So I've got a Mazdaspeed front bumper going on my car, and my body shop tells me that it came in significantly lighter in color then the rest of the car. Is this normal? I was having insurance work done to it, and I planned on buying the side skirts and rear and installing myself. The guy wants to fade the front feners and hood into the color of the front bumper. But I don't know if I like that idea because I don't know what color the sides and rear are going to come in at. What do you guys think?

 

What color is your car? Mine is Silver and they came in fine, but my bud has a red one and had a body shop replace his broken sideskirts and the paint is a lot lighter.

 

yea I'm velocity red too. I'm just not sure I want him to fade the whole front if the side and rear are going to come in lighter too.

 

my winning blue is fine.. i might wanna call mazda and ask.

 

If you call mazda, post your findings as I'm sure many people would be interested.

 

Well I called Mazda and talked to Chris in the Mazdaspeed department. He said that he doesn't often hear people call in about paint matching issues. I told him that I understand that the difference in materials is going to yield a little bit different shade. I also said that from talking to people online it sounds like its just a Velocity Red problem. I haven't seen it personally, but my body shop guy said I wouldn't be happy with how much lighter it is. Chris said that it could be other various factors, like getting low on paint in the gun. He said that he would note it and have quality investigate it.

When I first asked he thought I was talking about whitewater pearl. I'm not sure if he just misunderstood me or if there is a problem with whitewater pearl matching too. But just a heads up for everyone

I'm just gonna have my guy fade it and hopefully the sides and rear don't come in that bad otherwise I'll have to get primer ones and paint them myself.

 

Is insurance company paying for the repair? If it is, then have them repaint the fb. If the fb is a lot lighter like the body shop says, u might not want to fade to match the fb. Instead have them color match the fb to the rest of the car.

 

do you have that phone # for the mazdaspeed dept. my kit was missing a bracket and that # would be most helpful.

beers

 

Yea that's what the guy is doing, color matching the fb to the car. It's just a shame, to buy a pre-painted bumper. The guy said it was flawless too. Oh well


I called the Customer Assitance Center
1-800-222-5500
Listen for the options, I think it's like 5

 

that's just not like mazda to have the paint not match especially since its from the factory

post pics if you get a chance

 

get the front bar re-painted to match the rest of the car.
not all factory painted items will match your car... especially if your car is a few years old.