I need to repaint a 2004 G35 sedan rear bumper cover that I just finished repairing. I've been going back and forth about whether I should have the paint custom-matched to the car's paint or just go with the OEM KX6 color code. I'm trying to keep expenses low and avoid blending, and I realize that a plastic cover may cause the paint to look different from the rest of the car anyway.

I bought a desert platinum gas filler lid on eBay so I could remove the original lid and have the paint matched at a local paint shop, and the temporary lid's color does not look any different from the original; granted, the paint is most likely the same age. The issue is that a pint of PPG Deltron runs $120 plus AT LEAST $40 for the custom match, since I was warned that it could be challenging and time-consuming to get a good match. Long story short, what are experiences with matching desert platinum?

Thanks

 

Odds are no matter what you do the paint isn't going to be a perfect match, doesn't really matter what color, I've seen even solid black and solid white cars that aren't properly color matched. Not just the color with Desert Platinum (I have the same color) but matching the metallic. Not to mention the paint is different on the plastic bumpers because it has a flex agent in it. Don't know if the final result is primer color dependent because that can make a difference too.

If you really care about at least a reasonably good color match, don't cheap out. Paint and body is not where you shop for a deal.

 

Yeah, I guess I knew the answer already - old paints, especially metallics, aren't easy to match. I was hoping that Infiniti paints have some sort of magical powers to retain most of their brilliance. 😀

The local paint shop gave me a final price of $158/pint for a computer match of the paint to the gas lid. Expensive. I still may have it hand matched if I decide to paint the cover myself; I have some leftover materials from a trunk lid repaint I did a couple years ago. I also found out that Desert Platinum uses a "G3" (light gray) under coat, which I could see when I sanded part of the cover.
A local body shop that does great work quoted me $450 by email to match the paint, but I haven't followed up to find out what is included in the price.