Hey guys, my passenger side fender needs replacing. My plan was to take the fender off, buy the new one, have it painted, then i would simply install it back. Here's my question: Normally they have to blend the paint so that the colors match up exactly, but can they blend it after I install the new fender, or do they have to blend it at the same time they are painting the fender? I hope i'm making sense. Body shops screw ppl the most IMO, so i just wanted to do most of the work myself and have them simply paint it. Thats my reasoning behind all this. Just worried about the whole blend thing now.

 

It should all be done at the same time. Just do what work you want to do yourself, before it's painted, then give it back to them to paint when everything is back on the vehicle that needs painted....

 

LubedKoala,

When I had the SPA Yellow S, I had to have the fender painted and the blended the paint, you couldn't tell that it had been painted.

BUT!!!! Now I have a the bumper paint on my NEW RIO Yellow, because someone backed into it and damaged the bumper. IT can't be matched. I have four, YES, FOUR... Different paint companies to try and match the color and they CAN'T!!! The bumper has been sanded and repainted 4 times now! I have a new bumper waiting for another try at matching the paint, but I am waiting a few more weeks to see if a new formula comes out with a better match for the paint...from another paint company.

It would be so much easier if Honda just sold painted bumpers....IMO....

I am wondering if any other RIO Yellow owners have had an issues matching the color on their car?

Paul

 

Paul, aren't they blending into your car quarter panels and trunk if they are putting a new unpainted bumper on???

 

Jason B,

They are not blending the front bumper. They are painting the bumper away from the car. Which is a good thing because the first two time they didn't get anywhere near the correct color of the car...

I stood in the door of the body shop as the drove the car around to the front for me to take...I just turned around and told the manager, you need to try again on the color.

To his credit he even said it was the worst matching they have ever seen on a car before, coming from their paint booth. Could of been BS, but this is recommended bodyshop from several friends that had good experience with them. Also he has said he has never had this much trouble with a color before either.

I knew getting a yellow car its hard to match but this is getting a little out of control.

 

before you go out and buy the body parts...

make sure that you have a shop that does GOOD quality work and is willing to perform a "labor only" job.

 

I had to have mine done as well. Some jerk sliced the front drivers side at a parking lot and left w/o telling anyone.

Anyhow, go to a good body shop. The one I used was recommended by a few folks in town here and they matched the Silverstone metallic PERFECTLY!! I couldn't believe it. You can't even tell it was re-painted.

Get some referrals from people in your area who have had similar work done.

You should be able to do as much of the work yourself as you want, then just take it to them to have it painted. they might require that their shop do some finishup sanding, etc. just to cover their butts in case your work wasn't to their standards (dare I say it), but it still should cost you less than having them do the whole thing.

My fender had a big gouge in it and it cost me $500.00 to fix the gouge and repaint it. It was worth every penny to have them do all the work (I'm not that handy with this sort of thing).

Good luck.

 

The best thing to do is take the car with the fender, have them paint the fender then install the fender(you don't want to scratch the paint). Then have them make sure there is a perfect match, good luck if you have a yellow or red car.

 

most shops (every single one that i have talked to) won't do a "paint only" job. they want to mark-up the parts to cover their "low" labor rate. i have even tried to negotiatate a HIGHER hourly rate to make-up for me supplying the parts!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ace10