Hi all - my 05 Whitewater Pearl GT was rear-ended almost a month ago. The repairs are pretty much complete, but I'm not happy with the current color of the bumper that was replaced compared with the rest of the car. I've spoken with the body shop who told me the paint on the car is a three stage paint (basically the white, the metallic, and the pearl) and that any minor variations in the way it's applied could cause the hue difference I'm seeing. Basically, the rest of the car has a warm gold tinge to the color while this seems very blue tinged (a la white-out.)

The option he told me is they can take out the rear glass and blend the bumper in with the quarter panels more, but that it may not help much at all considering the plastic bumper being of a different material than the metal body.

I was also told that you can't order a bumper directly from the factory painted - they only come unpainted.

My questions are as follows:

- Can I expect this paint to look exactly like the paint that's on the car?
- Is the comment about the bumper true even though there's a part number on the website for a WWP bumper cover?
- Has anyone with a WWP (preferably who's been rear-ended) had theirs fixed?

I just want my car back to how it was before that idiot slammed into me....

Thanks

 

you have a horrible body shop and he is only telling half truths...he did a half assed job and is sticking it on you....yes its a 3 stage paint which is tough to make perfect but the proper body guy will not let you down....he should have never released the car to you if he didnt think it was 100% match.....as for the paint matching on plastic and metal with the catalyst applied properly it should make no difference as long as its primed.....you also can get pre-painted parts but they are mazdaspeed and will have a cost differential....if you were closer i would introduce you to my guy who is awesome but unfortunately you got taken

 

That's what it's starting to feel like. I haven't gotten taken yet - the car is still there - we didn't accept delivery. Thanks for the info...