Auto Explosion in Gardena
well, my car was supposed to be ready today, but it's not. i called and was told that the paint on the bumper was not a very good match, so they are going to repaint it. i'm glad that they are repainting it on their own accord, but man i miss my car!
They used Dupont before.About a month ago they switched over to PPG.What Estaban has told me is that some Infiniti colors are not in the computer system.They have to be hand mixed.Metalic paints are just hard to match.They will allways reflect light differently at different angels.
when i called the first time, estaban said that at one angle, it was perfect, but when looking at a different angle, it was off. that's what prompted him to repaint. BS is a pretty hard color to match.
well....
well, i got my car back today. as promised, here is a bit of a "review:"
it looks lighter to me. i DO NOT have some sort of calibrated eye, and don't deal with color matching all that often (like never). now i don't doubt that esteban tried as hard as he could to get it to match (remember, he repainted it once already on his own accord), but it still looks light to me WHEN LOOKING HEAD ON.
i emphasize that because, due to the nature of my color (BS), it will have different shades at different angles. however, the angles i have to look at in order for it to match are impractical (meaning, you wouldn't be behind your driver's side front tire, looking forward and down on your bumper to look at the shiny color). and i have that nagging feeling...i keep asking myself, "could it be better?" when you ask yourself that, i don't think you're satisfied. i was looking for the same feeling that i had when i saw the fitment of my sideskirts, but it wasn't there.
so, unfortunately, i will be calling him tomorrow or sometime this week to set-up a repaint sometime in december. hell, i'm not rich and can't afford to have someone else paint it again! this is my second shop already! sinful in san diego had a pretty tough time, too.
now, i'm not bashing any of these shops because they couldn't match the paint. they were both great shops to go to, and had very good people to deal with, which is very hard to find nowadays. everyone MUST understand that matching paint without painting the entire car or blending it in with existing body panels is pretty damn tough!
- i had them refit my sideskirts, which were authentic INGS (from bulletproof). why, for the life of me, they weren't a 10/10 fit is beyond me. they stuck out a few mm's to the side, and it was not flush with the car at all. auto explosion fixed that, and i was VERY pleased with the end result
- they also installed a replica impul front, purchased from Klumzyee (eric). well, not surprisingly, there was work that had to be done to get it to fit. but overall, they did a pretty good job.
it looks lighter to me. i DO NOT have some sort of calibrated eye, and don't deal with color matching all that often (like never). now i don't doubt that esteban tried as hard as he could to get it to match (remember, he repainted it once already on his own accord), but it still looks light to me WHEN LOOKING HEAD ON.
i emphasize that because, due to the nature of my color (BS), it will have different shades at different angles. however, the angles i have to look at in order for it to match are impractical (meaning, you wouldn't be behind your driver's side front tire, looking forward and down on your bumper to look at the shiny color). and i have that nagging feeling...i keep asking myself, "could it be better?" when you ask yourself that, i don't think you're satisfied. i was looking for the same feeling that i had when i saw the fitment of my sideskirts, but it wasn't there.
so, unfortunately, i will be calling him tomorrow or sometime this week to set-up a repaint sometime in december. hell, i'm not rich and can't afford to have someone else paint it again! this is my second shop already! sinful in san diego had a pretty tough time, too.
now, i'm not bashing any of these shops because they couldn't match the paint. they were both great shops to go to, and had very good people to deal with, which is very hard to find nowadays. everyone MUST understand that matching paint without painting the entire car or blending it in with existing body panels is pretty damn tough!
Last edited by n1cK; Nov 14, 2006 at 10:52 PM.
a quick update: they were pretty reluctant to repaint (apparently, i have to understand that they can't get it 100% perfect), but they will "research" about which paint to use and i will bring back my car mid-december.
Originally Posted by n1cK
a quick update: they were pretty reluctant to repaint (apparently, i have to understand that they can't get it 100% perfect), but they will "research" about which paint to use and i will bring back my car mid-december.
Rick
well, i left my car there the whole time. i also plan to leave my car there again for them to match again. hell, i don't see why they couldn't match it to the stock front bumper.
they say the car will be ready by 2pm tomorrow. hopefully it will be (saying as to how i have to take it to the dealership by 3pm for an appt). anyway, i hope it turns out well for round 2. i hate driving this damn rental....it's a kia rio! woot 
so i finally get the car back, and it turned out pretty well (notice i didn't say perfect). the front bumper turned out WAY better than it used to, pretty much dead on. the sideskirts however are a different story imho. the bulk of it is matched up pretty well, but the edges where it meets the car still look a little lighter to me. i know this is pretty useless without pics, and even with pics, you probably still couldn't tell. but, it's hard to say that i would recommend this body shop for paint matching, or even bumper fitment.