there have been alot of problems with the new silvers. my dad just finished a avalon and he had to spend an extra 3 days trying to get the paint right. he actually had to mix some colors in himself to get the color to match. basically just mixed and tested till it looked right.

 

alot of bumpers will look different because paint color looks different on plastic than it does on metal. (OEM)

 

does the color match man?

Sometime when you get something painted.. they cannot just paint the part need.. they have to paint the whole panel.. sometime the whole front end, etc to make it look it wasnt painted...

If you open your door, there is should be a paint code number on the door panel..

My friend bought some paint online at www.towerpaint.com to paint some parts on his car and it matched perfectly... they make custom make factory color paint.. you just need to find or provide the correct factory paint code.. forgot which one it was...

It also depends if you park your car inside or out.. when your car is parked outside, color color can start to fade a little..

 

I got the car back Wednesday evening. The paint matches pretty well. They repainted the entire front and rear bumper covers because they had painted it like 3 times trying to get it to match and all. Like I said earlier, I guess they didn't end up using the Honda paint (meaning my paint code). They said the satin silver metallic is usually pretty easy to match, and it's been around for a while, but for some reason mine was difficult to match. They said sometimes the paint can be a little off from the factory if the cars that were painted prior to yours were a different color (suggesting that there may be traces of say blue paint in the silver). They said my silver is lighter than it normally is on Hondas. All in all they did as good a job as they could I think. I don't think it was a problem of faded paint b/c my car is only 9 months old, and during the week when I'm at work it's parked in a garage.
The shop told me not to wax the car for 4-6 weeks, which I already knew. What I need to know is if it's ok to take the car through car wash place that sprays on soap and wax (I know the amount of so-called wax they use is minimal, but I can tell when it's done because the water beads up really well)?
Thanks guys.

 

wax it yourself man.. i never take my car into the car wash for nothing... no machine wax nor hand wash.. i do it myself becuase i can never trust what may happen or what might be missing...

you sometimes get scratches from the car washes and thats a no no... plus, you'll appreciate your car after it done if you do it yourself....

 

New paint cannot be introduced to water within 24 hours for proper cross linking of the clearcoat...

Tunnel washes are harsh on your paint and whatever wax/protective coat you have on them (this is how they clean--CHEMICALLY, since they are "touchless" the soap has to be fairly agressive). I would wash it myself with gold class or NXT car wash (meguiars), and a wool wash mit. It's just a lot nicer to your paint.

And that shop needs to get a better paint supplier. I've never had a problem with mine matching paint. This includes 12 year old red on a 1992 VR-4. They should have no problem finding an EXACT match on a brand new car. Somebody is using cheap paint. Don't go back to them.

 

I also was wondering what i can do to protect it till i can wax in 4-6 weeks. So i asked at the detail city forum and was told that that mothers sealer/glaze can be used on fresh paint as long as it was baked. If they baked it you can use it to give it some protection against birds and water. I tried it after also getting the ok from the mothers forum mods and it works well and doesn't hurt the paint. The protection supposedly only lasts a week max, so do it every 3 days or thereabouts. I had to have it repainted a 2nd time because of a flaw they caused at the shop, and during the 1st painting a bird crapped on it and it ate into the paint. I used the sealer/glaze after tha 2nd painting and within a day or 2 i found the same type of crap on it and it did NOT eat into it this time. So it seems to work. But again, they said to use it ONLY if the paint was baked. The mothers guys also said not to let it dry on the paint. Just wipe it on and immediatly wipe it off. It says on the bottle to let it dry, but thats for cured paint. So on and off quickly.

 

The paint will be fine for 4 weeks.

The paint wasn't baked. This is done AT THE FACTORY before any pieces that could melt are put on the car. go to autopia.org. Detail City isn't that great IMO (I've had to correct a few things that are completely wrong, but most of the time it's a conflict of opinion so eh)

I would not put anything on the first week or two. If it's a solvent based paint (chances are it is), then it needs time to cure.

 

Mine was baked tho. The place i had it done has an oven and i saw them do it. but maybe his wasn't because it was a bumper. In any case the sealer/glaze seemed to help, as i said the same bird crap that ate into the 1st paint job didn't affect the second with the glaze on it. but i didn't just take the detail city responses as gospel...thats why i asked the mothers forum mods. In any case it worked for me. I had little choice but to try it because at work the only place i can park is like a public restroom for birds.

But again, if his wasn't baked i wouldn't put anything on it. even the mothers guys said that.

believe me......i wouldn't trust the detailcity guys without getting confirmation elsewhere !