New bumper paint doesn't quite match the rest of the car.
 

I have an 03 350z with around 47k miles on it, so I'm guessing the orange le mans paint has faded somewhat. I had to get a new bumper, and paid about $1.1k at this shop, that was reccomended to me for all of the work. The bumper is slightly brighter than the rest of the car. I think it's pretty noticable. Anything I can do to get it to better match the rest of the car? I'll post a pic when I get home. Every time I look at the car, I notice how it doesn't match :( I don't like it at all.

Update: Pics in post #7.

i mean you can take it back and complain about how they screwed up since it doesn't match and see if they'll redo it. pics would help tho when you get a chance.

At this point getting outsiders opinions is a must. Whens its your car youll usually notice the little things more so then others. It might not really be all that bad. I shall await pics for further comments.

If you want perfect, paint the entire car. No shop I know of guarantees perfection. God is perfect.

did they have your car at the shop as a base of reference while they painted it? it's a tough color to match right. they can make it lighter or darker based upon how the rest of the car looks. I wouldn't settle for a mismatch job at that cost.

+1 on posting pictures so the rest of us have an idea of how different it is. you can't expect perfect, but it shouldn't be *too* off either.

maybe the rest of the car needs a nice clay bar, polish, wax, sealant job?

Here's the pics. Note: The bumper has not been waxed or polished or anything yet. The rest of the car got 2 coats of wax a month or so ago, and I usually use the spray quick detailer on it each time I wash it. Haven't done a thing to the bumper yet.

https://i28.tinypic.com/1zpi0d5.jpg

https://i28.tinypic.com/rac4dc.jpg

https://i25.tinypic.com/29gbo8j.jpg

I think they matched it fairly well. you being the owner will notice the slight difference, others probably will not. I was expecting worse.

my spoiler is ever so slightly darker and I am the only one that notices it.

The bumper does look brighter in the pictures. If they had the car when they painted the bumper they should have been able to match the color better. When I had my new Nismo side skirts painted recently the shop wanted one of my splash guards to help match the paint. My car is an 03 and is Daytona Blue. The color match was perfect.

I would take it back to the shop and see if they can repaint it. Did they have the car or a splash guard to match the color? Regardless it's the shop's fault it doesn't match.

yeah i can kinda see a difference too

i have this same problem. my front bumper doesnt quite match the rest of the car sigh

the shop i went to asked if I wanted to blend

That sucks.. I just had the same issue with my front bumper. It was badly cracked tho :p they fixed it nicely but did not match the paint. I paid 400 bucks for the full labor and received 100 back cause the paint didn't match. It really bugs me but I guess it'll get repainted in the future or even change it. Rock chips and sh**TT...

In your case, I'd say try to get it repainted if you are not happy with the job. Either pushed them to repainted, the soonest you act the best. Or, either ask for some money back:p.

The tones are different but not really bad. In my personal experience I found that it is hard to match paint at an 100% accuracy. Also consider if you get it repainted it might happen again.:dunno:

it doesn't help (us) that the sun is shining on the rear end in the picture, where the rest of the car is garaged..

hard to judge accurately.

it's a 2003 car, so all the sun exposure through the years has changed your original color a bit, that's the reason for the mismatch most likely.

i think they matched it fairly well for a 2003 paint job, if you want flawless matches you have to go to a shop that scans your body color with a laser taking up the color information and then a machine mixes the colors for a perfect match. But those are high end shops that do exotics most of the time and could get expensive.

it looks fine..you have to know they painted it to even notice it you know..

how expensive? Also yes they had the car for reference

It looks fine.

Keep in mind the same EXACT paint colors will look different on plastic then on metal. I believe it's a cause of the flex-additive thats added to the bumper paint but not to the metal's paint. Also, i believe metal and plastic are prepped differently and simply paint just appears different shades on each of them.

only way to make it not noticeable is for the shop to blend the paint up on the other panels!

I don't think I would ever notice if you didn't tell me it was painted.

It looks fine.... better match then mine.

painted plastics most often have a slight color difference. ever notice your gas cover or mirrors? mine looked a little off since brand new