozens. On some rare occasions repairs such as this turn out fine. In fact, all but one of our seven vehicles have had some paintwork and while a few of the repairs bug me, some don't show at all. I've even had complete-restoration level repaints that were better than the factory quality.



I've had dark metallics turn out *perfect*, no way you can see it. Even my (pewter metallic) Blazer's pretty-awful repairs match so well that you can't readily tell where it was repainted.



Just depends on how good the shop is (assuming they can get the right materials, and that doesn't sound like a problem in this case).



IMO there's no point in stressing out about it until you see how it turns out. I'd do whatever you can to make sure the shop goes about things correctly- talk about the job before they do it; are they gonna mask/disassemble/fade/blend...what paint are they gonna use and why..are they gonna wetsand/comound, if so when and with what...etc. etc.



Then see how they do. If you're not satisfied have them try to fix it. If they can't satisfy you *and you can still get what you want* (I can't get another S8 like mine ) then replace it, but don't drive yourself nuts worrying about it.

 

[tguil]

..... If you're not satisfied have them try to fix it. y If they can't satisfy you *and you can still get what you want* (I can't get another S8 like mine ) then replace it, but don't drive yourself nuts worrying about it.

Bottom line I agree with Accumulator. Besides that a few trips to the "shrink" would probably cost as much as trading the truck. Want to buy a new white Hemi with a scuff mark on the dash?



Tom

 

[jmsc]

I'm the same way as David703. I prep the car like I always do and sell it within a few months. I cannot own a car that I know has been hit and repaired. Since 1975 I've bought/owned only new cars.