Colour Match On Ls400

[maneesh]

My LS400 has been partially resprayed after accident damage. The new colour is a few shades darker than the original panels. The more you focus on it, the more it looks odd!

Is this expected for a 12 year old car or have Lexus screwed up with the respray? I have always polished the car for the past 6 years, so I don't think the original paint would have faded THAT much?

Thanks.

[Colin P]

surely regardless of the age of the car they would paint it to match the car, sounds like they screwed up to me! I certainly wouldnt accept that.

[andy haw]

They should be able to get a perfect match.I had some minor work done on my car my the local car medic (mobile) and the match is perfect.If he can match then so should they.

[ColinBarber]

Try giving a little bit of the old paintwork a T-Cut to see if it's just faded. If not then you should get them to redo the spray job.

What colour is the car?'s

[jdmparts_guru]

There are basically 2 steps when repainting the car:

1. use the paint code to start with and

2, then try to adjust the color to match the actual car color.

Probably they were lazy/unprofessional? and forgot to do the 2nd step?

[maneesh]

Thanks for the advice. I've t-cut the car once before to bring out the original colour and have always polished every 3 months and used good sealants. The colour of the original panels matches the colour on the inside (such as when you open the doors and see the unweathered paint).

Yes, perhaps they didn't use the right "variant" of the paint code. As a customer, I shouldn't have to worry about whether they matched the paint or not, it should be matched full stop!!!

The colour is Deauville Blue, a sort of light blue/grey combo they used on Mark1 models. I haven't seen it on a Lexus since K reg models.

What are my rights? It comes with a 12 months warranty, do I go back to Lexus or via Norwich Union?

[ColinBarber]

I would try Norwich Union first. They may not have paid for the work yet so can withhold payment until it's all fixed.

[maneesh]

Colin,

Once again you are a good advisor! Called Norwich Union up and they are arranging for a post repair inspection by their engineers to check this colour matching out.

Thanks dude! :winky: