Can modern paint be "blended in"?
Discussion
Some tw
t kindly scraped the corner of my bumper in a local supermarket on Thursday. I've polished away most of the paint the offending vehicle left on my car and it already looks a lot better, but it's going to need some paintwork to fix. There's no panel damage, just areas of paint scraped off the bumper. The car is flat (non-metallic) white.
I went to two local bodyshops yesterday for quotes. The first one quoted £110 saying he could paint the corner of the bumper (round to the wheelarch), blend it in towards the middle of the car, and do this with the bumper still in place. He said the repair wouldn't be visible. I was planning of booking it in here but passed another bodyshop on my way home so stopped for an second quote
The second bodyshop said it's not possible to blend in without it being visible. He said he bumper would need removing and painting completely. Quote was £340+ vat.
Both bodyshops have a good reputation, but who's right?
I should add that the car is practically new (5000 miles) and has no stonechips elsewhere on the front, so it's not like I'll have a mismatch of "age" against the rest of the paint on the bumper if only half is done.
t kindly scraped the corner of my bumper in a local supermarket on Thursday. I've polished away most of the paint the offending vehicle left on my car and it already looks a lot better, but it's going to need some paintwork to fix. There's no panel damage, just areas of paint scraped off the bumper. The car is flat (non-metallic) white.I went to two local bodyshops yesterday for quotes. The first one quoted £110 saying he could paint the corner of the bumper (round to the wheelarch), blend it in towards the middle of the car, and do this with the bumper still in place. He said the repair wouldn't be visible. I was planning of booking it in here but passed another bodyshop on my way home so stopped for an second quote
The second bodyshop said it's not possible to blend in without it being visible. He said he bumper would need removing and painting completely. Quote was £340+ vat.
Both bodyshops have a good reputation, but who's right?
I should add that the car is practically new (5000 miles) and has no stonechips elsewhere on the front, so it's not like I'll have a mismatch of "age" against the rest of the paint on the bumper if only half is done.
Blending is possible & should be straightforward. Your description sounds like a normal SMART repair.
Done plenty using a clearcoat over base - lots on various parts of white vans for one of my trade customers - & not had an issue.
Also works well for me on caravans - although I won't take on the metallic ones like the Swift & Buccaneer.
Blacks & very dark blues can sometimes be a PITA for losing an edge.
Done plenty using a clearcoat over base - lots on various parts of white vans for one of my trade customers - & not had an issue.
Also works well for me on caravans - although I won't take on the metallic ones like the Swift & Buccaneer.
Blacks & very dark blues can sometimes be a PITA for losing an edge.
If paints couldn't be blended then the whole industry of Smart repairs wouldn't exist. Also cars such as a BMW 5 series where the rear quarter, rear pillar, roof bar, front pillar and front wing are all made out of one piece would require at least half a car to be painted to repair one scratch on the rear of the rear quarter.
The fact is that some people that work in bodyshops only ever use large guns. Large guns make blends difficult and make the repairing of small areas almost impossible. These are the guys that refuse to move with the times, refuse to use and adapt to smaller 'spot repair' guns and therefore refuse to believe that blending small areas can be achieved - and because of their blinkered outlook they wrongly slate Smart repairs.
The fact is that some people that work in bodyshops only ever use large guns. Large guns make blends difficult and make the repairing of small areas almost impossible. These are the guys that refuse to move with the times, refuse to use and adapt to smaller 'spot repair' guns and therefore refuse to believe that blending small areas can be achieved - and because of their blinkered outlook they wrongly slate Smart repairs.
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