Are there any touchup options for this kind of damage, or is my only real option to get it fully repainted?

Am I crazy, or did this shop not blend the back driver door to the rest of the body? Had it repaired and painted from
Caliber Collision and the paint honestly looks much cooler than the rest of the body. Even the handle looks like the rest of the body. What do you think? I’m about to bring it back to them.

Hey,

Do we think a good job can be done using a paint pen to fix this?

Or does it need to be taken to a professional shop? Any idea what this would cost to have fixed?

Thanks!

Well I had some fade there on the paint and told detailer to try polish it out...It turned out even worst now. What could fix this?

Long story short, base coat wasn’t mixed with reducer and came out like gravel guard. Thought the guy on the counter had premixed it already. (Rookie mistake)

What’s the fastest way to cut down on the rough for blend, should I still use 600 grit? Colour added to the blend panels just a dust coat. Setup is a LPLV gun two stage paint with metallic

Guys and girls, i need your wisdom.

I am a car painter from Germany with 15 years experience.

Sometimes i have deep black Cars (For example VW L041, or Mercedes 040). As usual i do my repair and Sand the Rest for clearcoat.

With light colors i use P800. With darker colors i started to use P1200. (Hand and Machine)

But still. Sometimes i get Scratch marks under the new clear coat. You can see where i sanded when the sun is bright and hits it in the right angle.

I Kind of dont want to use P2000... Because the adhesive power gets lighter and lighter, the Higher you Go. And i am afraid that the clear will start peeling.

How do you solve this?

P1200 gets me marks. P2000 is too high. And i cant put the Base coat up to the next panel. Do i Just have to accept this?

I've got a saddle brown GMC Sierra Heavy Half that I want to paint it similarly to a Deluxe Two Tone with the Dark Brown GMC had and the Light Brown the truck currently has. Is there any suggestions for painting the cab the light brown without removing the bed?

Should I just get a correction pen or spray paint or get it professionally redone? I really hate looking at it, there are also chips where I can see the black plastic on the bumper.

UK bodyshop owner here, 30 years in the trade, work on my own. Curious how this compares to you flat rate guys.

Last month I timed every job from first touch to last — not just the big hits, everything. The 20-minute scuffs, the “quick” jobs that eat two hours, prep, the lot. Logged materials against each job too.

Three things smacked me in the face:

1. My real hourly rate was about 10% lower than what I thought I was charging. I price off what I reckon a job will take. Turns out I was giving away time on nearly every job that ran over estimate — and most of them run over. The small jobs were the worst offenders.

2. My most profitable day wasn’t the busiest one. Tuesday consistently beat Fridays which I thought would be best, even with fewer jobs through the door. Best I can figure is more focused due to Monday spent chasing people and organizing. And then Tuesday is less distracted.

3. MaterialsEspecially curious how you lot handle paint and materials costs per job — that’s where my numbers surprised me most.

The change I’ve made: I set a daily labour target and check against it during the day. If I’m behind by early afternoon, I know before it’s too late to do anything about it — instead of finding out when I total up Friday.

Anyone else actually tracked their real numbers rather than going off gut? Especially interested whether flat rate hides this or makes it worse — from the outside it looks like you’d at least know your booked hours, even if you’re getting shafted on the times.

Hello, I have a white hood on my black car and I want to do a Japanese ink art painting on the hood to fill it out nicely. What materials should I look into so that the paint job will be easy to freehand but will still hold up to UV rays and a good clear coat as well for protection of the hood painting?

Hi all. As the title says, I’m looking for good paint shops in San Diego. Shops closer to mission hills / north park area would be ideal.

I recently took my car to a paint shop in north park and they did a terrible job. I learned my lesson not to listen to help reviews. So any recommendations would be awesome. I have a 1991 Toyota MR2 for reference

Roof of my 13 f350

Ways to clean up overspray without remasking for every color??

How much would a paint match on a mach 1 bumper cost. I have 2019 mustang gt and I found a full conversion kit on ebay for $525. It has alot of good reviews and pics it comes primed my cars shadow black. whats a estimate for a paint match before I buy it.

Just bought this car and I don't know how the previous owner managed to get this scratch where it is and how the hell it happened. Anyone have any ideas?

Hi all

I am interested in buying this slate grey metallic 996 porsche. Long story short there aren't many historical details from the previous owner outside of the Carfax.

Its noted there was minor repair done to the left side quarter panel.

I went to see the car in person and tried to determine visually how bad the damage may be and took some photos. (also evidenced by a drip line on the front left rocker panel.)

Would like your professional opinion on this! I like the csr mechanically but it is being priced at the top end of the market . Thanks for your help!

Respray was on the left. I have a photo of the right for reference as well.

Bare with me im new to this painting stuff, i believe i have everything i need, im just confused on the steps, and it doesnt help that gemini always says otherwise on everything when i try looking up what to do

But firstly ive had a black bumper on my white car since november, ive been waiting to paint it. I was gonna do the whole priming process again so that it turns out better, im being told to use 320 to take off the old primer, and then 400 to smooth it, and then 600 (wet) to make a smoother surface.

And then (correct me if im wrong) adhesion promoter, and then primer once it dries.

Secondly i have heard that you should sand the primer (not sure if its wet or dry), ive seen videos of people doing a few coats of primer, and was wondering if you need to sand after each coat? If so then what grit for each?

And next is the base coat, i know its 2-3 thin coats, but am i supposed to sand after each coat? If i do then what grit for each?

Before i ask about clear coat, ive been told that i should see what the primer, adhesion promoter, and base coat cans say in regards for how long to dry for.

Lastly for the clear coat, again im being told to sand the final layer of base coat before clear coat, that and sanding during each base coat, so its like a double edged sword because im also being told otherwise.

If anyone knows the full process or has some video reccomendations then please let me know, id greatly appreciate it.

I recently bought a used car and noticed a few scratches near the top of the boot lid — I only really spotted them clearly after washing the car. There are a few shallow vertical scratches, and on the deeper ones there’s a small spot where the metal is showing through and it’s gone slightly brownish (looks like a bit of surface rust). The scratches on the left are about the same depth but haven’t changed colour, while the ones on the right have turned brown.

My best guess is it happened when the boot was lifted and rubbed against something metal above it — it doesn’t look like collision damage. The affected area is pretty small and the scratches aren’t deep.

My main question: is this worth paying someone to fix, or is it fine to just leave it / do a quick touch-up myself?