Question for the body and paint folks.

So last Wednesday I was out in my 88 Ramcharger, and while stopped in the drive through the guy who pulled in behind me floored the gas, instead of using the brake.

It did a good amount of damage to the back of the Ramchagrer, bumper, rear hatch, and passenger quarter panel.

I took it to a body shop recommended by a friend (also my mechanic) and in the initial discussion the painter stated that it was going to be really hard to match the paint since it was a single stage, non-factory color, and of unknown age. I requested they bid the job as a full repaint if the colors, and metal flake patterns, weren't going to match.

I got the estimate today and its quoted as a blending, and using a two stage base clear on the rear hatch, and 1/4 panel.

Do I need to ask them to please redo the quote and include a full repaint, or can a two stage be matched to a single stage and not cause problems down the road with the clear coat peeling, or metal flake not matching, other issues I don't know about because I am not a body and paint guy?

I'd just tell them your a picky guy and fully expect it to look very nice. If they don't think they are up to that then off it goes to someone else.

Might be good to have it put on a frame rack and check that out. Usually severely bent bumpers means the frame is involved and may need a pull job.

You can certainly get a full paint quote, but whether or not the insurance company is going to pay it is a different question. You can certainly try.

whatever the case you will never match the color or metallic or gloss. it may look good for six days after but six months it will look like DooDoo. paint it all or use single stage in just the area damaged and expect and live with variations in the paint

Ask for a quote for a complete repaint. I don't know how your shop does it but if they have to do an exact color match to an existing color, the local shops here charge $300-$400 just for all the sprayouts required.

if it is single stage paint there are only a few metallic compared to a lot more in BC/CC (2 stage) , if the shop has single stage they can match it , if blending has to be done them you better use 2 stage and a whole complete paint job is best

Most reputable shops offer a lifetime warranty on the repairs including paint. Talk to the insurance company about your concerns and get any warranties in writing backed by the insurance company that is footing the bill as I am not sure what happens if the shop warrantying the work goes belly up. There are several well established long term shops here in Omaha that I wouldn't hesitate to use.
Also even if they do a complete respray what's to say it won't cr-p out in 1-5 years ? A lot of them anticipate the customer not keeping the car for that long


Edit

if they didn't listen to you the first time, I'd find another shop

Also it's the metallic you would be concerned with not "metal flake" mateal flake was ppular in the 60's- 70's Think boats with big flakes in the paint

At this point I would not waste any time or money with single stage, a lot of the color toners are being discontinued so in the future you are back to the same problem if it ever needs work. If that is a picture of the truck, base clear will be way to shiny to ever look right unless you use matte clear, or a blend. Any shop that looks at that paint knows it will be a problem to make you happy with a repair, near impossible to match, and if they go base clear it will show every flaw, in other words it needs bodywork and blocking, to match the part they repair. Nightmare situation for any shop. The insurance will also see the dents in the front fender, at least it looks dented in the pic, and not pay for a repaint. The value of a total is the most you will get, it is the chance you take to drive an older vehicle, it becomes worthless to everyone but you, so you need a stated value policy.

The body shop might have written it as a "blend" job, but intending to repaint the whole vehicle, knowing the insurance company would not go along with a full repaint. Ask them.

Any good paint/auto body shop will have one of these...



What paint is available is the question. If they can do it in a single stage it shouldn't be an issue. bc/cc may have a different gloss/sheen from the existing paint. Could be buffed if the existing paint is in decent shape. You may want take it around to a few shops and ask some questions depending how far you want to go with it.

Man, that sucks, I feel for ya!

I would second the recommendations made so far. Since you had asked the shop for a specific approach to the quote and yet got something different, you can either go back and re-state what you want, and give them the chance to correct, or simply move on to another shop. It is a bad sign if you brought them the business and they didn't manage to understand what you were looking for, perhaps didn't care to???

Do not get stuck with "shop was recommended so it'll be good for me" thinking. I did, and paid the price, see below.

Here is my personal experience:

1) Daily driver - brought my 2006 Mazda6 wagon after I was rear-ended. The shop colour matched the replacement bumper well, but they couldn't get it aligned...and so I got this BS story when picking the car up: "wrong clips, didn't have the clips, you know how older cars are...blah blah blah"....WHATTT???? c'mon, you got the job, do what you're being paid to do, if you are missing the clips, call around, call the dealership, call your pro suppliers and source them!

2) Mopar Ride - the original doors on my coupe were incorrectly fixed by the previous shop, the leading door lip was bent in and the bottom lip wasn't done nicely. I scored a great set of doors afterwards (car was already painted), brought them to a shop that had a great name for working with older rides like mine. Conversation went well, I explained my worry in terms of getting the colour match between these doors and the car paint (B5 blue)...guy told me he would use the electronic colour matcher that would give him the matching combo, custom or not, it'll work. Got the door back, and I could tell right away the colour was off. The shop owner insisted that could not be the case. I wanted the car on the road and so the doors went on having been convinced by the shop that it was just my eyes. Nope!!! Colour did not match...brought the ride to the shop, here is what I heard: "yeah...it's tough to match, old paints, sometimes the formulations are different from each brand, sorry, but it's not that bad"....!!!

Don't go there, especially if you love your ride! Find a shop that gets you!

If it's a good shop and painter they should be able to match the colour pretty well but by the look of that picture your truck isn't as shiny a finish as clear coat and that's what's going to stand out with what they paint. If it were mine I'd ask for a price for a complete repaint but don't expect insurance to pay for it. Insurance also won't spend a lot of time or money or re-doing their paint unless it's a real bad color match or something else wrong with it.