Bumper Paint Discoloration

[Harry Covair]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 2010 Mazda3 GT sedan in crystal white pearl. I brought the car in to a detailing shop to have the windows tinted and the front bumber clear-bra'd. Before starting, the detailer called me into to the work area to have me look at the front and rear bumpers because they were a slightly different white than the rest of the car (he didn't want me thinking it was the clear bra causing it). He said this was normal with some cars because of cheap paint and the fact that the bumpers are plastic.

The shop was very brightly lit, which was the reason why it became noticable. In regular sunlight, you can't really see much of a difference, unless you know that the colour is slightly off. Has anyone else ever heard of this or experienced anything similar? Should I be following up with the dealer?

Thanks for your help!

[Harry Covair]

Sorry for re-posting this, I screwed up the title in my initial post.

[Uni-Body]

I have the same issue with a Mazda 5 in my shop right now. Both the front and rear bumpers have a slight yellowish tinge to them. The owner of the 5 went to the dealer but they said they couldn't do anything about discolouration like this under warranty, unless it was a manufacturer's error, which the deemed it wasn't since the paint wasn't broken or peeling at all.

Supposedly it's a common problem.

[lukel90]

That colour difference is not a flaw. It's like that on all cars that use new paints. I work for Lexus and their whites greys most lite colour show that. I asked one of the engineers at our shop and he said it's something to do with the way the paint sticks differntly to plastic then metal or something like that. The pearl paint and your white car just enhances the so called issue. Theirs nothing your dealer will do about it. Trust me. My wifes pearl white has the same issue. look closely on light coloured cars with pearl paint jobs and you'll notice it.

[cwp_sedan]

That colour difference is not a flaw. It's like that on all cars that use new paints. I work for Lexus and their whites greys most lite colour show that. I asked one of the engineers at our shop and he said it's something to do with the way the paint sticks differntly to plastic then metal or something like that. The pearl paint and your white car just enhances the so called issue. Theirs nothing your dealer will do about it. Trust me. My wifes pearl white has the same issue. look closely on light coloured cars with pearl paint jobs and you'll notice it.

+1. The material that the paint is on makes the difference. I have cwp also and mine is a little different as well.

[Uni-Body]

When a bumper is painted it should match the rest of the car. Period! Plastic, metal, or aluminum... the paint should always match the rest of the car. Our work speaks for itself - we never have colour / tone matching problems on any type of material. When we re-painted both bumpers on the CWP Mazda 3 (pics in the Uni-Body section on TM3) everything matched up perfectly. It's all in the primer that you use... especially with ABS plastic bumpers / panels. It's a shame that higher end vehicles like Lexus don't use proper primer to get the right tone match as lukel90 brought up :(

It's true that painting on plastic is different from metal / aluminum.... it just amazes me that some dealers don't fess up and get the job done right.

Maybe from the factory this occurs.... but it shouldn't if it's done properly with the right materials - which in my mind should be corrected by the dealer. In a perfect world right?

http://www.unibodycollision.ca/images/TM3/2010mazda3_19.jpg
http://www.unibodycollision.ca/images/TM3/bukjoe/5.jpg


I was actually worried about this as well... Rich let me know that he would match it 100% and assured me I would not be disappointed. As you can see from the pics... my car is brand new once again.

I even did a "test" with a stranger in the parking lot and asked him if he thought the color was different anywhere (you know, just to get a different set of eyes) and he couldn't notice a thing.

Once again..any body work you need.. go to Uni-Body!

[lukel90]

Your absolutely right. they say that because the body and bumper are painted at different times the paint will not match. Bs if u ask me, but if anyone got their mazda paint fixed by the dealer please let me know as I would love to get the bumpers of my wifes car matched to the rest of the car.