Can detailing match old paint with new?

[De_Cruelz]

Hey guys, some of you may know I was recently involved in a minor accident with a damaged front bumper and passenger side fender. Its getting fixed soon but i'm contemplating if I should respray the whole car.

As the title states, does anyone know if detailing the car will help with matching the old paint and the new? Its gonna be costly to respray the whole car

[ChargeR]

Depending on the condition of the original paint I think good detailing could bring it up to the finish of the new paint. Whether a paint shop will manage to get the old paint up to scratch is another matter entirely, as I imagine the work involved is fairly labour intensive and they will be reluctant to do it on an insurance job.

My car has 4 different vintages of paint on it sadly but it still matches fairly well because the most recent paint shop put a bit of effort into cleaning up the older paint.

[De_Cruelz]

Thanks for the reply buddy! The other party is paying for my repairs in cash but I thought i'd top up cash to have the whole car detailed. I think the previous owner(Eric) had the sides resprayed before so hopefully that'll help.

I think most smash repair places do detailing as well? Or would it be better to get the front fixed first and bring it to a detailing expert?

[kavehman]

Fixed First.

Detailing Expert 2nd.

they should be able to get it close to perfect, detailers can achieve a lot. Look up Dr Detail if in Sydney, heard good things bout him

[De_Cruelz]

Thanks a lot! Just what I was looking for

But to begin, the smash repair place will have to reuse the exact paint code from Honda yes? Do they normally mix it themselves or its purchased directly from Honda?

[MrThanh]

they dont mix the paint themselves, they purchase the paint from an automotive paint supplier who mixes the paint with the factory paint code.

[De_Cruelz]

Hey Thanh, thanks for the info buddy! I guess I can sleep better at night now LOL. Hopefully it'll all go well with the repairs and perhaps a couple of new additions for me

[lovesil]

Normally, if the paint is hard to match (like my ex-200sx's pearl white), the resprayer normally have to color blend other undamaged panel to make it look right.

[theHKway]

Just bare in mind that usually when cars get painted, not all the panels are always 100% matching

Eg.
Fenders and bumpers are made from different materials which will have different effects
Also depending how well the surface is primed and prepped and how skilled the painter is will give you different results. Again, not all materials prime (stick) on the same way

So in saying that, even getting the paint from Honda (which isn't usually the case) it is hard to get it perfect, even small things such as weather conditions and temperature when baking play a role

either way, i'm sure the guy that does the job will give it his best because he would hate to do it all again

GL

[A'PEXi]

some repairers mix their own paint as well, while some buy it from shops... they normally do as ryan said, blend the paint in with the other panels in order to remove the new/old paint look... depends how worn your old paint is... if the repairer does a half decent job, i doubt you will need a detailer... cutting into the clear coat of a freshly painted panel wouldn't be the best idea :P

[De_Cruelz]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys! I know spray painting is a very skilled job but I never knew it was that complex with the weather conditions, temperature and all

Oh well, I guess i'm just gonna have to keep my fingers crossed that they do a good job!