you said not just a code and spray, and when i asked all 4 about what if the color doesnt match, 2 of them said its just black, i get the color code and spray........................ :ugh2: :shakes head::wtf2:

i definitely wont take it to those guys

I'm a professional painter. The reason they would want the vehicle there is to match the paint on your car. For most every pair manufacturer there can be anywhere from 1 to sometimes on the high side 10 variations to your specific code. Could be darker, lighter, coarser flake, just to give a few examples. With the car there they will be able to spray a test panel to get the best match for your color. As far as blending the quarters and the trunk. Don't do it. I'm very good at what I do. But no matter what, you can never top a factory finish. Don't go over factory paint unless you have to.

RAE370Z is correct....
Darin
Production manager at a large collision facility and spend a lot of time at paint.

I dont know if nissan does it but there are oems that if say the bumper is painted separate from the body, they actually use a camera to measure the shades and grade them, then they match up a bumper to a car with the same grade to avoid any mismatch issues. I believe that is usually only done in the factory though, and again nissan may not do it. Either way a quality paint guy is ALWAYS worth the extra money, especially if he's cheaper, some of the really good guys actually charge decent rates, and if you do find one it is usefull to keep him as a drinking buddy for future work. lol

If your don't mind me asking what were you quoted? I've been thinking of getting my front bumper and hood resprayed because when I bought it had some chips but being black it only got worse. My first thought was to respray it but looking in the For Sale section I sometimes see hoods and bumpers going for about $200 which seems pretty fair to me.

For a bumper, IMO dropping it off by itself is okay. anything like fenders or other body panels though, definitely leave your car there.

As some said dont go for blending you can blend a part of it without doing a clear-coat over whole area, clearcoat patch is more visible.

What we do is we keep the fuel cap and starting with the OEM paint code match the paint on the cap (can be removed if done quickly) so if there are any shades off its adjusted, then just paint the part without needing the car or blending.

My Nismo front bumper conversion was obviously painted separately from my car with no blending, and you can't tell the difference. My car is Gun Metallic which has a ton of metal flake in it.

It should really be no problem if the painter is any good.

There is a ton of variables… Does the painter have the right code, can he match it to the right variant, does he have a sun gun or proper lighting to match it, was he hung over, do they have good paint (sikkens, not that dupont crap). How old is the car… I recently had a door painted on my metallic black truck and they had to blend the door next to it. To the average person, you would not notice but someone in the business could tell if they looked hard.
Basically, find a good shop, pick the painters brain, and for the love of god STAY AWAY FROM MAACO.

where ever i decide to get it painted, when stupid winters done..... im paranoid about leaving my car anywhere, so im just going to leave them the bumper and they can try to match it to that.

thanks for the info

i will definitely not do blending, i didnt want to anyway, just wanted to know what blending was.

do you know what that cameras called?

as for quotes, remember this is in the GTA ontario canada.

i bought my car new, its 2012, only 13,000 kms on it. and its in mint condition, it even still smells new.

im so picky about everything and crazy about keeping the Z in mint condition that i might sell the car and buy a new one, its driving me insane.

this is for the rear bumper only, G41 metallic black, NO installation, ONLY paint

vaughanfinetouch - $400 cash
pfaff auto works - $719
427 auto collision $625 + tax (13%)
velocity - $350
assured eastern - $400 + tax
avenue collision (affiliated with 427 auto collision) - $350 + tax

OEM bumpers from Nissan dealership - Rear $419 + tax, front $438 + tax

i havent seen the full extent of the damages because i cant wash my car, to look for scratches, i dont see any other dents, well i seen a minor dent below the right fang, the horizontal part. and scratches on the front bumper as well as the hood, but im praying those can be fixed easily, im not too sure how deep.

thanks to all above for the really helpful info, i wish canada had as many resources as the states....

Just out of curiosity.... Why are you paranoid leaving your car?

pm sent

Without the car what are they matching it to? They are going to pull a code and spray it. You might get lucky though :stirthepot: