EVOLICARUS

as said before in many threads Color mis-match on bumpers is really annoying

I've just learned to Deal with it. But on a overcast day looking back at my car after a good wash and wax, seeing the rear bumper mis-match makes me sad.

csmeance

throw an aspec kit on it, makes it all better since more of the bumper now matches

RonJonTL757

its the facts of life my friend

wall e

yea it makes me sad too. i have color matching splash guards and u can def. see the difference. its like the body and the splash guards are WDP and the bumper is like bootleg WDP. its normal though, ive seen honda's and audi's with the bumper problem too.

i guess id rather have a mismatched plastic bumper than a metal bumper that is prone to dents.

powerflow

You can always go to a high end bodyshop. They should be able to paint match the bumper with acceptable results. It's never going to be 100% perfect if you have the eye for color, but it will be a hell of a lot better than OEM form. WDP is consistently the worst, but a few other TL colors are like this too.

EVOLICARUS

there are alot of variables with doing this though. I have a CURSE or i'm OCD on perfection with my car. I do have a KEEN eye for color and dings

1. do i take off the bumpers and have them just paint the bumpers (save on labor and overspray). but compromise on a possible mis-match still due to not blending into the panels.
2. take off bumpers and leave on a-spec kit so they paint everything
3. just take the whole car in and have them paint the kit and bumpers and HOPE for no overspray on the rest of the car and wheels.

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

I would rather have a WDP car with a slight mismatch then a black car ANYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rob RiL

iTrader: (5)

I just bought my TL, WDP. One of the first things a friend said was did I check CarFax for a front end collision. I asked why and he pointed out the mismatched front bumper. I think I checked the CarFax report and it was a one owner, no accidents.

So, my question is, (forgive me for lack of searching) is the front bumper supposed to not perfectly color match the rest of the car?

I don't really see the mismatch with the rear bumper. The side skirts and mirrors even match pretty well.

erick3

great...i'll be picking up a silver tl-s soon is this more pronounced for the 04-06 generations?

EVOLICARUS

every OEM wdp has mis-matched paint. some of the WDP owners have had their bumpers repainted to match better.. On my WDP the rear bumper is WAY off, the front bumper is close to match. We shouldn't accept the reality of bad honda paint, Its a fact and is down right disappointing that a 35k car brand new has crap paint.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I've posted this before, but a couple of years ago a fellow scratched the right fender and bumper cover on our WDP. Best thing that could have happened, as his insurance paid to have the shop paint and blend the fenders and cover at the shop of my choice. The final result was a perfect match. The original rear cover shade is off slightly, but it was the front that was so noticeably different. Thought about having the rear done at the same time, but I felt that the out of pocket cost was just too high to justify the work.

LoveMyTL-S

Was washing my WDP yesterday and still finding the mismatched rear bumper annoying.........oh well.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

my kbp is the same way....i cant remember ever having a car with plastic bumpers that did match....you just have to know how to look for it...

powerflow

Yeah I agree, there are variables. Worst case, you could even come across a moron service writer that says they can paint match, but their painters suck and fuck up the color match. I highly doubt that would happen at a high end shop though. Using a reputable high end shop that has highly skilled painters, and does a lot of Acuras will be very familiar with this WDP color. As long as you work with them and communicate well, should be no problem. They should allow you to drop off the bumper/parts to be painted, to save labor. A good shop is going to pop the bumper off anyway. If this car is a daily driver, I would worry about it being perfect like it's a show car or something. Having the front fenders color blended is an option, but that's going to cost a bit more. IMO not worth it, if the shop can perform an acceptable paint match without blending. It's really up to you. The OEM mismatch is so bad on WDP, refinishing does make a big difference.

Red Voodoo

I never noticed the problem until I read it in these forums. lol... thanks!

6spdtl-s

iTrader: (1)

lol yea i just looked at your new thread in the pics section and noticed how much your aspec differs from the stock wdp. car still looks good tho! My ssm has no matching issues that I have noticed.

Red Voodoo

It really depends on which way the light hits it. It does look like shit at certain angles, but I can live with it. I'm not convinced that it's the paint that is the problem, but maybe Honda should have added a couple extra layers to help with the issue. Oh well... If I still have the car in 10 years, and it needs a paint job, then I'll see to it that this is fixed.

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

The reason is the bumpers are plastic and the car is metal.

TRIOD3SIGNS

IM DOING # 2 THIS WEEK ! LOL
wait.... WHAT! no I'm not in the bathroom.

I removed my bumper to add an aspec & have to repaint it cuz it was a used WDP ASPEC & my car is SSM... So might as well do them both!

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

You will see the difference on the Type-S also. From certain angles, the color matches, from others......not so much. I also had my rear bumper replaced after somebody took a corner too sharp in a parking garage (my car was parked) and even the freshly painted bumper has the same issues with matching the rest of the car.

From what I was told, there's an additive that's required to give the paint some flexibility for being applied to plastic (i.e., bumper) that causes the slight difference in the paint.

Trew

iTrader: (1)

I had an opportunity to see many 3G TLs at the recent mega meet. I noticed that all colors except NBP showed a slight difference in color between the body and the bumpers - Even RRP and KBP.

If you take the whole car in and show them the color difference, they can mix the paint a little different to compensate for the difference in color. As far as overspray, I would ask them to remove the bumpers and paint them off the car. It may cost a little extra, but you will be sure there is no overspray.

myron

iTrader: (4)

my ssm is mismatched too but it doesnt bother me at all. It can only be seen in certain light.

Tripnbeats

yea it bothered me so much i had it all resprayed to match...finally it matches. we're not the only ones though i noticed a lot of cars this weekend (silver white blue and some reds) bumpers not matching like mazda ford vw saab acura (duhh) a few s class benz' it seems to be more common than we think

powerflow

On RRP, take a look at the mirrors and door handles in good lighting. It's very common those 2 parts are way off color, tend to be more orange than the body if it's the OEM finish.

Besides choosing the right color variant, and tint adjustment, they can also do a let down test panel. They spray multiple test cards with different amounts of the pearl top base coat to analyze. Most often on WDP, it's 2 med-light coats of the pearl.

Most high end shops doing a lot of Acura's were probably doing this in 99-00 when this color first came around, probably again in 04-05 when the wave of 3G TL's came about with really bad mismatches. Generally when you find a color variant or method that works well, its used again and again.

Jesstzn

No .. I think the reason is is because the car and the bumpers are painted in 2 different places and the paint isn't out of the same batch .

I detail a 100 or so cars a year and the Honda line is the worst ... most other brands match.

Best is the VW/Audi line for matching ..

If the plastic theory was right then the body shops would end up with a mismatch too on a full repaint. And they don't.

Will Y.

x 2. It's not as obvious on the SSM TLs compared to the WDP TLs I've seen.

Tripnbeats

no itreally is because of the diff materials and the way they cure on the materials. different reactions and curing process....my guy painted everything in one shot and the colors still came out mismatched it went in again a second time because i was unhappy and he sat there in a controlled environment (paintbooth) and matched it up the best he could have. after everything was mixed and ready to be sprayed before the catalyst was added he did a secondary color match to make sure everything in there didnt distort the color he said it didnt but who really knows the 2nd time around it all came out correct

powerflow

The dissimilar material reasoning is only true to a certain degree but non the less still true, and most often, can only slightly throw off the color flop on certain types of colors. This pertains mainly to heavy metallics where the flake sits different after the porous substrate effects the paint, as it begins to flash and cure. Also the bumper does not have a flush, even profile with the fender edge, unlike a door to door, or door to QP edge. Heavy metallics flop at different angles, so the bumper may flop one way, and the fender/QP edge the other way, resulting in a mismatch appearance when actually the color match is acceptable. That's why panel blending is standard when refinishing a door to door, door to QP, and not standard bumper to fender, rear bumper to QP. Also this is why it's important to color match heavy metallics like SSM dead nuts, to make this effect not so much of a problem. Realistically, the characteristic of heavy metallics to flop at different angles needs to be taken into consideration. This can very well add to color problems, if the color isn't matched dead nuts.

The WDP issue is clearly a color mismatch, dissimilar materials will not distort a color to that degree. It's a manufacturing error on Honda's part. If they wanted top put the effort into properly matching the parts, they could.

TLinTN

I'm completely new to Acura and the TL and I drove 8 hours last Friday to pick up what I thought was the best 2007 TL deal I'd seen in two months. When I got there, the car was pristine, EXCEPT for the slightly mis-matched bumpers (SSM). Everything else checked out, but I was worried that it had been in a really minor wreck (clean CarFax and AutoCheck), resulting in the slightly mismatched bumpers.

I almost left without the car, but I pulled the trigger. After seeing this thread, I'm SO GLAD I didn't pass on the car. Now I have peace of mind, and a great car. This place is a wealth of knowledge!

chapu08

In my case the mismatch was really obvious



But when I added the body kit, I solved the problem I really hate that difference.

milk man

i guess mine isnt to bad on my ssm

wall e

Amen Brotha!

EVOLICARUS

i'm going to find a good body shop and show them the whole car first, then take off the bumpers myself and have them painted. Its just really the Rear bumper that is throwing me off. Looks Dirty Yellow~~

TLuu

talking about mis-match lol. i remembered when i bought my car, this guy told me that he had never been in an accident. me myself look at the car and everything seems fine until i step back aand realized that the bumper were mis-match. in my head i thought this fool was lying to me. and yes it is noticeable it bothers me when i look at it. now when i do a physical check i try not to think about it, until i have the money to get it paint.

Red Voodoo

I hate to tell you this, but in the photo you provided, it still doesn't match! It's alright... It looks good.

I never had this issue on any of my Mazdas (Mazda3, Mazda6, Miata(s) and Protege5.)

Blazing GT

acura paint ftl.

milk man

it is not the paint.what is happening here is that the paint reacts differently to metal then plastic. so what has to happen in order for it to match you have to play with the color code alittle bit.When you paint the bumper it may look more yellow then the rest of the car.so the person painting the bumpers needs to maybe add alittle bit more pearl in the paint or maybe take out alittle of the yellow something to that nature. they have to play with the paint code and most times they dont want that hassell or want to take the time.

hope that makes sense

powerflow

The paint is not being applied directly to the plastic though. The plastic is primed, and so is the metal. The primed/ E-coated part might even be sealed with a primer sealer before the 1st base coat. The base coat does not penetrate through the primed layers to the material itself. Unless of course the painting methods/parts are compromised and/or low quality paint/primer materials are being used. This is in reference to using high quality auto paints with proper procedures. High end body shops paint match dissimilar materials all day without no issues. The paint system I'm most familiar with would never yellow on plastic parts, or even painted raw plastic parts. Any raw plastic would be sealed wet on wet with 1 coat of 2K primer sealer. I've never heard of someone adjusting a tint formula based on a material spec. Personally I've always paint matched to the adjacent panel.

It is mainly a manufacturing error, as far as Honda's classic, very noticeable bumper problem. They roll right off the truck like that. Plenty of other manufacturers produce cars with acceptable color matched parts.

This may seem to contradict my earlier post. But, different paint systems, different materials, and different methods/prepping have varying results. In reference to the WDP issue, dissimilar materials is not the main cause.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

this has more to do with it then the plastic/metal which i believe has something to do with it, but more so the fact that the car is painted and then the bumpers are put on after they are painted somewhere else...

i dont care how many times you mix up the same exact color code of paint, its going to be different in some way.....

csmeance

there is a simple answer to this. Bumper require flex additive be added so the paint does not crack after a light bend. This additive changes the color of the paint, PPG and a few other companies had a flier about this in bodyshops, the .PDF document was posted here on another discussion about this.