I'm looking to get 2 fenders and a bumper cover replaced and painted in the lease expensive way possible but still make it look as good as possible. One body shop quoted me around $2000 and that was to blend the paint into the rest of the car. I'd rather not spend that kind of money if i don't have to.

So, I went to a different guy who was recommended to me by a friend. He said that he can almost perfectly match the paint without blending. He also said something about paint variances which he explained to me was that the paint code "CG2" (pebble-beige) was made in several different factories around the world. Although the color is essentially the same, the paint color from each factory comes out slightly different because of different conditions in each factory. Therefore when you get paint called CG2 it could be from a different factory than the CG2 your car was originally painted with. Anyone heard of this? (like the paint could be ever-so-slightly darker or lighter or something?)

The guy seemed to know what he was talking about, but I want to see what you guys think. He quoted me $700 and he said he was going to put a scanner or something on my existing paint to get the exact match (because there are variances).

Anyone use this method of autobody work? No blending necessary? How does it come out?

 

check this picture out
http://www.maximaclub.org/download/1999-2.jpg

the bumper is darker then the body, this is a common issue i have seen on many maxes i dont know why but u may have answered it.

as far as ur question -- what about junk yard maxes ? get those fenders and repaint

 

hes pretty much right. In any event it wont be a perfect match because of the age of the original paint vs the new

 

yea but if he puts a paint scanner up to the door then that should be pretty accurate to match the paint including age. Surely they can factor in 12 years of paint wear into new paint color matching...

 

no, paint probably will not match, due to age, quality and product company. The main difference would be in the quality of the paint. I use ppg and it has 2 lines, one more expensive than the other. The more expensive has a better reputation for matching the orginal color. The latter tends to be off a little bit but with ur paint color shouldnt be too noticeable, mostly happens with dark colors. Im not sure how he would do it without blending, u have to blend the clear, otherwise there will be a definite line.

 

I have sterling silver and had my front bumper repainted. The pic in the link above is exactly what happened to me. My front bumper is a different 'pearl shade' then the rest of the car. You can only tell when the light hits it a certain way.
So the moral is: Yes, he's right. I know from experience. Also, the gun he is talking about really works, it spits out the paint mixture to use for the match from the paint on the car, not the paint code. I wish the body shop that repaired my car used it. He won't have to blend because the paint will match. I have seen it done with cars even a bit faded. I do not know how exactly the thing works, but it really does. Especially sice you are repainting the fenders and bumper. He is not trying to blend in the middle of a panel, he will just spray the pieces you want painted and put them on.