I went to a body shop today to get an estimate for painting a new bumper and was given an estimate of $250 to paint the bumper, I was surprised at the price and I asked why it was so expensive. The guy said that my paint has pearl in it and pearl paints require a 3-step painting proccess thats more labor intensive and costs more than a regular paint job. I never knew that taffeta was a pearl paint, I actually do not think it is a pearl coat and maybe hes trying to rip me off.

Im gonna head over to my local stealership to try and confirm this but I figured id try and ask here first.

-Mark

 

no, Taffeta White is not a pearl coat. maybe he's thinking of White Diamond Pearl?

 

Maybe your car is WDP?

 

^^ No my car isnt WDP, I know for a fact that its Taffeta White. They didnt even make CL's in WDP

-Mark

 

Yeah...sounds like the shop doesn't know what they are talking about...

 

^^ Actually they do pretty good work. One of my friends used to take his car there and he said they paint match pretty damn good.

The guys words were "theres a little bit of pearl in the paint"

So could it be possible for it to indeed have a very small amount of pearl? I mean ive seen WDP and you can see the pearl in that, and when i detail my car really good and look close enough it looks like the tiniest amount of pearl. Like it just has a sparkle to it that reminds me of pearl coats. Idk... maybe im just crazy lol

-Mark

 

Well, I didn't think there was, so I'd call a dealer's body shop and just ask them if it does.

Ruf

 

It doesn't. The body shop is trying to nickel and dime you.

 

Those bastards . I'll head over there tomorrow and get another quote for just a regular paint job. Im guessing its gonna be about $150 (which is what I expected from the beginning) if he wanted $250 for pearl

-Mark

 

There is no pearl at all. I've had both taffeta white and white diamond pearl cars.

 

FYI Pearl Coats add visual depth and are three coats. First coat is a base coat color usually white or close to it, then a mid coat that is translucent and holds the sparkle producing spheres. These spheres bounce light all over the place and can be made up of several different colors. Often on sunny days you will see greens, blues, reds, gold and so on. Then the third coat is the clear coat to protect what's underneath and add gloss. The base white coat reflects light back up thru the mid coat too.

 

Wow, thats some good info. Yeah, the guy told me its a 3coat proccess and thats why its more expensive. I just hope they can match the paint of a 7year old car, according to him when he mixes the paint he puts in how old the car is and the condition of the paint and it will adjust the color to match as close as possible

-Mark

 

the computer will only get the color so close. this is where SKILL comes in to play. if you have a good painter he/she will be able to nail the color; be it shade, sunlight, or under the lights.

 

^^ Yeah, i know but the only place I know around here that has an amazing painter is this place called ProLine. Their painter can color match so good, last year my friend had them paint his bumper and fender and they 100% nailed it. It actually looked better than factory, but they are very expensive and I dont care that much to pay that much for a bumper. Its not a show car

-Mark

 

Most flake type paints are three step. First the base color, then the flake suspended in a pigmented or clear paint, then a clear coat.
I paid $1300 to get my hood and fenders repainted. It takes a lot of prep to do it right, too. The paint is over $100/gallon. (You don't even need a quart of each for your bumper)
Labor is the big cost. $250 is not unreasonable. I wouldn't get my paint guns out for a job that paid that little. It takes almost an hour for me to clean a gun completely. Big shops probably don't do it as well because they can write off the cost of a gun after a few jobs..

 

absolutely not a pearl ---

but what was said is true, if you can find a good painter who can match colors well... keep his number...