Is there a different kind of paint you have to use when you paint your car? Like paint for the metal and paint for the plastic parts. Cuz my front bumber has been repainted and it is a shade off from the rest of the car. I was told it was cuz it is plastic and the quarter panels and doors are metal. The different shades are bothering e and I wanna redo it myself so I know it has been done right.

 

alot of times if the car is older the sun will make the paint fade a shade or so, clearcoat is supposed to help this. when they repaint a car they are supposed to "fade" the paint into the area that was repaired or fixed. they do this but painting out from the spot that was fixed about 2 feet in every direction if not more, while there doing that they get lighter on the coats as they work farther out. and yes automotive paint is diffrent then other paints. Really your paint should match your primer (not in color but in the way they are composed).

 

So if I get the GM paint and redo my front bumber will it match?

 

its hard to tell they are a bunch of reasons it wont match if you paint one part today and one tommorow exactly the same way it wont match because of temp.

 

better to take to a body shop that knows what there doing.. because they can fade the paint and the got paint booths with ovens so the paint cures at the right temp.

 

No, i work at a GM plant and since our bumpers are plastic, they are not painted by us, they are painted from a supplier and then matched to the best of the ability since no color is perfectly corrcet, GM does not paint any plastic peice on the car, on the metal frame

so your color could have been an off color from the standard mixture due to multiple reasons, so they have a red bumper sitting around with a shade of the same or extremly close and will match it up, that is done with every car...if it is severly dffierent from the supplier batch to the batch of paint in the system, they will actually tell the paint factory or the bumper supplier to adjusct their paint

so when you take it to a dealer and have them repaint it, it may be off because your color was a bit off from the standard that is given to the dealer

 

Well you can deffinately tell the bumber has been repainted. Its the worst paint job Ive ever seen. Theres dirt on the driver side by the fog lights and theres orange peel all over the driver side. If I take it to the dealer will they fix it for me under warranty or am I just better off taking somewhere else?

 

if it was redone by a dealer it would be warranty...other than that i would say find your best bet sorry i cant help more, but that is all i can tell you at this time. I dont know why your bumper was repainted and who by...

 

must just be your dealer because here they paint ours.

 

I think he is saying at the factory, not the dealer. I don't think any manufacturer sells replacement bumper covers in color, so any bodyshop will have to paint them.
I don't think I have ever seen a plastic cover match. I have heard a few reasons why(from paint reps), but the fact remains that plastic won't be the same color as steel. If you look at any car with plastic bumper covers, they don't match. some are better than others , but none are perfect.
To the original poster, If the shop did a bad job, take it back. Any reputable shop will stand behind it's work.
Dennis