The King

Apparently it is hard to get the metallic flakes to lay down the same on plastic as they do on metal. This adds another aspect to manage along with getting the paint match right. Getting the paint match perfect often takes considerable trial and error. Some painters just have a knack for it.

Chuck S

Yep. Paint on plastic can look different from paint on steel or aluminum even if painted with the same paint at the same time. I've no clue why.

I had the front bumper of my '06 Silverstone refinished last spring before fitting an OEM front spoiler that was still in the box. Paint from all three panels matches well. Body shop had the car for most of a week.

While we're on the subject of paint I had one of my wheels repaired and refinished a few months ago. The wheel shop had the Honda paint codes but found them slightly different from the wheels on the car. They matched the wheels on the car. This is actually a spare wheel. I ran over a small curb a couple of years ago and haven't trusted the right front wheel since. Was losing pressure in it occasionally. Hasn't lost an once of pressure since there's replacement sitting in my shed. Murphy's Law of available spare parts.

-- Chuck

Wojofoo

So I only paid $500 since it was an insurance claim. However, the entire bill was around $1300 for the new bumper and paint.

This is in Maryland. VP Auto Collision, who is highly recommended here and on the S2Ki Facebook page. In fact, the owner Mitch, owned an S2000.


They had the whole car for a little over a week.

Ya, that's apparently a thing as we walked around a bunch of other cars in the lot and noticed the same thing. I even looked back at old pictures of my S2000 and noticed the same effect on my old bumper. I had just never noticed it until now. As for not painting the other panels, I wish I could. Unfortunately, I'm about to refinance my mortgage (closing costs) and have to repair the soft top, therefore, don't have the $1,500 to repaint the hood and fenders right now.

Ya, they had tried multiple versions of the Silverstone paint (which is why they had the car for over a week). They eventually settled on this variant as it was identical to the bumper tabs from Honda. The paint is also identical in direct sunlight which is why they were torn about what to do. Furthermore, this isn't some shady hole-in-the-wall shop. VP Auto Collision was recommended by members here and on the S2Ki Facebook group. They have 63 reviews, all of which are 5 stars.

kasher_khan

I think the shape and angle of the bumper compared to the light source has a role to play as well. So unless you have pictures inside a shown room with bright lights (the kind they use in insurance inspection stations) you would always see a contrast between bumper and hood... I think.

I had a painted door on my previous S2k, that I didn't notice till, I took it to insurance for a evaluation of damage to the fender.

vicrc

Paint color is way off, I would notice that without even trying. Some shops are better than others at matching paint.

rpg51

Seems like 15 year old paint is likely to have faded a bit which makes it hard.

Wojofoo

I'm also wondering if the shop would be willing to paint the hood and fenders at a discount equal to the cost it would be for them to repaint the bumper. This should allow for correct blending. Thoughts?

Does anyone have any recent hood/fender repaint prices or quotes (Maryland Area)? I think the original quote for the hood/fenders (with new emblems/washer nozzles) was like 1500 which seems high based on some initial online searches.

Chuck S

Sounds reasonable to me, good work ain't cheap. Just refinishing and painting my front bumper was $600.55 last spring here in Richmond and your job is a couple times bigger. Silverstone had to match the hood, fenders, and the NIB front spoiler which was in factory Silverstone. Labor was the major cost. Paint was $122. I used the same local body shop recommended by @Birdybog who had one of his S2000's completely repainted there. His looks good and so does mine.

-- Chuck

Pinky

Exactly what I was going to say. Paint fades over time. Only way to paint a bumper and have it exactly match is to paint with the same batch/mix of paint you painted the adjacent panels a few months earlier.

Wojofoo

Update:

The paint shop was able to persuade my insurance company to pay for the repainting of the hood and fenders in order to blend the bumper. Pretty sweet deal.