Spotting cars that have had bodywork.

RFulmer

RFulmer

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Any of you guys ever spot other cars that have obviously been in an accident and repaired? Mostly due to mismatched paint.

I see it all the time, silver must be really hard to match. See it on some nice cars too.

Is it even possible to perfectly match it up if only one panel is being sprayed?
 
Maybe not depending on how old the other paint is I'd imagine that the other paint is faded a little bit from being out in different weather conditions. Also some bumpers make some paint look different. For example I use to own a red dodge srt-4 and had it re sprayed red the front bumper never matched the rest of the car before and after the re spray I also noticed that with every red set-4 I came across.
 
Its not impossible to match and blend seamlessly , but it can be very difficult and time consuming. Certain paint systems are more difficult to match than others also. A shop using premium paint and equipment should be able to match and blend any color.

Most painters are paid by hours booked, so they will plow through as many vehicles as they can for a paycheck.

Light colored Metallica are the most difficult to match and blend. There can sometimes be a dozen variances of one paint code. Toyota 4m9 comes to mind, cashmere beige metallic. Its easily the most difficult color I've tried to match and blend. The amount of Pearl and coarseness of metallic, are not consistent from vehicle to vehicle.

Keep an eye out for Toyota Camrys that have different color bumpers. They often times look pink, or whiteish compared to the rest of the car.

A painter with a great eye, and lots of experience mixing, matching, and spraying can match anything.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
A few things I have picked up on:

(i.) Some cars will have vin stickers on on both fenders, on the inside of the engine bay. If there is only one sticker, chances are the fender was replaced or repainted.

(ii.) Dust naps. If a panel has been resprayed before, if there were any particles of dirt or dust on the panel at the time of the paint being laid down, it will be fossilized under the paint and you will be able to see & feel it.

(iii.) Sometimes you can see a previous layers of paint underneath when a shop resprays a panel, but doesn't get close enough to the edge, say where window meets the door panel. Sometimes a shop will not be able to get as close to the edge as to cover the factory paint job and you will also see it then.
 
I used to know a guy who was very cocky about his Evo X, said he bought it brand new and how expensive it was..well something to me wasn't quite right..The rear passenger doors were closer to the front ones that the other side. I checked the paint and there was a ton of orange peel and the white was different on one side than the other. My co-workers got involved and it happened that one of them had an unlimited carfax record check..turns out the car was in an accident at little over 1,000 miles on the ODO. The guy got so much s*** for it from then on that he no longer works there :)
 
RFulmer said:
Any of you guys ever spot other cars that have obviously been in an accident and repaired? Mostly due to mismatched paint.

I see it all the time, silver must be really hard to match. See it on some nice cars too.

Is it even possible to perfectly match it up if only one panel is being sprayed?
Click to expand...
Accidents...Even prior to any consumer-purchase of a new vehicle:
I've seen slight mismatches of paint and panel fit prior to vehicles leaving an
assembly plant/port-of-call-docks/warehouses on the transports.

More so after they're unloaded at dealerships and "repaired" in-house.

:)

Bob
 
HighAngleHell said:
Maybe not depending on how old the other paint is I'd imagine that the other paint is faded a little bit from being out in different weather conditions. Also some bumpers make some paint look different. For example I use to own a red dodge srt-4 and had it re sprayed red the front bumper never matched the rest of the car before and after the re spray I also noticed that with every red set-4 I came across.
Click to expand...

Yes, going along with what he said. For example, Foxbody's specifically are known for this. Someone insisted on telling me that my car had been in an accident because the front bumper (type of "plastic") paint did not match the fenders/hood (metal) paint but if you look at almost all of the original paint Foxbody's they do not match in this area. If they do match, you can almost bet money on it that it was repainted. (Same goes for the rear bumpers too.) Although this does not apply to all cars it is one thing I have learned about the Foxbody's.
 
Really good advice above. If you don't know the history of a vehicle, it's one reason (of many, of course) to pay close attention throughout your correction effort. Even really good color/metallic/pearl matches will almost always (I'd remove the "almost" in my own experience, but you never know) react differently to polishes & pads. Case in point....Hondas that have notoriously soft OEM clears will often have new/repainted panels or sections with much harder clears. The 'vice-versa' holds true for a couple of Audis I've worked on.

Speaking of Audi, at least as it relates to the example above. I had some custom paintwork done on a few pieces on a brilliant red A4, and only under the brightest, most even light conditions did they seem to match. Otherwise it looked like my painter wasn't paying attention when mixing color.
 
RFulmer said:
Any of you guys ever spot other cars that have obviously been in an accident and repaired? Mostly due to mismatched paint.

I see it all the time, silver must be really hard to match. See it on some nice cars too.

Is it even possible to perfectly match it up if only one panel is being sprayed?
Click to expand...

I see mismatched bumpers on brand new cars all the time. Seems that the bumpers are painted at a different factory and not at the same time that the body is shot.
 
Lots of good points here, the only one that's important to add. Door/hood/trunk jambs are almost always overlooked for overspray. Also take a look at any bolts for scratches or mismatched body shims. Shops are quick to change out body panels if their easy to replace.
 
Having worked in a body shop when I was younger, I notice it all the time.
 
I see cars with dull paint at stop lights all the time. Usually rear quarter panels.
 
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