TheSamba.com :: View topic - 3-Stage Pearl Paint... Pros n' Cons

Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:33 am

I bought my car with a 3-stage pearl paint job and just wanted to pass along what I've learned.

The upside is that it looks awesome. People comment on the car all the time. It's an eye-catcher, that's for sure. The pearl is more subtle than a flashy metallic paint job. The car really glows beautifully and looks different in different lighting conditions. I love the look.

The biggest downside is that you can't touch it up. That's because it's in 3 stages. A color coat, topped by the pearl coat, topped by the clear top coat. The paint is now about 8 or 10 years old and little dots of rust are starting to bubble up from underneath. I'm preserviing it as best I can, but eventually will have to repaint. You can't sand, bondo and repaint in 3 stages. It won't blend.

But there is hope when you need to repaint a whole part, like a hood or fender that is not welded to the body. Those can be digitally matched and sprayed in 3 stages. The components of the paint are broken down by the computer, the base color and pearl are matched and separate parts can be painted. And if you're wondering how I found that out... yup you guessed it. I got my hood smashed when a deer ran in front of me. (see photos below)

3 stage pearl is also very expensive. I'm told my paint job is about $3,000. The color was the "secret recipe" of a body shop owner. Getting my hood repainted is running $1,100 and the owner gave me a break on the usual labor cost since this was out-of-pocket, not covered by insurance.

Another little downside is that the pearl is difficult to photograph. In most photos, it looks like flat yellow. The best photo I've managed so far is below. I took that inside a parking garage with a low cieling and artificial light

So all that said, when I eventually have to repaint the whole car, I'll go with metallic rather than pearl, primarily because it can be touched up. But I'm not ready to give up the pearl yet, which is why I opted to match the new hood.

Here's the photos:
The car before the deer- This is the parking garage photo

Here are the photos of the dreaded deer dent- notice that the crunch is shaped just like the deer's backside!!

Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:44 am

I was going to type a whole long reply but I dont really dont like stirring the pot. Please post some pictures when its fixed. Pearls are nearly impossible to color match. The cameras I have seen and used have problems matching pearls.

There are a few things that sound alarms with me about your post.

First, $1100 to paint a hood is crazy. The cost of 3 stage and labor to paint a hood is nowhere near that. You didnt mention fixing that hood...so I am assuming a new hood.

The secret recipe bothers me. There is a reason for saying that. Maybe he messed up the mix on a color for another paint job and used the paint for your car. Maybe he forgot how many grams of white tint or mica he was putting in the paint and called it custom. There is absolutely no reason to mix a special color on purpose. You are seeing the results of that now that you are wanting to fix it.

I would rethink what you are doing. If you have plenty of money and won't miss $1100 for a temp repair go ahead and do it. If that is the case...think to yourself maybe that is why my $400-$500 repair is $1100.

I would personally wait and paint the whole car. You have said it needs it. Figure $1100 off your new paint job.

I cant imagine what that body shop will charge you to do the whole car. If there is rust coming thru paint and primer you are looking at stripping the car to bare metal.

I also really think that an 8-10 year old paint job should still be rust free if done properly.

I really didnt want to come off hostile in this post. I really hate when people get taken advantage of. Take it to another shop.

Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:39 pm

No worries, your post is helpful, not hostile. :D Thanks!

Unfortunately, I'm not able to shop around for a better deal. I just got moved into a high-intensity sales position at work and am putting in 14 hour days with my head on the chopping block and my weekends are booked solid. So I'm just biting the bullet and getting it done. Also I'm in northern CA where nuthin's inexpensive, so that might have something to do with the price.

Answering your questions, yes it's a new hood and I'll post photos when the work is done. It would have been more expensive to repair it than to redo the hood. I hope they are able to get a match or very close to it. They are doing the whole thing digitally.

The existing paint was the signature or favorite color of the body shop owner that my car's former owner worked for. That's all I was told about it that it was his special mix. I also don't know exactly how old the paint job really is, or if it was done well or not. I'm just guessing on the age. The former owner didn't discuss that with me.

I hope that answers a couple of questions! Yeah I'm probably getting hosed for too much money on this, but I'm kinda S.O.L. being unable to shop around.

Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:30 pm

Judging paint age is very hard. Garaged, waxed, clay barred, proximity to salt air, etc are all factors. Your desciption on small pinholes of rust forming leads me to believe that inexpensive primer was used.

Check out HOK's website for very cool color ideas for your complete paint.

www.hokpaint.com

I would also recommend going to the shop you are bringing your car to and looking at some of their work. Not their personal show cars, but customer cars waiting to be picked up. Check out their work.

Here's a couple of final tips:

1. Never pick a car up from the paint shop in the twilight hours. The lighting then makes any paint look great. (Test this driving home some evening. Just check out other cars on the road. Paint looks incredibly deep at this time). Also, never go look at a car to buy at this time.

2. Never accept a car from a paint shop if you arent totally happy with the work. If they tell you that you can bring it back "next week" and we will fix it, decline. If the car is sitting taking up space in their yard or shop they will get it done faster.

3. Never accept a car from a paint shop that is still wet from a wash. This is a common scam. Water droplets hide all kinds of stuff. Commonly, they will tell you they washed it up for you and smile :). Make them dry it off, and give it a good look.

4. Always look at the repair or paint work from mulitple angles. Some flaws are visible from only one direction.

5. Never leave personal items in your car. Shop insurance wont cover it, and looking in someones glove box is a good time killer while having morning coffee.

Hope this helps ya some.

Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:37 pm

For $1100 Ill bet the're blending the entire front end and maybe even the doors. Look at your estimate. Then you figure r&i time for everything and bam! you got yourself a $1000 bill. Another thing to consider is their labor rate. Ill bet there up around $48 an hour. Plus this is "custom" work so you can charge what ever you like. Not to mention the 200 sprayout card youll have to do to get the color in the ball park. Too bad I have never gotten any "tint time".

This was just a few things to think about.

Jonathan

Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:24 pm

Sorry for the delay in responding-

The labor is $68/hour, normally they charge $78 and I got a bit of a break. Not unheard of for around here. The estimate is broken down into step by step stages and there is a lot of hours involved with this paint job. It's not an easy fix and they are spraying all three stages. The whole thing is taking from Aug 26th through Sept 6th. Definitely not a rush job. So I don't feel too badly about the price, all things considered. We'll see how it looks. I'm aware of the difficulty of doing this kind of paint job, and that it might not be a flawless match. But if they can come close enough to where it isn't obvious unless under close inspection, I'll be OK with that.

Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:24 pm

Well, change of plans gang. After a lot of consideration, we're gonna repaint. Total strip down to the bare metal, primer and repaint inside and out.

I'm pretty sure I'll go with a metal flake or metallic yellow. Flashy, LOL. I'm going to meet with the paint guys tomorrow. I'm really bummed to be losing the pearl paint job, but whatcha gonna do, eh?

Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:29 pm

Your making the right choice. No question. Candy yellow.........