I was recently side swiped and i took it to ford to get fixed and the paint is way whiter than the rest of the truck. Granted my truck is a 1999 it only has 39k miles on it. They said my paint is old. I also had a rolpan and smooth steps painted and they look too white too. Just wondering if anyones run into this before? I was thinking of calling his insurance company and telling them that my truck was flawless until this; faded, maybe, but at least it all was the same color. It is washed and waxed religously.
Sorry for the long post, had to vent
Mike

 

Of course it's old. Tell them to tell you something you didn't already know. Then tell them it doesn't match either and you want it fixed. Body shop tried that crap excuse on me. It was old but it matched.

Worst case you get a mechanics lean against the shop until they make it right. Best case you get his insurance to repaint the whole truck. I was in an accident in my '95 F150 other driver was at fault and my entire truck had to be repainted to get it right (metallic green). They tried to fight me on it but in the end they gave in. I wrote lots of letters and had to refuse delivery of the truck once. Take pictures and hold your ground.

As my wife would say. "Go gettum Pa"

Scott

 

Yeah it's a pain but your only choice is to not accept it and make a pest of yourself until they fix it. It can be matched and it doesn't have anything to do with faded paint. Matter of fact if there painters can't match white, I hate to think what they do when they get to dark metallics.

 

Yeah, whatever you do don't accept it. You may have to be aggressive to get them to make it right. A repaint where the paint doesn't match is not acceptable!

 

Thanks for the input guys, Its been 3 weeks since i brought it in and it was first done 6 days after bringing it in. I dont want it back looking like it does. Im leaving it with them til i get it settled or they want there money.
Mike

 

White is difficult to match. I sell pre-painted truck parts and I don't think I've ever seen a perfect color match with white. Of course the body shop can always fade or get a better color match if they can scan the old paint.

 

I agree white is difficult to match. With today’s tech. it is a lot easier than it used to be.

My guess is that they are not trying to color match. They are most likely using a factory pack or are just ordering the paint by the paint code for the truck. If they take the truck to a paint supplier that has a color match computer they can get it real close. They will clean and buff a spot on the truck, the original paint and scan it and the computer will spit out the formula to mix for the paint. You have to keep in mind the mix is still done by hand & that reducers & flex additives, for the plastic, can change the color a bit.

Mike

 

jmlay is right.
White is one of the hardest colors to match.

A reputable shop that mixes paint has a microfische with "alternate formulas" for every color.

What they should do is spray a "test panel" for the prime formula, then compare it to the truck, and adjust from there.
The alternates each have a note describing the difference, like "darker and dirtier", "lighter and red-er" etc.

I used to mix colors for a friend of mine, and we kept all the test panels in a binder so that we didn't have to spray new ones each time.

For easterisland - we used to paint for a very well known trim shop in the area, and once we found a formula that matched 99% of the time, that is what we used, as the pieces were usually for brand new trucks and it was a bit easier to match.
We actually also had them bring over the gas cap door to check match before delivery, and also had our own formula chart for each year truck that we commonly painted parts for (usually no more than 2 years old)

Bottom line - do not accept a lousy match. Since you already have, start with the body shop, if they blow you off, go to the insurance company. You can also complain to the BBB in your area.

 

Also the color of primer can change the top coat color!!!