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My wife has a Satin Cashmere 2016 RX350. We live on a farm on a gravel road and the body hides the gravel dust pretty good, but there is always dust on the rear window. It is next to impossible for us to have a clean car. Also hard to justify a new car that is going to get beat up, but this used one was loaded with everything we wanted. The previous owner had the front windows tinted and I think it looks nice with it. Initially I thought I didn't want the "Gold" colour, but it has grown on me a lot. I have a silver Ford F350 and it shows more dirt, my dad has a dark grey truck and it is even worse.
I love these rims I bought a basic model, and since our area has a ton of RXs I see cars with them every time I drive and admire them. part of luxury package?
I love these rims I bought a basic model, and since our area has a ton of RXs I see cars with them every time I drive and admire them. part of luxury package?
There is no question that anyone's opinion about whether a particular color looks good or not is quite subjective. My subjective opinion is that the Atomic Silver is one of the most stunningly beautiful colors available.
What is not subjective, however, is that the beauty of the Atomic Silver can be difficult to maintain. First, it is a color that will show polishing swirls and surface scratches more easily than most colors. What is more significant, however, is that, if any paint repairs are needed, whether they are major repairs or something as minor as using touch-up paint to repair small stone nicks, the Atomic Silver is one of the most difficult colors for which to get a satisfactory color match.
The Atomic Silver is a 4 or 5 stage finish, which is what gives it its depth, but it is virtually impossible to duplicate outside of the factory. If a bumper or other body panel needs to be refinished, it most certainly will require that the new paint be blended into adjacent panels to try to conceal the color mismatch. And even touch ups of small stone nicks will stick out like a sore thumb. From one angle, the touch up will look darker than the surrounding finish, and, from a different angle, it will look lighter than the surrounding area.
If I ever owned an Atomic Silver vehicle, I would 1) try to protect the finish as much as possible by getting a very complete paint protection film package that included the full front bumper, the full hood, the full front fenders, and more applied to the car, 2) pray daily that I never needed to have a bumper or other panel refinished, 3) never let anyone else wash the car and never use a commercial car wash, and 4) hope that any of my tendencies toward being OCD allowed me to live with far less than perfect paint matches for even minor touch ups.
Anything more than base and clear will be tough even on a touch up. We have the Eminent White Pearl which is a tricoat and nearly impossible to hide a tiny stonechip
with touchup.
Anything more than base and clear will be tough even on a touch up. We have the Eminent White Pearl which is a tricoat and nearly impossible to hide a tiny stonechip
with touchup.
Pearl whites were among the first multi-stage paint colors that became popular about 25 years ago, and they immediately caused headaches for those trying to do paint repairs, whether major refinishing or even touching up small stone nicks. The reality is that the multi-stage paint process simply can't be duplicated by a paint shop or even with touch-up paint on the small stone nicks. When a shop repaints a panel and blends that new paint into adjacent panels, even that doesn't result in a true color match. Instead, it just makes the mismatch less noticeable by spreading out the transition from the new paint to the factory paint over a wider area.
And newer 4 and 5 stage colors, such as the Atomic Silver, are even worse than the pearl whites. As someone who is cursed with sensitivity to imperfections in auto fits and finishes, when I see even touch-ups of small stone nicks on a car with a multi-stage pearl color, it is like a finger nail scraping against a blackboard. Knowing that there will possibly be a need for paint repairs, even if minor, is, for me, a reason to consider, when I choose the color of a new car, how difficult matching a particular color can be, and, no matter how beautiful a color might be, it will not be my choice if it is 3 or 4 or 5 stage color.
i did PPF , didn't worry about the color, chose atomic. did the mirrors, A pillars, pano roof flap and top windshield, headlight (triple), fog lights, full front, full hood, full fenders, front fascia .
Atomic, rare sighting of side moldings and mudflaps (the pano shade is open, so the fronts look lighter, they are tinted, lightly. 50%?)
Rarebird, the lux wheels are different than those, they have colored inserts,
Pearl whites were among the first multi-stage paint colors that became popular about 25 years ago, and they immediately caused headaches for those trying to do paint repairs, whether major refinishing or even touching up small stone nicks. The reality is that the multi-stage paint process simply can't be duplicated by a paint shop or even with touch-up paint on the small stone nicks. When a shop repaints a panel and blends that new paint into adjacent panels, even that doesn't result in a true color match. Instead, it just makes the mismatch less noticeable by spreading out the transition from the new paint to the factory paint over a wider area.
And newer 4 and 5 stage colors, such as the Atomic Silver, are even worse than the pearl whites. As someone who is cursed with sensitivity to imperfections in auto fits and finishes, when I see even touch-ups of small stone nicks on a car with a multi-stage pearl color, it is like a finger nail scraping against a blackboard. Knowing that there will possibly be a need for paint repairs, even if minor, is, for me, a reason to consider, when I choose the color of a new car, how difficult matching a particular color can be, and, no matter how beautiful a color might be, it will not be my choice if it is 3 or 4 or 5 stage color.
I hear you loud and clear😣 I do love the look of the white pearl though👍
Pearl whites were among the first multi-stage paint colors that became popular about 25 years ago, and they immediately caused headaches for those trying to do paint repairs, whether major refinishing or even touching up small stone nicks. The reality is that the multi-stage paint process simply can't be duplicated by a paint shop or even with touch-up paint on the small stone nicks. When a shop repaints a panel and blends that new paint into adjacent panels, even that doesn't result in a true color match. Instead, it just makes the mismatch less noticeable by spreading out the transition from the new paint to the factory paint over a wider area.
And newer 4 and 5 stage colors, such as the Atomic Silver, are even worse than the pearl whites. As someone who is cursed with sensitivity to imperfections in auto fits and finishes, when I see even touch-ups of small stone nicks on a car with a multi-stage pearl color, it is like a finger nail scraping against a blackboard. Knowing that there will possibly be a need for paint repairs, even if minor, is, for me, a reason to consider, when I choose the color of a new car, how difficult matching a particular color can be, and, no matter how beautiful a color might be, it will not be my choice if it is 3 or 4 or 5 stage color.
I have the Anemic Silver, looks like gold to me, and a teenager ran into the back of my car while I was stopped in a line of traffic, texting no doubt. Today I spoke to the repair shop, unfortunately we are on a first name basis, and asked my friend about matching the color and he said "not a problem what gives us a headache is the Pearl White", I had to laugh at that. By the way, when I brought my car in they were working on 2 Ferrari's.
I have the Anemic Silver, looks like gold to me, and a teenager ran into the back of my car while I was stopped in a line of traffic, texting no doubt. Today I spoke to the repair shop, unfortunately we are on a first name basis, and asked my friend about matching the color and he said "not a problem what gives us a headache is the Pearl White",
I suspect that there are some very skilled paint technicians who would disagree with that assessment. While the 3 state pearl whites are definitely very difficult to match, when you get into 4 and 5 state colors, like the Atomic Silver, that just makes things even more difficult.
I can recall at least a couple of threads on the CL forums started by people who needed paint work on their Atomic Silver Lexus vehicles, and, even after multiple attempts, at re-painting, the paint matches still weren't close to being right.
If you check out the beginning of this thread, you will see that the owner of that car decided that he couldn't live with the paint mismatch, and he sold the car at what appears to be a considerable loss just a few months later.
I suspect that there are some very skilled paint technicians who would disagree with that assessment. While the 3 state pearl whites are definitely very difficult to match, when you get into 4 and 5 state colors, like the Atomic Silver, that just makes things even more difficult.
I can recall at least a couple of threads on the CL forums started by people who needed paint work on their Atomic Silver Lexus vehicles, and, even after multiple attempts, at re-painting, the paint matches still weren't close to being right.
If you check out the beginning of this thread, you will see that the owner of that car decided that he couldn't live with the paint mismatch, and he sold the car at what appears to be a considerable loss just a few months later.
Lesz, a bit defensive no. I asked the guy who is responsible for customer satisfaction about the difficulty of matching my Atomic Silver and his "unsolicited" response was that he had more of a headache matching the Pearl White. Personally I couldn't care less which is more difficult match, I'm only interested in how my car turns out. This shop works on the most expensive cars in the San Francisco Bay Area, when he made that remark I had an internal laugh, nothing more. This is not a debate on which color is more difficult to match, It just happened to be "his" timely comment and my relaying that comment was not intended to prove you right or wrong.
Hardly. I have no reason to be defensive. I don't own an Atomic Silver vehicle. Instead of feeling "defensive", I felt that it would be pertinent and valuable to reference the experience that CL members with Atomic Silver vehicles have had when they have had to have paint work done on their cars. You can feel free to ignore that experience, but, to me, their experience is more valuable than what a body shop that wants you to feel confident that they can do a good job on your car tells you. And, if you search the CL boards, you will find other threads posted by people who tell similar horror stories about paint repairs with Atomic Silver vehicles.
i did PPF , didn't worry about the color, chose atomic. did the mirrors, A pillars, pano roof flap and top windshield, headlight (triple), fog lights, full front, full hood, full fenders, front fascia .
Atomic, rare sighting of side moldings and mudflaps (the pano shade is open, so the fronts look lighter, they are tinted, lightly. 50%?)
Rarebird, the lux wheels are different than those, they have colored inserts,
Do you mind me asking how much it cost you for the PPF in the areas you mentioned? Looks fantastic!
09-22-18, 11:18 AM
(the pano shade is open, so the fronts look lighter, they are tinted, lightly. 50%?)
