Touch up paint comparison

[rationull]

I have absolutely zero experience with touch up paints. I'm about to repair a small crack in my bumper (Subaru long front overhang + deceptively steep driveway =

) and am probably going to want to touch up the paint after the crack is repaired/filled. I figure my options are:

- Pick up whatever touch up paint the dealer has.
- Get something online, like Dr. ColorChip, which comes with some brushes and a "blending solution", whatever that is.

I'm mostly inclined just to pick something up at the dealer since I can just stop by on the way to work, but wanted to get opinions on whether non-OEM stuff tends to be better.

 

[bvance554]

The dealers paint will give the best color match.

 

[JHZR2]

I've used paint scratch for my paints.

 

[ET16]

What's paint scratch?

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
The dealers paint will give the best color match.
made by same company as duplicolor. Get it at Advance or VatoZone...

 

[rationull]

I think I'm just going to pick some up from the dealer.

 

[The Critic]

How do you plan to repair the crack?

If I were you, I would leave it or have a body shop do the repair. Touch up paint never turns out well, from my experiences; 9 out of 10 times, it looks better without touch-up paint.

 

[Garak]

Absolutely. To do it correctly requires a lot of skill in the first place - i.e. a body man. I've done it in the past to prevent rust, but I don't do it right; it looks god awful.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: ET16
What's paint scratch?


A company that blends their own custom paints to the color of your car.

 

[Klutch9]

I've used Duplicolor touch-up paints many times in the past. For the Focus (silver) I have Duplicolor. It works great. For the Fusion (Sterling grey) I bought the OEM Ford touch-up paint, which surprisingly was only about $2 more than the typical Duplicolor price. Both brands work equally well IMO, and blend in very nicely with the original paint. Both adhere well also. They even use the same container and cap, for what that's worth. Since you can get the OEM touch-up paint online for around $2 more than the Duplicolor, I'd go that route. Even though I've never had a bad experience with the Duplicolor applications not matching, going OEM with something like paint is probably a good idea whenever possible, if you're really picky.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
How do you plan to repair the crack?

If I were you, I would leave it or have a body shop do the repair. Touch up paint never turns out well, from my experiences; 9 out of 10 times, it looks better without touch-up paint.


I'm going to epoxy it from the back, and possibly reinforce it with either plastic or fiberglass. It doesn't need to look perfect, I just don't want it to rip further. Touch up paint may not even be necessary, but I think I'll probably want a very little bit just on the rougher parts of the crack.

I took it to a body shop recommended by a friend and they just wanted to replace the whole bumper. Not worth it by a long shot IMO. I could have them epoxy it but for that kind of repair I'd just as soon gain the experience myself and save the money, considering I don't need it to look like brand new.