Advice Required - Metallic or Non Metallic Painted Car?

[Metal Head]

Hi,

My partner (but soon to be my wife) are going to buy a car in the very near future. However, I am keen on having a non metallic coloured car (red) where as my partner wants a metallic (dark blue). It's a while since I have done any serious detailing on my cars in recent years, consequently is it still true that metallic cars are still harder to match up paint wise (than the non metallic) and does one still have to do the whole panel (respray) even if it is only has a small knock in it?.

I had a metallic (silver) painted Suzuki Swift 5 years ago and the paint chipped badly around the front of the car and it was impossible trying to match the original paint work - looked like the birds had ???? on it. Some mate at the time said he wouldn't touch a metallic car because of this sort of problem.

I would be very appreciate anyone sharing their views (and experiences) as to what we should buy.

Thanking you in advance of your reply.

Regards
David

[Daddles]

After missus has finished dinging it and you can't match the metallic paint properly it'll look so bad she'll want another of her own and won't mind when you take this one fishing

Richard

[durwood]

It is possible to match metallic paint work but it isn't easy to do and a painter will be given extra money by an insurance company to paint a metallic repair just because it is metallic. You may have also noticed it costs more to buy a new car in metallic as its harder for the car companies to apply it also.

It would take quite a few pages to tell you all the reasons why this is so but here is the main ones.

If you have the tin of metallic paint you can change the colour several different shades just by the way you spray it on. If you spray it on lightly the flakes sit on the top making it appear lighter, paint it on heavy and it goes darker as the flakes sinks into the colour. Thats the main reason it is difficult to spray, is it being sprayed the wrong way or is it actually a wrong shade and needs a tinter in it to fix it????

Imported cars often have flakes in them which are different in size and texture from those supplied by the companies here making it neally impossible to match it so often you have to have the whole side of the car painted to loose the difference.

Because it has clear over it, it's the clear which cops all the ultra violet sunlight which destroys the coating. As there is flake (aluminium ) in the transparent coating it reflects the sunlight so the clear cops U/V rays going in and as they reflect off the surface giving it a double dose. If you rub it too hard to remove scratches etc you can rub through the clear and make a bulls eye in the colour which is even worse than a chip. The colour under the clear is a lot softer than the clear and this makes it easy for the clear to be chipped off the colour coats.

Spray painters live for metallic paint as they get to respray the car far sooner than if it is a solid colour. General rule of thumb is a metallic colour has half the life of a solid colour. Some metallic colours last less and some brands of cars are worse than others but a metallic colour always fails before a solid colour.

Today they are far better than 10 years ago as the paints have improved so much before the 1990's you sometimes didn't get 12 months from a metallic colour. Rolls Royce at one stage was respraying all their cars before they were sold here as the paint they arrived with worked OK in Pommy land but didn't last the 12 months warranty period here.

Bottom line metallic colours are not as practical as normal solid colours but your choise of red against dark blue is not much different as red is probably the worst solid colour you can pick as it fades badly.

Don't know if I've helped but if you have a choise of the same car same price metallic or solid colour pick the solid colour, all else being equal a metallic car should be cheaper to buy, a dealer will usually give you less for a trade in because it is a metallic colour especially if its patchy from poor repairs or maintanence.

[Metal Head]

Don't know if I've helped but if you have a choise of the same car same price metallic or solid colour pick the solid colour, all else being equal a metallic car should be cheaper to buy, a dealer will usually give you less for a trade in because it is a metallic colour especially if its patchy from poor repairs or maintanence.

Hi Durwood,

Thanks for the fantastic response much appreciated. The car is the same price for either the red or metallic - which is unusual as most the other cars we have looked at would cost more if we went for the metallic option!!. I was a bit confused with your final answer, in that I thought you said that given the choice you would go for the metallic as the red would fade but later you said that - like for like you would go with the solid red:confused:. Mind you my understanding (grasp) of English isn't very good so I apologize if I hadn't understood the obvious.

So am I correct in assuming that scratches in solid coloured cars are easier to remove and any damaged caused by the cutting compound/polish is less recoganizable (noticeable) than that carried out on a metallic based colour?.

Is there anyone here who would never buy a metallic painted car - or a solid one. If so for what reason?.

Cheers
David

[dazzler]

Hey

Durwood summed it up very well. If you have any concerns about how the paint will look in a few years then go with a solid colour.

Boring as it is, white is the best colour as it does not show dust or car park dints, matches perfectly.

If its a new car the main thing is dont let anyone go near it with any polish. This will leave swirl marks that look bad in the sun.

Most metallics are finished with a clear coat that is a clear shell over the metallic. This keeps it looking good but needs to be maintained with high quality (maguires or similar) paint conditioners.

White also reflects the heat in such a hot country.

good luck

[durwood]

Sorry if I confused you David.

Both metallic and red are bad choises, metallic breaks, down red fades - Dazzer has it right white is the easiest to maintain, match and it is cooler in the heat. dark colours are a lot hotter - 20 C plus on a hot day compared to white.

Why is the metallic dearer? first it cost the dealer more to have the trade-in repaired to sell to you, second people who don't know anything about what they are going to have to live with when they get a metallic car think its worth the extra because they like the bright metallic colours.

Dazzer a good polish put on properly won't show swirl marks and is advisable on any paintwork, the idea of polish is so the polish gets the abuse not the paint, it gets wet, scratched and rubbed while the paint underneath is protected, no polish the paint itself has to do it, if there is acid rain bird poo or pollution the paint gets affected and needs to be compounded back to reveal new paint if its polished it will need for this to be done a lot less.

Unfortunately good polish takes lots of elbow grease to apply, being lazy we opt for the easy wipe on wipe of variety which works no where near as well.

As I mentioned before there is lots of things to consider, I mentioned that you can rub through the clear and then you will see a mark in the metallic but newer cars are now also painted the same way solid colour and then clear over them so a white car can also have clear as the top coat, being white it may show a mark if you rub through the clear but it will be a lot less noticeable than metallic until you hit the primer.

David have a look at some of the cars you are thinking about in the colours you are interested in and see if they look terrible after being on the road for a time (say 12 months) metallics will generally be worse but any paint not looked after will end up terrible. The secret always is keep it clean and polished, garage it wherever possible and try to avoid getting it damaged, though that sometimes is out of your control.

Ask the salesperson ( IF they know ????) what the paint is. solid - metallic or pearl.

If the colour is fancy it may not be just a metallic it may be a pearl colour and in some cases a multi layer colour, some have up to 4 different layers to produce what looks like an ordinary metallic and they can cost a bomb to fix. You may have to pay extra for your insurance check with the insurance company.

You may have seen the colours that change to many shades as you move around them they are over $1000 per litre and a car needs between 3 and 4 litres to respray them more if it involves the interior of the car. Some Mazda's Lexus's etc have on them a clear which is very hard to scratch and they cost heaps per litre also.

In the end whatever you choose you have to be happy with, it can be repaired by a good spray painter without being noticable, if in a prang you are intitled to have it returned to pre accident condition. Though you may pay extra for insurance and if it is say a metallic and it breaks down and the insurance is involved in a repair due to an accident you may have to contribute to part of the cost of painting it or you may want to pay for the rest of the undamaged panels to be refinished to match the new work.

[Metal Head]

Hey

Durwood summed it up very well. If you have any concerns about how the paint will look in a few years then go with a solid colour.

Boring as it is, white is the best colour as it does not show dust or car park dints, matches perfectly.

If its a new car the main thing is dont let anyone go near it with any polish. This will leave swirl marks that look bad in the sun.

Most metallics are finished with a clear coat that is a clear shell over the metallic. This keeps it looking good but needs to be maintained with high quality (maguires or similar) paint conditioners.

White also reflects the heat in such a hot country.

good luck

Hi Dazzler,

The only solid colour available at the special price we can buy the car at is RED. The easiest colour car I ever had to wash and polish was a white one - and I would have liked one this time - but at $3000 more that was outside our budget. Given the lack of responses to my query it appears most members here must use public transport to get around - well they say most woodworkers are in the poverty trap:eek: .

Cheers
David

[Christopha]

I own a metallic silver car and my wife has a car with a darker "silver" metallic. Neither of us will EVER have anpther car car that is not WHITE!

[BrisBen]

My two cents worth

Have had a couple of cars but amongst them; red non metallic, silver metallic, blue metallic.

Not forgetting I am in Brisbane but and each vehicle had pretty much the same care, wear and tear.

Red: Fades to almost matte, did polish up well but I feel that I did more "cutting: than polishing. Got pretty hot in the parking lot.

Silver Metallic: Stood up well, kept the shine, not too hot, didn't show the tiny marks as obviously

Blue Metallic: Doing ok - shows dirt/dust more than the others, not noticeably hotter but shows shopping centre scratches and little marks (that buff out easily). These litlle marks I think are just light surface marks in the clear outer coat

[Schtoo]

Well, I can give you some second hand opinions if you want them.

Mum in law has a new VW Golf, in red. Gets dirty at the drop of a hat, but looks good when it's clean. Needed some paint work not too long ago, and that was fairly painless. It hasn't changed any from when it was new in appearance, but the sun isn't as strong around here either.

A friend has an Audi (convertible thing) thats metallic black. Gets dirty just looking at it, and it was gone for 3 days to fix some scratches and chips.

Same friend has another Audi (A8, big thing) in silver, much nicer to take care of. Paint blemishes don't show, never looks dirty and is just a much nicer thing to take care of, for his detailer...


Metallic looks nice, but if your budget is stretched as it is, keep it simple, even if that means red.

[durwood]

David, you forgot to mention in your original posting that there was a $3000 reason it was going to be metallic blue or red.

At that price difference its not which is the best colour to get but do I pick red or Metallic blue. They are probably cheaper because they have a backlog of them which they are having trouble moving.

If you want to get in the good books now and be be able to tell the future missus "told you so" in the future then get the Metallic Blue. Get the red and she will be able to turn the tables on you and complain how the metallic blue would have been better and why did you not let her have metallic blue.

Its a no brainer get one of the cheap colours, no car is worth $3000 extra for a better colour.

[Auld Bassoon]

Er Durwood, have you looked at the pricing for metallic or special paints from Audi, BMW or Mercedes lately?

[durwood]

Yep Auld,

Its not that the paint costs that much extra just that if you have the money for one of those vehicles they reasopn you can afford that much more for the special paint.

The cost of metallic etc material is not double the cost of material for plain colour. The main cost is in the preperation which is the same for all of them.

[ian]

My partner (but soon to be my wife) are going to buy a car in the very near future. However, I am keen on having a non metallic coloured car (red) where as my partner wants a metallic (dark blue).

David
It's a no brainer
If the price is the same, get the colour the soon-to-be SWMBO wants.

Believe me, this is one of those issues where you may be right but there is no profit in winning, nor is there any profit in storing it away for a future "I told you so" moment.

Store the brownie points for letting her have her own way on this for another day and a really important decision.

This strategy has been working fine for me for 20+ years


ian

[Metal Head]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their advice (as well as the tongue in cheek one's ) and experiences - much appreciated. We (or should I say partner) had the final call & we are going to buy the car in metallic blue. However, Ian I already have many runs on the board prior to this decision - so my question now is when do I cash them in?. You must be doing something right to be married (happily I presume)?.

Thanks once again
David

Btw, which insurance company would you (open to everyone) go with - or not because of a bad experience:mad:.