# Imola Yellow respray - matching problem!



## S4Steve (May 9, 2013)

Hi all, was wondering if anyone had any input on my situation... I have a 2000 Audi S4 saloon in Imola Yellow (I had to be awkward and chose yellow, even waited/traveled from London to Scotland to get the thing!). Bodywork was great apart from some small damage on the bonnet/bootlid.

I got the bonnet/bootlid sprayed around 6 months ago, it came back looking great but then I noticed then that colors on the newly painted panels were quite different to other areas on the car, blending down the wings wasn't really an option as the colour mismatch went along the whole car.

A few weeks ago I decided to have everything else resprayed in the same yellow, with the same bodyshop that I used 6 months ago, the only items that weren't sprayed were the bonnet/bootlid that had previously been sprayed, I was advised these wouldn't need respraying as the same paint code would be used etc. I can now see a difference in color between the bonnet and wing and bootlid and rear quarter, it's quite easy to spot (I'm not the only one that's noticed it). I know fresh paint can take a while to fade but I'm not sure it would fade to the extent that it matches the bonnet/bootlid.

Any ideas? I've attached some pictures but to be honest under artificial light it's hard to see any difference at all! Not just in pictures but even if I park it under petrol station lighting you can't really see the difference, it's only in natural daylight where I see the difference. Cheers!


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

The colour might be the same but the batch of paint wasn't.
You could line up a whole load of lets say blue vauxhall astras of different ages and models and all apparently finished in the same blue. But they wouldn't all have been done with the same batch of paint - they probably weren't all painted in the same factory. Some may appear greener (an extra squirt of green was mistakenly added) others darker (a squirt of white was mistakenly missed out) etc,etc - it all depends on what batch of paint was used. 
A painter should have a reference these different tones of one colour (known as variants)
So there can be several (in the worst cases as many as 10 - 15) variants of one particular colour and picking the right one can be tricky - especially if no blending is being under taken.

To me it sounds like your first job was done in one variant - the second in another - or maybe whoever mixed the paint put in or left out one drop of blue (or whatever) when making the mix.

Fading shouldn't really come into it with modern day lacquers.
Yellow is one of the most difficult colours to match (fact!)
Different lacquers may have been used which may have had slightly different tints.

Loads of explanations as to why it may have happened I'm afraid.

Blending is the answer - although somebody seems to have managed to steer you away from that.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

ah good old yellow ! i have a friend who refused to paint my car unless i have the whole thing done lol , mines at least 3 shades across the car !


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## S4Steve (May 9, 2013)

Yeah im annoyed i didnt get it all done again now  Cheers for the detailed reply squiggs, if the painter was to blend the bonnet/bootlid would that be hard given that he's now throwing a third batch of paint into the mix?


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

A painter should have access to all the mixes for all the variants. 
A good painter could make up a small amount of each variant and make spray out (test) cards for each variant and then choose the correct/closest variant.
Blending into the wings/quarters will help - but only if the mix is very close in the first place otherwise you'll see the doors as being a different colour.

All that said yellow is one of the most difficult colours, just one extra coat can throw the match off - hence why Craig has been advised all or nothing to get a uniform tone.


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## S4Steve (May 9, 2013)

Ok cheers, anyone know any top notch painters with an eye for colour matching? This is a better picture, you can see the difference:


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

I cant see why they didnt just blow over the bonnet/boot if they were painting the rest of the car?

I would ask them to redo the job and blend those 2 panels so you have pretty much had a respray.

I would have done that anyway just to make my life easier!

Rob


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

I also find it odd that although they were painting more or less the whole car they left 2 panels knowing that a colur match was a slim chance !


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## S4Steve (May 9, 2013)

Thanks for input guys, think I'll go back anyway and see what he says. If I was to get another body shop to do this would it matter if they used a different type of paint? I.e mine was sprayed using Glasurit paint...


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

S4Steve said:


> Thanks for input guys, think I'll go back anyway and see what he says. If I was to get another body shop to do this would it matter if they used a different type of paint? I.e mine was sprayed using Glasurit paint...


I wouldn't advise another bodyshop doing it. 
You need to speak with the people that did it originally, and ask them why they thought it would match, because obviously it doesn't. If they said it would match ok then it's down to them if they said they could garuntee it would match. 
Even if we did it where I work and were also on glasurit paint, we would still paint the bonnet/bootlid aswell, specially with these type of colour, which can be a pain in th a*se to match. The slightest thing done differently can cause all sorts of problems. :thumb:


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## S4Steve (May 9, 2013)

Cars going back to the body shop next Tuesday for a bonnet/bootlid respray! Luckily the guy has some of my paint left from last time (about 1/2 ltr) which he can use so hopefully there will be no color difference this time... will post up some pics when it's done.


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

Make sure hes blending the adjoining panels as even though its the same paint, its a different day with different conditions, different temps etc.

This all has an effect on the finished colour.

Rob


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Exactly what rob has said. 
I'm going to be honest here. They said it would match before and it clearly hasn't, now they say they have some paint left over which will match. I very much doubt it, did they not learn there lesson first time now there doing the same again. As rob said blend the adjacent panels to get it right.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

at least the paint will be thick when you want to machine it


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