Why do new cars look like “Wet Putty”?

Re:Why do new cars look like “Wet Putty”? by mauvehaus on Tuesday December 06, 2022 @02:47PM (#33885978)

Very few parts come pre-painted to the body shop. If you find yourself in need of one, you'll find that they'll need to paint the panel they're replacing and do blending on the adjacent panels. As good as they are at matching color, they aren't perfect.

Also, UV fades the paint. Even if you could get pre-painted panels, they wouldn't match a car that's spent much time in the sun.

I had a rattle can tinted to match the factory color on my hood. It wasn't even close on the 12 year old car. On the outside of the hood. The inside of the hood would've been pretty damn close.

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Re:Why do new cars look like “Wet Putty”? by zdragnar on Tuesday December 06, 2022 @04:44PM (#33887502)

It depends on if you're getting a new or a used part, no? Most times for cars over a few years old the shop can get a used panel off of a scrap car for much less than buying a new part, and in that case it might already match... Unless they are stripping and re-painting those, I have no idea.

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