SQUILL

Wow sounds like us L.A. people may be subsidizing those nissan paint repairs LOL. quick question for you....I just ordered a body kit w full front and rear bumper replacements ....sounds like L.A. paint is easy to make....this is for sure the fact??? Should any body shop be able to make this paint or have easy access to it??

If they want to charge extra for L.A. paint vs any other nissan paint do you think its just a rip off?

6SpeedZ

Yes any shop should be able to get it and should be easy to match. A reputable shop will know how to blend and make anything match anyways. I doubt a bodyshop will know that Nissan charges more for that color so you should be able to get out pretty cheap. Like I said it's more of a limited production thing.

jam350

Save yourself the money. At the rate I'm collecting dings and scratches, my super black's getting rarer all the time.

SQUILL

yea tell me about it my first chip .....87 miles !!! Oh well at least the body shop will lay the paint on thicker than the 2 microns nissan does!

dchengmd

OWNED!

FairladyZ

where does the BY fall as far as price to make?

mcduck

Thanks for perfectly proving what I stated earlier, newbie...

Keep your ignorant butt in the paint shop mixing paints because you obviously are clueless... either that or the paint fumes have gotten to your brain. Your very response verifies what I was saying...

On the subject of Daytona Blue aka B17, someone has indeed pulled the wool over your eyes. That was quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Taking 3 steps to create that color? Come to Knoxville and I'll save you a sh!tload of money because I can make it in one little can.
That's funny... I didn't realize Nissan Corp. bought paint from your little rinky-dink paint shop. I did mention how Daytona Blue is applied in layers at the factory (remember we are talking factory application, not a corner body shop mixing one paint in a noble attempt to emulate the factory color). Way back when you still didn't know what a 350Z was, some connected to Nissan posted pics on this site of Daytona Blue going on the car and it was as I described.... I remember the pics clearly because the "green" layer through me for a loop. I would never have pictured that as necessary for the DB finish, but there it was.

6SpeedZ stated... "...thus not a harder to spray bigger flake."
This very statement corroborates my initial post. The size of the flake does matter when spraying. And a larger metal flake necessitates different equipment (spray nozels), different application procedure (to ensure no runs which are more apt to happen with heavier metal flake content or size), and so on. Your (poor) argument looks at things strictly from a "mixing the paint" perspective. Well, you may not have check lately Jr., but painting a car requires mixing the paint AND applying the paint to the car. Both components contribute to the cost and, typically, the actual application of the paint is the bigger component of the total cost.

6SpeedZ stated... "Liquid Aluminum is cheaper for me to make than any other color offered on the 350Z!!"
Way to contradict yourself, ***. At no point did I say Liquid Aluminum was the most expensive of the colors or even an expensive color. The only colors I mentioned specifically were Daytona Blue (in reference to the paint being applied at the factory), Liquid Aluminum and Brickyard. For the latter two I simply stated LA was not an adequate replacement for BY. I did give a general statement saying that different colors cost differing amounts. Thanks for confirming that with your statement above. By saying LA is cheaper for you to make than any other color, you are verifying my point that there are price differences between colors.

6SpeedZ stated... "If anything PPW (QX1) is the most expensive to make and spray because it is the only tri-coat offered. Meaning you apply a solid white base with a silver (yes, silver) pearl over it in a mid-coat, then clear."
So again you're saying it costs differing amounts of money to mix different colors... one of my original points. You go on to say that this particular color requires a base coat, and a pearl, then a clearcoat. Three applications to achieve the same color as factory where some colors may only take two (base coat & clear). Again, one of my original points. Thanks again for illustrating in example what I originally stated... that there is a reason different colors may cost differing amounts.

6SpeedZ stated... "Cars and car paint are my life and I am very passionate about what I do."
You might want to pursue a new calling then... you have a very closed-minded view about your current profession and are obviously very unqualified to advise others on the topic. Or maybe you should just post the name of your store here so we can all avoid it in the future. I'd hate for someone to be disappointed when they come to you and find out that they cannot get all the colors to do a show-quality Candy Apple Red paint job for the same price as a bland silver factory color.

mcduck

FairladyZ... I can't tell you exactly, but it is pretty expensive relative to the other colors. When we added my Nismo body kit, the paint shop told me that the AX8 paint code called for 6 different colors (color, pearl, whatever) to mix Brickyard. Most of the components were of average cost, but one of the colors (can't remember if is was a metal flake or pearl) cost $104 / quart!

With all that, it still didn't match exactly the first go around so we pulled in the PPG regional rep. Some adjustments were made to the original formula to get it to be a perfect match for the Brickyard. (Yep... anyone who is getting paint done to match their Brickyard and using PPG paints can thank me for being the guinea pig on getting an exact paint match! )

I have no doubt that the low initial demand and relatively high cost of the Brickyard color both contributed to it being discontinued.

6SpeedZ

My point was that LA cost more because it's a limited production which, if they would have thought about it, they could have done with BY. Oh and thanks for the props, we here at PPG love a happy customer. But you got DICKED on that price

jers09

When I bought mine I thought I wanted LA, but since it didnt come on the base model I was SOL. Funny thing is when I found my Silver base Z on the lot there was a LA right next to it and it took my wife reading the color to me to notice a difference. The looked nearly identical on a sunny spring afternoon.

Reese

Reds are just expensive in general, i don't think it had anything to do with it being discontinued. Every other car manufacturer is still making reds. I think Nissan intended to have a different color each year in the beginning. Its the price of the pigment that makes paint expensive and also the fact that almost all the pigments are owned by dupont and they pretty much set the price for the market. Probably the only reason it didn't match the first time is because it was PPG, and yes i have 10 years of paint rep experience and i have seen every manufacturer compared side by side and PPG and Sherwin Williams are two of the worst at initial color matching. I have seen PPG nail a few colors when other paint companies couldn't but i mean very very few times. Of course all it takes is hiring some good people in the color documentation dept. to get back up to speed so maybe PPG has done that lately. Not trying to bash any certain paints cause most of them are just as durable as the next and everyone offers a lifetime warranty anway.