Spraying a small area to match Lexus pearl

[Dorian]

Hi All,

I just purchased a 2000 Lexus ES300 Diamond White Pearl one owner, always garaged, 63k miles fully loaded. The only flaw is that the elderly lady accidentally let the garage door close on the back bumper once which caused spider lines in the pearl white bumper. The "cracks" seem to mostly be in the clear coat as they don't really have a hand feel. About 3"x3" spot.

I am looking at a few options

1-have a body shop repair this - I don't know how good of a job they will do matching the paint, makes me nervous. Also very expensive.

2-buy a 3 coat system from a place like paint scratch.com and blend it along the bumper.

3-Try to lightly sand the clear coat and re-spray to try and fill in the cracks.

I am most concerned about getting a good "match" what do you think the best option is?

[zmcgovern45]

I have been told that it is always best to spray an entire panel when at all possible.

Also, being very active member of the Lexus community, I know people always complain about the lighter pearl colors because they are very tricky to match... if you have a body shop that you have used previously and you trust, I would say that is your best bet. Hopefully you got the car priced accordingly for the upcoming repair costs.

[VAS]

This is a VERY delicate subject seeing as it is PEARL WHITE.

This color will almost NEVER match when resprayed. You need a very serious specialist to get it right. A quick touch up might be a better option than having the entire bumper be a complete shade off. It can also turn out blotchy, and there are a TON of things that effect this outcome. You can be good at painting pearls and still not get a perfect match on color. The objective is to come as close as possible so the untrained eye can't make the distinction.

[ken tuep]

Depending on the size of the damage, a good painter should be able to match and blend within the panel.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online

[Belair]

Many Lexus dealers refer body work to an outside shop. I'd contact the service or parts dept. to see who they'd recommend. That's what I did & they blended the paint on the bumper cover well.

[NewNickel]

It's a tough call. Even going with option #1, you may not be happy with the outcome. It's probably 3 stage paint and as VAS mentioned it's hard to match.

You wouldn't think that there'd be some much trouble with white, but it drives painters nuts because there are so many possible shades/tints and your eye will easily pick out any difference. Sometimes they'll look good inside and crappy in the sun, or vice versa. Throw in the extra steps for pearl and you've got the makings of a disaster.

I'd talk to the shop about it and see what they can do with sanding and maybe shooting some clear.

[VAS]

It's a tough call. Even going with option #1, you may not be happy with the outcome. It's probably 3 stage paint and as VAS mentioned it's hard to match.

You wouldn't think that there'd be some much trouble with white, but it drives painters nuts because there are so many possible shades/tints and your eye will easily pick out any difference. Sometimes they'll look good inside and crappy in the sun, or vice versa. Throw in the extra steps for pearl and you've got the makings of a disaster.

I'd talk to the shop about it and see what they can do with sanding and maybe shooting some clear.

Exactly. I've seen pearl white where it didn't match at all, I've also seen it where it matched perfect at one angle and then it was a COMPLETELY different color from another. I've never seen it done perfectly. If you want it to match the whole car will need to be resprayed by someone that cares.

The thought of a pearl white paint job walking through the door is the stuff that keeps painters up at night.

[Dorian]

I appreciate all the replies. I think the best option is attempt to repair the area (or just make it less visible). If I end up getting it professionally repaired I am in the same boat either way. I think what I am going to try to do it lightly sand the clear coat to reduce the depth of the cracks, clean it well and spray a little clear over the area. The main reason you can even see the cracks is because there is dirt in the crevice the appearance is significantly reduced just by cleaning the area so I figures if I can clean the cracks and keep the dirt out with a coat of clear it will suffice. I will post pics of how it turns out.

[oldmodman]

I had a neighbor with a pearl white Audi. It had a ton of pearl in the paint and was the best pearl paint job I have ever seen.

After getting hit in a parking lot he had a first rate body shop do the repair. It didn't match perfectly, but it wasn't an obvious repair either. The paint was blended into all the body panels on that side of the car and then the entire side was cleared. It was almost impossible to see where the original left off and the repair started.
It also cost right around four thousand dollars and took three weeks.

[rmagnus]

For spider cracks affecting a 3X3" area I would not attempt to repair it at all. First off its the rear bumper which is less noticable and any repair other than a full respray with that color isn't going to look right. Full respray will be min $500 and most likely around $800-$1000. Not worth it in my opinion. Any spot work you do will most likely just make it more noticeable. Not the advice you were looking for but with daily drivers you just have to learn to live with compromise sometimes.