jbm79

So, yeah. Car was hit-and-run on a parking lot while I was dining in a restaurant. Talked to a witness and said he saw the license plate and had a description of the vehicle. I asked my insurance company to look up the license plate on the DMV database, but car registered doesn't match with the witness's description

So it looks like I have to pay my deductible. Headlight casing cracked, bumper dented and popped out a bit. Damage seems minor, but should I be worried if sensors were damaged (park assist, PCS)? Pics attached.

rustytank

oh man... sorry to hear that. Have someone stay in front of the car and block each sensor to see if they work. It doesn't look like the sensors were hit but even if its damaged, insurance should cover it so i wouldn't worry about it. Good luck.

lesz

It looks like the bumper cover is going to need to be replaced, and I would think that, when that happens, checking and adjusting the sensors would be a part of the completion of the repairs. In the event that it doesn't need to be replaced, I'm still assuming that paint work will be necessary and that checking the function of the sensors would be included in the repair.

I would suggest looking at the completed repair very carefully from lots of different angles and in a variety of lighting conditions because pearl whites may be the toughest colors for paint technicians to get a good match with. A less than satisfactory match might well look good from some angles and in some types of light, but, from other angles and with other types of light, it might not look good. It may well be that, to get an excellent color match, the technician will have to do a multistage blend into adjacent panels. Make sure that the insurance company allows enough money in the settlement to do the paint repair properly.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, and good luck with the repair.

Lexusxoxo

That really sucks... At least your full spare tire is ok..
I'm sorry dry humor..
Hope you get it back to new quickly.

jbm79

True! Hahaha.

Got an estimate for the repair, which totals $3,200+ (parts and labor). Replace the headlight (cost of a whopping $1500+!!!), as well as replace the entire front bumper. Initially, the bodyshop suggested only repairing the bumper (total cost of around $2,700), but I demanded bumper replacement, which my insurance agrees to pay.

Sucks that I have to pay my deductible. Still hoping the police finds the party at fault as I want to avoid any out-of-pocket expenses.

Lexusxoxo

Wow! $1500 just for the headlight. Ouch! Glad you got that bumper replaced and not repaired.

jbm79

The first three photos show the new (replaced) front bumper. Paint looks way off compared to the hood and body. Tech said that's the result of painting over metal (hood and body) versus plastic (bumper). Would you accept this difference in appearance? It looks as if the front bumper color is "WHITE" and not the "pearl white" it's supposed to be.

I attached the rear bumper picture for comparison, and the difference is not that big compared to the new front bumper.

Tech said I can bring the car back in within 6 months if I'm not satisfied with the color match, but I'm not sure what they would do (repaint the whole thing?) Any thoughts?

Canesguy

I had a similar result for damage to a bumper sustained with another car. As with yours, it would not be acceptable to me. The paint color difference, even considering plastic vs. metal, is too obvious.

lesz

As I said earlier in the thread and before you had the work done, pearl whites may be the toughest color to match. Getting a superb match is a challenge for even the best paint technicians. That said, there are techniques that can result in an excellent match and that can hide any differences from a perfect match.

From just looking at pictures and not being able to see the car in person and not being able to see it in various light, it is tough to accurately assess how well it was done and what could have been done to make the job better, but I can take a couple of guesses. First, with pearl whites, the painting should be done as a 3 stage process. It looks as if the paint job on your vehicle may have only been done in a 2 stage process, which would account for the lack of depth compared to the rest of the vehicle. Also, as I said in my earlier post, with a pearl white, to get an acceptable match, it often/usually requires a multi-stage blend into adjacent panels. One of the problems with many/most metallic and pearl colors is that, even if the color match itself is perfect, the metallic flakes of the refinished area will lie differently than the way that they do on the rest of the vehicle and, depending on the direction of the source of light, the repainted area will look either darker or lighter than the rest of the vehicle. This is especially true with pearl whites and lighter metallic colors like light silvers and golds. By doing a multi-stage blend, the area of transition from the newly-painted area to the paint on the rest of the vehicle is gradual, which will make the differences in how the metallic flakes are lying unnoticeable or very close to unnoticeable.

Ideally, you don't want to break the factory paint on any more parts of the car than necessary, but, with many colors, a multi-stage blend is the only way to get a great color match. Today's vehicle color choices look quite beautiful, but a non-metallic black may be the only color for which doing a panel-to-panel match is virtually guaranteed to end with a great color match. Among the metallic and pearl colors the darker colors are going to be much easier to match than the lighter ones.

Working with a pearl white is a challenge, but a skilled technician should be able to do a satisfactory job. In Guam, your choices of shops are likely not to be as plentiful as they are for people in the continental U.S., but, if you can get the insurance company to let you use a different shop and one whose work you have had a chance to check out, that might be the route to take.

Dave Mac

That doesn't look like an acceptable paint match to me from the pictures - in fact it looks way off. The only way to correct it will be to have the bumper repainted and that can only be done correctly by removing the bumper again. Pearl whites are really tough but have been around for years and can be done right. Don't buy the painting over metal vs. plastic line, it's done all the time and again is a challenge but can be done right.

Good luck.

Dave Mac

Arty101

I wouldn't accept it either. From your pics, way too different in color/shade.

lesz

I found an article that explains (better than I did, I'm sure) about the challenges of working with pearl whites and other tri-coat pearl colors. Besides explaining about the 3 stage process, it also explains about why it is often necessary to blend into adjacent panels. The article should give you a good idea of what should have been done with your repair.

http://www.terrys.net/matching_tricoat_pearls.htm

That was my thought, too.

bc6152

I had a metallic blue Avalon where the paint was damaged by some a$$holes throwing eggs. Went thru to the primer. Front bumper, driver's side, rear quarter, and rear bumper corner. Required refinishing on 2/3 of the car. All paint damage, $2500. After painting you couldn't tell where the new paint started and ended. Point is, it all depends on the paint shop.

amphipri0n

Why would you have to wait 6 months to take it back? That doesn't make sense.

jbm79

No, they meant I can take it back anytime before Jan 2015 (6 months from now).

Thanks for the helpful input, lesz. I'm afraid for them to touch the other panels to get a decent match. I don't mind if the bumper shade is a bit off, but, as others have mentioned, the shade difference is too great. There is a shade difference with the rear bumper and the rest of the body, but that difference for me is acceptable. The front is a different story...it really looks like the bright white you would see from the Camrys/Corollas.

I initially thought that when they ordered the front bumper, it came pre-painted with the correct shade. I didn't know that the part had to be painted in-house and the bodyshop would do the paint match, which everyone agrees that the job was done terribly.

I'm definitely bringing the vehicle back. Thanks for everyone's input.