flipside909

Some dealerships do not have their own body shops, and usually send them out to a sublet body shop. PPG is very good paint as well as Akzo Nobel/Sikkens, BASF, Dupont, and etc.

lucasb7

When I was rear ended, I asked my Service Department who they recommend. They recommended Auto Body West (not that it matters). They did an absolutely fabulous job, it took 2 attempts but the outcome is that the paint matches better than it did from the factory.

So have faith, a good shop can do it right. When I was rear ended a 2nd time I went back and they did it perfectly again. (Boy does this car have bad luck, 3 small accidents since april....one illegal immigrant... and a 15 year old kid who dropped his joint on his knee and let go off the brake...lol)

vietdeluxx

iTrader: (2)

Wow....

Stormforge

oh crap! on a 450h no less! i feel for you bro!

Stormforge

agreed. but not only that, the only "true" way to determine color match is to compare it under the sun, compare new paint to actual, and keep mixing and comparing until you get a match. it's a biatch to do, but apparently its the only way to guarantee a match (i think rominl told me this? hmm, not sure now... )

gs2isf

iTrader: (1)

I've got good news for you see your in Illinois i am too had a 2006 gs in glacier frost mica which is even harder to match now i have a starfire pearl isf so i am quiet familiar with the color i had to have the front bumper replaced on my gs after some a**hole clippled my front end i thought for sure no one would be able to duplicate such a difficult color but i went where i always have gone for body work/paint and in one try they got it perfect the first time and it was also their first time doing a new 06 gs and working with that specific color this happend to me back in may 05 after owning the car one month.....the pic below has the front bumper painted on it....i'll pm u with the name of the bodyshop you will be pleased they do amazing work and that's coming from someone who's a pain in the *** when it comes to my cars.....a painter with good skills can do amazing things don't get bummed out by what people post.

pjonkheer

Thank you to everyone for your help and support.

After the 4th repaint, the shop got it about 95% right which I am just fine with. 9 out of 10 people will never know the difference and it looks identical to the front bumper which I never noticed but doesn't match the body either.

What a load off!

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

yea pearl and mica paint is very hard to match. it will never be 100% perfect unless the whole car is repainted. you can blend it but it would still be a little noticable if you know what your looking for. i just had my rear bumper repainted (GFM) and it turned out ok. its noticable to me but you really have to look at the car to notice the offset in color.

07350FROST

this is the main reason i dont get a body kit or even a front lip......i dont want the headache of dealing with matching this GFM color.

skinny gs

Unless it is black, it will probably never match perfect. The paint will actually lay differently when applied to metal or plastic. Also the clearcoat will actually have an effect, believe either of these or not, they are fact. That is why your front bumper doesnt match. Look around and you will start to notice.

dunnojack

this puzzles me

the factory paint robots just spray left and right

when a person paints it the same way, i wonder why it doesn't come out at least 90% similar....

skinny gs

They are not using the exact same paint. There are many different paint manufacturers. They each do their best to formulate the paint match perfectly, but it is not always possible. The conditions are not as controlled in any shop as they are in the factory. At one of the last Lexus events, they even showed how many different ways a bumper could be painted and they decided which was the best to use in their factories. Additionally, the bumpers almost never match when new. They are painted seperate of the car. Look close and you will see, sometimes for example there are plastic pieces on the tailgate of our RX300 above the license. It is not a ***** on match. Look at any late 90s early 00s Camry and notice the bumper as it sits on either side of the trunk lid. They never match. Old GM cars were painted with the front end not yet placed on the car. The front ends almost never matched either, because they were painted at a different place and time. I hope this answers some of your questions.