paint matching after bodywork????

Hello everyone!!

I have a sad question to ask:

i just received my car back from the body shop after my saturn was mauled by a grand cherokee in pittsburgh construction traffic (i just love SUV drivers on cell phones :-)) the only problem is my paint doesnt seem to match. i have the 94 homecoming edition (pearl white) and every bodyshop that i inquired about said it was next to impossible to match the paint because of the tri-coat process and the un-replicatable effects of 7 years in the sun/snow/etc.

any suggestions on how to make the "line" look less noticable? the front bumper and passenger side fender have been painted, so i have unmatching lines between the hood/bumper, and the door/fender.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. i already bought a half nose mask to eliminate the line on the hood but i'm not too excited about leaving it on forever.

--drew

[ssicarman]

Not sure if i know what I'm talking about but did the bodyshop try blending the paint into the other panels. ie controlled over spray.
I think?

[piney]

You need to have the paint blended - or faded, like a hair cut. This allows them to make it almost seamless. Your problem is the paint - that stuff is pretty, but impossible to match.

In any event, there should not be a definite line that you can see. Sounds like a shoddy job if it is that visible.

I'd check with the Cherokee's insurance company and try to get them to make a contribution to you as your car, although it is repaired, is not whole again. Your car is now worth less than before - call the claim rep and ask about this. They know about it but don't offer it.

[ricksLS1]

When I hit a deer it was written up in the body shop order "blend" paint. From what I saw they sand the paint with some special abrasive material between the work area and where no damage was made. Not all the paint is removed. Again the car I had was 6 months old. I'm not an expert.

[tko]

ok i work in a body shop so i know what the pearl tri coat is. i dont know where your car got hit but the paint is verry hard to match. ex. if you had a small dent in the door they would probably recomend painting the whole side in order to ensure color match. if your car was hit in the front you probably need the whole front of your car and mabey the doors painted in order to ensure the match with out lines you want. as for the blend on the work order the shop probably dosent spray much tri coat pearl and dosent know what it takes to do it right. can happen in smaller shops. the insurance company probably talked them into painting less to save money. so blame the insurance boys first not the guy with the gun. unless the paint itself looks shaby like real rough and not smooth then that is a sure sign of poor work quality. hope i could help

[mtcaco4]

Not sure if you are still out there. Hopefully so. I just got finished posting about my Vue getting "mauled" by a 4 point buck. Now I get it back from the body shop with the same problem you have experienced. As I stated in my post the body shop said that his instructions when looking up the paint mix intructions were "for overall use only". Does this mean that the whole car needs to be painted and if that is true, I don't think the insurance companies are going to like them apples, let alone me having to shell out the extra $$ to pay what insurance won't.