Honda Car Forum

I got two answers on my previous question about repainting the front bumper on my '06 Civic Coupe. I'm hoping for more since I repainted and it's still not good.I took it for third repait after it started peeling and was under warranty. Since then, it has been repainted now a total of 4 times and it does not match. The factory color is Alabaster Silver, and it boggles my mind that Honda would produce a color that cannot be reproduced after market, not to mention that it's not exactly after market--we're still in the model year! What should I do?I should add that when I took the car in for the third try, I called them when it should have been ready and they said they were happy themselves and were painting it a fourth time. When I went to pick it up it was dim light and I couldn't judge the match, but the next day it was as bad as the rest of the efforts. It's not so much the color but how it reflects light. It's dull looking in light and I feel it's diminished in value.They suggested feathering it into the rest of the paint, but to me that means they want to dull the rest of the car to match the bumper. No way? HELP!FYI, for those who say leave it black, we are talking about an '06 Civic Coupe here. Don't tell me that won't have a HUGE impact on its value.

paint it black

hmm

no

You know wut... chose wut color you want.... and then go to an autobody shop and let them do it...my friend has a saying...fu ck the world... if you want to do it then do it... who cares wut people think.... just as long as it is legal....

just remove it and paint the bare area, black. it will look good.

Silver is almost impossible to match. It's pigments change after only a short time in the sun. The color they are shooting is probably correct as for the day the car was originally painted. Feathering creates an illision because the color will change inside a panel and not at an edge....Was the car in an accident ? If the factory paint is coming off, I would pitch a bich....LOL

silver is impossible to match without blending the color to the adjecent panels wich i do not reccomend factory paint is hot oven baked on making for a super hard chip resistant finish wich cannot be duplicated in any body shop i suggest you live with the fact your car has been damaged and is virgin no more otherwise sell it sue honda for the offset value and buy a new one

I have a couple of thoughts on the matter...First, silver is very reflective of the sun and therefor cooler and less likely to fade than darker colors. I don't know what age vehicle we are talking about but every car does weather and the original paint will be hard to match but not necessarily that noticeable if they work out the old finish to the newly painted bumper.Original paint is actually several different coats... the bottom most being primer... which, incidentally, might not be black like the new bumper. Priming the new bumper with a lighter color would alter the final appearance of the light silver color.The color coat is painted after the primer and is the color of the car.After that is a clear coat which is as it's name implies... clear. I would venture to bet that your clear coat needs to be antioxidized, and rubbed out to bring back it's original luster which would then let the original silver underneath shine through.Now about that bumper... Assuming we've considered the color of the primer... the paint tech is just following the formula specifications to duplicate the factory color coat. I would hope they are also applying the clear coat as well. The clear coat will have an effect on the overall appearance.A final thought... everything can look askew if you get too close a look at it. You are matching colors as best you can and since you will have to disclose the replacement bumper to the next buyer, an absolute match in paint color is not necessarily a necessity. When standing about 25 feet away, the color difference should not be discernable. They should be able to at least do that much for you!Blending the rest of the car could and should only mean they are bringing it back to it's original luster with the removal of oxidation, surface scratches, and dullness. Once the body is brought back to original luster as much as possible, the bumper should look one heck of a lot better.No a relatively slight mismatch in color (painted right though) will not reduce the car's value any more than the reason you replaced the bumper already has. Keep your reciepts and disclose exactly what happened.Good luck!