2016 WRX New Bumper Painted - Crystal White Pearl

[CRH315]

Hi All,

I recently had my rear bumper repainted and noticed that the paint has a cooler finish than the rest of the car. Especially on the drivers side. I understand the bumper will never match exactly, but I'm not an expert on paint jobs so I wanted opinions so I can manage my expectation.

It's obviously different in person and even as I'm uploading the photos the variance differs when viewed on my monitor vs my phone. Thanks for the help.

https://i.imgur.com/s13ZPuu.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/x8Jivo8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/q4dE4RD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/A0DEoVQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dRUcI0s.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5y4lukW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wOJOaQB.jpg

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[subaru_gc8]

they didnt blend the paint, did you hask them to do that?

[joesstripclub]

I would make sure you got 3 stage paint as well. I have a pearl white 350z that had the rear bumper repainted before I bought it. It's hard to notice, but they only did 2 stage so it doesnt match perfect.

[Big-E]

Let's assume for the moment the paint itself was made correctly by the paint-shop that supplied it.

Air-pressure, distance-of-spray, etc. will affect how the finish will appear. It is very possible that whomever applied the paint did not do so evenly.

With respect to blending, this would have meant that the rear quarters/fenders would have also been painted. You don't want that. Blending is a means to hide the fact that there was a repaint and in some instances to cover-up for bad quality painting.

The bumper-cover itself was most-likely painted off of the car.

As far as I am aware, many manufacturers do not paint the bumper-covers. Instead, the supplier of those new covers to the manufacturer paint them. This is why in general on a new car (that has not had any refinishing work performed) the bumper-cover color may be and usually is slightly different from the rest of the car.

Where am I going with this?

You should expect some slight variance, but in this case I agree that the driver's side is very noticeable whereas the center and passenger's side seem to blend well.

I would say to either live with it or go back to the body-shop and discuss it with them.

[nerdydorkus]

I went through this same exact situation. When it comes to white paints and pearl, it is impossible to perfectly match because of the way pearl lays down. Even subarus off the factory line don't match perfectly if they're painted on different batches. Every paint shop will tell you this, so the only way to get it unnoticeable (not match, like I said this is impossible) is to blend into the original paint on the quarter.

There are more issues with paint shops working on factory paint when it's not needed, and IMO the better option is to do what you did and just paint the bumper alone.

I paid top dollar $$$ at a high end paint shop, and if it makes you feel any better your paint matches better than mine does.

[bizzlezx10r]

I can tell a difference in the pictures and it would bother me too. I recommend maybe a full car wrap? or atleast maybe get the bumper wrapped.

[n2oiroc]

Originally Posted by nerdydorkus

I went through this same exact situation. When it comes to white paints and pearl, it is impossible to perfectly match because of the way pearl lays down. Even subarus off the factory line don't match perfectly if they're painted on different batches. Every paint shop will tell you this, so the only way to get it unnoticeable (not match, like I said this is impossible) is to blend into the original paint on the quarter.

There are more issues with paint shops working on factory paint when it's not needed, and IMO the better option is to do what you did and just paint the bumper alone.

I paid top dollar $$$ at a high end paint shop, and if it makes you feel any better your paint matches better than mine does.

its not impossible, you just need to find a good shop. both the bumpers on my old swp wrx were painted and both matched perfectly with no blending. the shop needs to spray test panels to see exactly how much pearl to put on instead of taking a wild guess. id bring that car back and have them fix it.

[siete]

Same thing happened to me on my 2019. I even had them redo it and it came out better, but still not perfect. It never will be unless you blend it into the quarters.

I'm pissed about it, but I went to a few other shops around my area and they all tell me the same thing, you can't get it perfect unless you blend. Even then, there is differences in the way the paint/pearl dries on the metal and plastic due too temperature differences, etc.

A really good painter can get close I'm sure, but good luck finding one. These are production shops getting stuff out there door ASAP. It's a scummy business in my area, lots of BS from most the guys I've dealt with.

[siete]

Originally Posted by n2oiroc

its not impossible, you just need to find a good shop. both the bumpers on my old swp wrx were painted and both matched perfectly with no blending. the shop needs to spray test panels to see exactly how much pearl to put on instead of taking a wild guess. id bring that car back and have them fix it.

Impressive they that did that.

First they have to match the base color which is the most important. Spray out card matches to the color in the jambs or under the hood. There can be quite a few color variants to the color code, how many depends on what paint system they use. Then they do the "let down panel" to see how many coats of pearl is needed.

Then you have the difference in spray pressure and distance, temp, plastic surface vs the metal.

Most places blend for matches between panels, especially with pearls and metallics.

[brylemr]

Any update OP? The shop should redo it.