Factory finish panel colour mismatch?!
Discussion
Hi Guys
Well our Boxster S has arrived albeit a little late and we collected Friday. Looked stunning in the showroom absolutely awesome drive home blue sky - perfect. However, got it home and looked it over and noticed the panel between the door and the rear wheel is at least one or maybe two shades different than the abutting panels. Now I know that it is a plastic panel and the door and rear wing appears to be metal. I also know sometimes the shade can be slightly out as a result of it being plastic but is that really as close as the colour match gets on the Boxster build? The car was built at Osnabruck. Should the difference be so noticeable? or is it as good as it gets and just the way things are now at £65K price point? Or is it me? I have uploaded a photo - looks worse in the metal. It is apparent the panel was sprayed away from the car and the metallic fleck is coarser than the rest. Similar on the driver's side as well, maybe not quite as bad.
Well our Boxster S has arrived albeit a little late and we collected Friday. Looked stunning in the showroom absolutely awesome drive home blue sky - perfect. However, got it home and looked it over and noticed the panel between the door and the rear wheel is at least one or maybe two shades different than the abutting panels. Now I know that it is a plastic panel and the door and rear wing appears to be metal. I also know sometimes the shade can be slightly out as a result of it being plastic but is that really as close as the colour match gets on the Boxster build? The car was built at Osnabruck. Should the difference be so noticeable? or is it as good as it gets and just the way things are now at £65K price point? Or is it me? I have uploaded a photo - looks worse in the metal. It is apparent the panel was sprayed away from the car and the metallic fleck is coarser than the rest. Similar on the driver's side as well, maybe not quite as bad.
cervezaman said:
Looks quite noticeable from the photo. Could it possibly have been damaged in transit and repaired? Any overspray anywhere?
Unfortunately it does happen. Mine was damaged between leaving the factory and arriving at the dealership. It had been poorly repaired somewhere but nobody knew where! Had to have the repair done again properly.
If it's on both sides then it would point to poor finish from the factory. Talk to your opc ASAP.
Beautiful colour combo though. I'm sure you'll get it sorted.
Jon
I cannot find any overspray. I am thinking that if it had been damaged there would have been a better attempt at blending it in! I think you are right I will have to go back to the OPC with it. Did you find overspray on your car or did they own upUnfortunately it does happen. Mine was damaged between leaving the factory and arriving at the dealership. It had been poorly repaired somewhere but nobody knew where! Had to have the repair done again properly.
If it's on both sides then it would point to poor finish from the factory. Talk to your opc ASAP.
Beautiful colour combo though. I'm sure you'll get it sorted.
Jon
I would guess the panel was sprayed in a different place to the car and then added on the production line? I am unsure if that part of the body goes through the bodyshop with the metal part of the car. The hue of the paint is wrong and the metallic coarser so was not painted at the same time as the door and upper panel, unless damaged in transit of course. There was a delay on the build time of one week notified a week prior to the original delivery date so could well have been dinked at the docks in Germany and given a line but I doubt I will ever know for sure. I have emailed the pics to Porsche and the dealer. I am now waiting for the "they are all like that" response.
I took another photo this morning of the other side and I think this is just as bad on the driver's side? The OPC have stated they have no knowledge of damage in transit and I actually believe that. So it is looking more like a build quality issue from the factory. I am waiting to hear back from Porsche now on this. 
Edited by Agent51 on Monday 19th May 13:48
For those who cannot see the difference, here is a clearer pic that defines the light grey on the top panel and the dark grey on the lower panel. This is nothing to do with light and panel shape - they are different colours. It would seem then there are other cars out there with similar shade changes so perhaps that's just the way they are? but it does not make it right. I have to say I would have expected better. I have not seen anything quite this bad on a Porsche before now. 
m33ufo said:
Personally...as it's the same on both sides of the car, and also looks like the Agate example above, then I'd probably accept it. Couldn't take the stress of my brand new, undamaged Porsche going into the paint shop!
Well that is a scary prospect indeed, not something I would want to go through but I am equally unhappy with the poor standard. jasongibson said:
Just found an image for another in the same colour and that panel looks different on this car too
Amazed you found this that shows so clearly the panel colour difference. I searched and all the Agate Grey cars I found were just 1 colour. As there is obviously a variation among owners I am wondering if it is an issue with the factory of origin i.e. the Stuttgart cars all 1 colour and the Osnabruck cars any colour you like? It almost seems like the parts are moulded and painted in a different place and time to the car. My last 2 Agate grey 991s had no paint issues whatsoever.jasongibson said:
The pic was from this forum
http://www.planet-9.com/981-chat/73027-agate-grey-...
Why don't you log on and contact the owner to get his views
Thankyou , I may just do that. I am taking the car back to the Opc and will go from there. Will update.http://www.planet-9.com/981-chat/73027-agate-grey-...
Why don't you log on and contact the owner to get his views
According to my OPC and their Porsche approved body shop this is the same colour as the rest of the car and although the panels are sprayed in different places the paint comes the out of the same mix. According to them there is only one vat of paint and all the cars are painted with that same colour from that same vat. So what I am looking on the car and in the photos is the same colour, but because it is on a different panel it will look different. The Emperor’s new clothes immediately sprang to mind! I was obviously “hopelessly stupid” as to me it just looks like two different colours.
Of course I knew they would say that, Porsche never readily admit to anything. The panel is located in line with the crease on the door and does reflect a lot of light in different ways and to some extent is a good design in hiding any colour difference in certain lights. I am sure that is how they could get away with slight tone variations however, no one will ever convince me the two colours are from the same mix on my car they are totally different hues.
In all honesty I am not sure there is anything they could do anyway. I would not want to have a new car re-sprayed end of. It is a great car but personally I think it is a gash way of presenting bodywork on any car let alone one straight from the factory. It seems the Brand although preaching excellence is relying more and more on marginal acceptability and to my mind that is not good enough.
Of course I knew they would say that, Porsche never readily admit to anything. The panel is located in line with the crease on the door and does reflect a lot of light in different ways and to some extent is a good design in hiding any colour difference in certain lights. I am sure that is how they could get away with slight tone variations however, no one will ever convince me the two colours are from the same mix on my car they are totally different hues.
In all honesty I am not sure there is anything they could do anyway. I would not want to have a new car re-sprayed end of. It is a great car but personally I think it is a gash way of presenting bodywork on any car let alone one straight from the factory. It seems the Brand although preaching excellence is relying more and more on marginal acceptability and to my mind that is not good enough.
Agent51 said:
Hi Guys
Here is an update.
After getting nowhere with the OPC and the Porsche approved body shop who both said there is no visible colour difference I contacted Porsche GB.
Porsche invited me to Reading to have the car inspected there by their specialist although I was not allowed to see him or speak to him. The car was driven around the back out of sight while I was made to wait in the showroom.
Their conclusion was coincidentally the same as the OPC, not surprising as the after sales manager from the supplying dealer was also present - no vested interest there then! (see attached letter from Porsche Reading).
It was clear to me that Porsche were simply sticking together on this and I was so incensed by their arrogance and dismissive attitude of what is a serious quality issue, I decided to get inspections of my own from the Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors who have prepared reports for the court.
Here are the two extractions from the subsequent independent reports I now have.
Inspection 1:
The purpose of our inspection was to ascertain if the colour of the plastic body panels i.e. front and rear bumpers and side sill covers were an acceptable colour match with the body of the vehicle. On the day of our inspection the weather was dry with bright sunshine.
Following our inspection we advise that the front and rear bumpers and the side sill covers are darker than the paintwork on the vehicle body. This is particularly evident where the side sill covers meet the quarter panel adjacent to the door handles.
In our opinion, had this vehicle been repaired by a Porsche recommended repairer, the repairs would be rejected due to the poor colour match.
In conclusion, in our opinion the supplying dealer should rectify the issue with the colour match to the satisfaction of the owner.
Inspection 2:
My inspection was visual, carried out without the aid of a hoist, and no measurements were taken. The inspection was carried out in the street in dry, sunny conditions. The car was in good condition with no evidence of heavy use or abuse.
The colour of the car was grey metallic and there was an obvious difference in the shade of grey between both the rear wings and their adjacent panels. It gave the impression that the car could have been in an accident and sub-standardly repaired.
There were no obvious signs of the car having been involved in an accident. Accident damage to new cars can often be repaired to "best as described as new" standard, but I consider it to be most unlikely in this case. The most likely cause of the colour variation is due to unsatisfactory process at the time of manufacture.
One can get very slight variations in shades of colour around a car which can be acceptable. However, in this case, the variation is beyond that which is acceptable in a new car, particularly one of such a prestigious mark, and needs to be rectified by the suppliers at no expense to the customer.
___________________
This is now in the hands of VW Finance as they are technically the owners of the car and I am awaiting their response on my letter of rejection. I will update again.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NlNu6lL9.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/HvHp9Mcs" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/HvHp9Mcs.jpg)
Here is an update.
After getting nowhere with the OPC and the Porsche approved body shop who both said there is no visible colour difference I contacted Porsche GB.
Porsche invited me to Reading to have the car inspected there by their specialist although I was not allowed to see him or speak to him. The car was driven around the back out of sight while I was made to wait in the showroom.
Their conclusion was coincidentally the same as the OPC, not surprising as the after sales manager from the supplying dealer was also present - no vested interest there then! (see attached letter from Porsche Reading).
It was clear to me that Porsche were simply sticking together on this and I was so incensed by their arrogance and dismissive attitude of what is a serious quality issue, I decided to get inspections of my own from the Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors who have prepared reports for the court.
Here are the two extractions from the subsequent independent reports I now have.
Inspection 1:
The purpose of our inspection was to ascertain if the colour of the plastic body panels i.e. front and rear bumpers and side sill covers were an acceptable colour match with the body of the vehicle. On the day of our inspection the weather was dry with bright sunshine.
Following our inspection we advise that the front and rear bumpers and the side sill covers are darker than the paintwork on the vehicle body. This is particularly evident where the side sill covers meet the quarter panel adjacent to the door handles.
In our opinion, had this vehicle been repaired by a Porsche recommended repairer, the repairs would be rejected due to the poor colour match.
In conclusion, in our opinion the supplying dealer should rectify the issue with the colour match to the satisfaction of the owner.
Inspection 2:
My inspection was visual, carried out without the aid of a hoist, and no measurements were taken. The inspection was carried out in the street in dry, sunny conditions. The car was in good condition with no evidence of heavy use or abuse.
The colour of the car was grey metallic and there was an obvious difference in the shade of grey between both the rear wings and their adjacent panels. It gave the impression that the car could have been in an accident and sub-standardly repaired.
There were no obvious signs of the car having been involved in an accident. Accident damage to new cars can often be repaired to "best as described as new" standard, but I consider it to be most unlikely in this case. The most likely cause of the colour variation is due to unsatisfactory process at the time of manufacture.
One can get very slight variations in shades of colour around a car which can be acceptable. However, in this case, the variation is beyond that which is acceptable in a new car, particularly one of such a prestigious mark, and needs to be rectified by the suppliers at no expense to the customer.
___________________
This is now in the hands of VW Finance as they are technically the owners of the car and I am awaiting their response on my letter of rejection. I will update again.
Edited by Agent51 on Saturday 2nd August 15:04
thegoose said:
I notice that both inspections were "visual" and "no measurements were taken" - done with the naked eye and the opinion of the inspector then?
It's possible to have a colour "read" to have paint made to match (I think B&Q do this) - for car paintwork I think the piece of kit used is about the size of a torch that uses D cells (similar size to a dildo if that makes it any easier to visualize), which is pressed end-on to the paintwork and seals against it (to omit outside light from entering) and it then uses some kind of light beam and measures the reflection of the colour, or something like that.
I may not be explaining it very well, but if you got a calibrated one the measurements from it should give a definitive answer of how different the shades are, which I would think is better evidence than a visual inspection from someone who you've asked to assess it (just as you don't believe the OPC/Porsche are impartial).
I think what you are thinking of is a spectrophotometer although dildo certainly springs to mind dealing with Porsche customer service. I was hoping that by getting the opinion of a qualified assessor would be enough to enable me to convince Porsche that the quality of the finish is not of an accepable standard. It comes to something when you have to go to such lengths to get anything done by Porsche after all it is so obvious there is an issue. What is worse is they are aparently only too happy for it to be like it! Porsche philosophy "excellence in all we do" - now including fobbing off the punters. It's possible to have a colour "read" to have paint made to match (I think B&Q do this) - for car paintwork I think the piece of kit used is about the size of a torch that uses D cells (similar size to a dildo if that makes it any easier to visualize), which is pressed end-on to the paintwork and seals against it (to omit outside light from entering) and it then uses some kind of light beam and measures the reflection of the colour, or something like that.
I may not be explaining it very well, but if you got a calibrated one the measurements from it should give a definitive answer of how different the shades are, which I would think is better evidence than a visual inspection from someone who you've asked to assess it (just as you don't believe the OPC/Porsche are impartial).
rosino said:
I have to say in The last picture the difference is very noticeable. I would be very upset too.
On my 991 the front bumper had been resprayed prior to delivery and I didn't spot anything when getting the car from the OPC but my detailer quickly spotted it. It was a different shade of aqua blue and the finish was poor, kind of porous.
I noticed it every time in bright sunlight but not in normal UK conditions :-) so I learned to cope with it.
I don't see why you should have to cope with it on a 100k car. I have also just bought a brand new Fiesta and the paint colour match on that between panels is excellent far superior to that of the Boxster. It's like Porsche haven't even tried on my car and at 65k a poor quality finish is totally unacceptable.On my 991 the front bumper had been resprayed prior to delivery and I didn't spot anything when getting the car from the OPC but my detailer quickly spotted it. It was a different shade of aqua blue and the finish was poor, kind of porous.
I noticed it every time in bright sunlight but not in normal UK conditions :-) so I learned to cope with it.
So we should just accept multi colour panels? - certainly not the reason I gave up my hard earned i'm afraid. Why any car comes out of the factory in anything less than one colour these days especially a Porsche beats me, how hard can it be? I have to say my last 2 991s were perfect paint wise, I dont see why I should settle for anything less on the Boxster.
Edited by Agent51 on Saturday 2nd August 20:11
Pickled Piper said:
I may be out of date but usually the plastic body parts come into the factory precoloured, directly from the supplier. They go through a different process than the metal panels. it's not unusual for there to be a slight mismatch, rather like bumpers. i think you may find they are all like that. Yours does look particularly poor.
You are probably correct that the panels are bought in to the factory ready coloured. Porsche GB confirmed this to me on the phone before they inspected the car. I was told by the person from the OPC approved bodyshop the panels are sprayed in the factory and from the same vat of paint as the car, but looking at the colour difference I would guess the panels are sprayed elsewhere to a colour code and simply taken from a box and fitted straight to the car in the expectation it will be close enough. I agree there is sometimes a slight variation in plastics but on my car it is well out and it is darker and bluer than the body colour. Funny how anyone connected to Porsche can't see it though 
m33ufo said:
What's your preferred outcome?
Do you actually want the panels repainted?
I think ideally I would like Porsche to replace the car with a similar spec all in one colour, but they are not interested in even acknowledging there may be a problem. Reading the letter from Porsche GB they have left no room for any doubt. They have stated there is no colour or shade difference which as you can see is untrue so their position it is a clear f off.Do you actually want the panels repainted?
If the issue is variance how far is that tolerance allowed to vary? In my opinion if it is readily noticeable as mine is then it cannot be of satisfactory quality. I ordered a car in Agate grey, there was no mention of likely colour variations or differing shades on the order form. I have not seen any other Boxster 981 panels as far out as my car is.
I would have reluctantly accepted having the panels repainted just so the car did not look like it has been poorly repaired, but as the Approved Porsche Body shop cannot see a shade or colour difference I would have no confidence in them wanting to improve on it.
The first body shop I went to in the very beginning with the car immediately identified the problem and were confident they could match in the colour perfectly to the rest of the car but unfortunately have just lost their Porsche approval due to reorganisation of the network by Porsche so there would be warranty issues if I went to them.
I really love the car, it is a fantastic concept, a great fun car and thoroughly enjoyable to drive but the paint work is such a let down and has no place on a brand new car. It is thoroughly ridiculous to contemplate accepting it as is, or (learning to live with it just because it's Porsche) completely defeats the object of buying a new car of so-called quality.
As far as Porsche are concerned I am lost for words. The attitude of the dealer and Porsche GB is woeful. They have failed in every aspect of customer care and I would not want to go through the hassle again so I think a refund is the only way now and kiss the brand goodbye.
The Moose said:
take a trip up to see these guys and see what they have to say.
Thank you for this. I contacted them today the guy was very helpful and said there no way to measure the difference in colour it has to be done by eye. The spectrometer they have is only used a guide for mixing but would not differentiate colour from a datum? Many thanks for the link though much appreciated. Thanks for all the suggestions and info. I have been looking at the other options for quantifying the mismatch into figures and I would need one of these http://www.xrite.com/ma68ii-portable-spectrophotom... similar to the pantone one but an automotive variant that does metallic paint. I am trying to locate a body shop with something like this but as it costs thousands apparently and quite an investment, not everyone has one. It would also need to download the info to the computer to produce a data sheet. The paint thickness on the car has not been measured as the OPC was adamant there has been no transit damage and as it is the same on each side of the car and bearing in mind it was brand new there seemed little point. Depending on whether or not they accept rejection based on the reports, the spectro and paint measurement will be the next step. Now the dealer has been informed of my rejection I cannot use the car. As said the customer service response so far has been dreadful, let's see what they come back with. I will update.
Edited by Agent51 on Monday 4th August 17:14
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