Unfortunately, I need my hood painted. I called the dealer scheduled the appointment. Interestingly, when I asked if they needed the color code for the car they said they did not need it because they match the paint to what is on the car..? I don't know what to think about this..?

Any thoughts or opinions or suggestions are welcome...

 

Matching the yellow can be tricky. It may take a few times to get it right so be aware of that!

 

First of all, it's highly unlikely that the dealer will do the work there on the premises unless they have a bodyshop there. Most don't but rather contract the work out to a local outfit.

The paint codes can be found on the car and a bodyshop just takes that code and plugs it into their mixing computer that then gives them the "recipe" for that particular color paint. The painter then has to apply that and blend it as well as possible to the existing paint since it's obviously been exposed to weather and UV since the day the car left the factory and the paint cured etc.

I would ask around in your area to find the shop with the best reputation and have them do the work unless it's a warranty deal in which case you pretty much have to let the dealer handle it. I've heard that the spa yellow is hard to match; this is mostly due to the fact that it's a metallic paint and those are always a bitch to get right. Unless the shop is very very good, it will no doubt take them a few tries to get it right. Don't let them slide on it...you won't be happy if you can see the difference every day and it will kill your resale value should you ever try to sell the car.

 

I just had 60% of my car repainted after a nasty incident with a gravel truck. The color is matched perfectly. I can not tell the difference.

This is the third car I have had that has needed to be repainted. The first was a silver metallic Lexus - perfectly matched; the second my white/gold Lexus, perfectly matched; and now my red Honda - once again perfect.

Each bodyshop said any shop that is decent should NOT have any problems with the paint since the early 90s. So far that's the case with me.

 

Hey walkabt, out of curiosity how much did it cost to have your car repainted?

 

Trying to decypher the insurance estimate from the shop:
Paint labor @ 15.3 hours - $612
Paint supplies - $350
Sales tax 8.1%

Total for the paint ONLY appears to be $1039.92 (adding tax to both, but I think only the supplies get taxed). The color matching appears to be right on.

 

Thanks for all of the advice....