just bought a lightning blue MC. we bought it at night so we didn't notice it but the hood is a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the car. you can see the difference when the car is under full sun.

any suggestions on what i should say to the dealer? what do you think is a realistic solution to this problem? thanks.

 

Just show it to them. They should repaint it. It has probably been repainted once already, just not very well done.

 

probably had damage during shipping and the VDC painted it. show the dealer and they should fix it... they should.

 

Just say : the hood is a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the car. you can see the difference when the car is under full sun.

See what they say is probably more important.

 

Yikes! Definetly show them and see what they say! Let us know the continuing saga of this event!

 

Is this sweet ride a NEW MINI, or did you buy it as a used car?

If its used, I would suspect the paint job is the result of repairs that might not be covered by a warranty.

-B
.

 

Just curious what the dealer thought about the paint? Was it indeed repaired at the VDC? Mine is getting repaired there also and I'm debating not taking the car. No way I'd pay msrp for a new car that's had any type of paint work.

 

I just had a new bonnet put on my car along with front bumper repair work after hitting a deer. I took it to a collision shop recommended by our local BMW dealer and expected great results. They use the exact same type of paint that is used in the factory (PPG Global) and even have the heat baking process to cure the paint like the factory. When I got it back I was shocked how badly the paint matched in different lighting conditions. My car is pure silver and I took it to several other shops to get a second opinion. Every shop told me the same thing, metallic paint will NEVER match perfectly. The metallic flakes will fall differently based on angle of the spray and even the pressure used. The only thing you can due is blend it into the panels farther back so the eye is fooled. Sucks, I know.

 

Most definitely true...any good shop will blend the paint in instead of just painting the panel.

 

I just had my X-3 repaired, non-metallic alpine white, no problem I thought, an easy match, stop at the door cut lines. Well, it doesn't match... the new paint is "whiter". The body shop wanted to blend it into the fenders but I wanted to keep the costs down and didn't what to paint any more than necessary. What a mistake, I can't believe that white could not easily be matched. I guess the solution is to blend it in to fool the eye.

 

I think most of us would want to preserve the factory finish as much as possible and cringe at a blend over perfectly good paint but in order to get good visual results that may not be possible.

 

Banjoez, I call *coughing*BS to what they're telling you. I have an 06 MCSC cool blue. Look at all my exterior body mods (check out my gallery). Everything and I mean everything matches to the factory paint. And this paint is not easy to color match. At one time, I had the shop color match new cowl hood vents. They were a bit off on the color. Took them back and the senior paint "engineer" mixed a new batch, took out a test strip, painted it and slapped it on top of the car to make sure it matched. It did and they re-painted the vents. The vents had been previously painted by a junior paint "engineer".

You have an '06 as well and I don't believe for a minute that the paint has faded.

Yes, it is more difficult to match metallic/pearlescent paint but don't let anybody tell you it can't be done. They just don't want to have the extra expense/time. Keep in mind, you're the PAYING Customer.

Edit: I should have added that the paint has been done by a custom paint shop. They do a lot of insurance work but they also do extensive custom paints. Don't take your mini to a regular collision repair facility. Find a custom paint shop where they're use to dealing with custom paints.

 

brownflyer: You are probably lucky to live in the car customizing capitol of the US (Califlowernia) where cool paint and awesome cars abound and talent and experience in autobody work is commonplace. All I can say is the shop that did my MINI (which was HIGHLY recommended) was so adamant that they could not get any closer of a match they actually cut me a check to have it re-painted by another shop and take the loss rather than even try.

 

Well, at least they were professional enough to refund you some of the money. The same thing happened to me with another car years ago but I didn't much care for the car so I just took the money and ran...however, that time I did take the car to one of those "inexpensive" paint shops.

It is aggravating, tho, when you walk up to your car everyday and see the paint difference.

So, thelakeshow2K, take it back to the dealer and make them aware of the differece.

 

My '07 Pure Silver Cabrio also has a panel that appears darker under certain lighting conditions - the right rear panel - and the dealer researched the car's history and found no reports of any re-painted panels, which they say would have to be reported under law. (I bought it new there just this past July.) Rather than go through the aggravation of going without the car for 10 days while they attempted to match the color better, I just said the heck with it. Next time, I'll buy the car on a sunny day! (It was raining the day I picked it off the lot)