star5

Dear all,

I am reporting my experience and ask if you have any idea that may help me.

I just got my perl white Lexus LS400 back from Service King body shop, (the top, hood and maybe back cover were replaced) and they repainted the parts and are where got hail damaged.

I noticed that the color of front/rear bumper and two mirrors as well as the holder (the place where you open the door) are darker or say more perl (a little yellow) than the area they painted. It is not great difference, but it is something you can easily tell. The new color is more white and less perl, almost like a super white.

The body shop told me it is a customized color job, they do it according to manufactur code, it is normal the color is not the same as my previous one, they even want to show me on a brand new car, the bumper color may look different than the part that made from metal.

Interestingly, it is hard for me to tell the difference in the new car they were trying to point out. But it seems a little bit hard for them with 20 years experience to tell the difference that I can tell easily.

Now they are saying the insurance won't pay for painting of the plastic part (bumpers, mirrow), and they won't do it unless they got paid.


What can I do at this point? I am planning to go to lexus dealing to find out if this new color they put on is perl white, I can easily tell the difference when two same color cars park together. But kind of worried that I will be told what I got is quite reasonable.


You input is appreciated.

star5

EXE.UCF10

iTrader: (3)

I'd say pearl white is probably the hardest color to match, especially if you're not going with factory paint. No matter what shops will tell you, it's going to be near impossible to match the paint as it originally came on your car...one of the main reasons due to fading (to a yellowish white). Pearl white is a 3 stage process of paint/metallic paint/clearcoat...and there are a variety of different pearl whites you can choose from that give off either a purple, blue, green, yellow, shine depending on the type of metallics used. Sorry to say, but you can't do much about your problem, as the shop will only repaint/fix your car if they get payed...what they've already done is done...end of story. My suggestion is, if you're going to get a car repainted in pearl white, either make sure they use factory paint (which will cost much more) or just get the whole car repainted so everything will look even. Pearl white IMHO, is one of the most beautiful colors, but it is also one of the hardest colors to maintain when it comes to repainting.

lexite

A good painter'd use the vehicle paint code but'd try to match the paint as close as possible. I agree that it is almost impossible to get a perfect match but a good paint job should be matched close enough to minimize the distinction such that it is virtually invisible. Good painters do blending technique where the newly painted panels are blended with the adjacent panels by spraying the adjacent panels such that the color difference fades away instead of leaving the newly painted panels stand out at borders.
That is why it is very important to ask for inspections at various stages of body work- after body repair, after painting one panel...

wmulli

If insurance originaly paid for the paint job, you should go back to them and tell them it's wrong and you want it fixed. Let them duke it out with the paint shop.

I agree, a good (even decent) paint shop should be able to paint it so that you don't notice a difference between panels.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

FYI, the pearl white paint is not metallic - it has crystals of some material other than metal that reflect the light. It is a 3-part process as br1an stated.
You might want to enlist the regional/national Lexus offices to try to go over the dealer's head. If what you're saying is true they may force the dealer to paint the other parts.