Got an evil nasty deep scratch on the middle of the driver's door on our month-old leased '16 EX Mystic Yellow Pearl. Took it to a body shop for an estimate and was told they'd have to paint both the front and rear doors on that side, as the yellow color is harder to match than the more "popular" colors. Really?!

 

Run, run, run. I wouldn't until I have exhausted all opinions. If you did, then those two doors will not match the roof, fenders, hood, etc. Just because they are not inline with your vision, there is still a difference. Take it to another repair/painter. Insist on getting only the area that needs repair repainted. A good painter will be able to match, or close enough.

 

Yup..... indeed

 

Thanks for the replies. As this is a lease, I think I'll hold off on getting a full-blown body-shop repair for now (since anything can happen between now and the end of the lease in 3 years - see story below). Instead I'll look to get a relatively low-cost repair - for cosmetic reasons and more importantly to protect the exposed metal in the scratch. I don't think PDR (paintless dent removal) is the way to go as some filling and paint is necessary. I'd do it myself, but I have no experience, would have to research methods and purchase supplies, and I don't have a driveway or garage to work in. So I'd rather pay a bit more to a professional with a guarantee of some sort. Any recommendations where to turn?

My previous lease was dented on a corner of the rear bumper (while parked) by a neighbor, who paid me $800 to get it fixed at a good body shop. I should have waited before fixing it, though, because only a month later I was rear-ended by another driver, whose insurance issued me a $1300 check for the repair. It didn't look nearly as bad cosmetically as the previous damage - in fact it wasn't even noticeable, but it was more costly because it caused some slight body misalignment under the skin. I cashed the check but didn't repair the car again. Two years later, the lease ended and I held my breath. The inspection came back with no excess damage fees. Remember the bumper sticker "Hit Me I Need the Money"? Anyway that's why I'm hesitant to spend big bucks at a body shop this early in the life of the lease.

 

To be sure, in my, admittedly limited, experience, yellow is one of the most difficult colors to match as yellow paint has very poor hiding properties (it takes a lot of coats to build color and blend with the existing paint). I can imagine that the greenish pearl additive doesn't help.


When I had to have a fender replaced on my '09 Fit in Orange Revolution pearl, the body shop had to paint the right passenger door as well to blend the color of the car to the newly painted fender, so I'm not surprised at what the body shop told you. FWIW, the repair turned out beautifully on my '09.

 

Thanks Uncle Gary. I'm getting a couple more bodyshop estimates, based on collision.honda.com/locator and online reviews. But at this stage of the lease I'd be inclined to just do a spot repair with something like paintscratch.com, langka.com, or scratchwizard.net. Unfortunately I just don't have either the experience or a good location in which to do it. Wish I could just pay someone who's good with that stuff to do it for me.

 

Here's something you could do in the meantime


If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, ask at an auto detailing shop (NOT a body shop).

 

Thanks Buff - I saw that video... I need a guy like him to do that to my car!

I'm gonna also look up detailers and see if any offer such a service.

 

if you can catch your fingernail on the scratch, you cant buff it out.

many times when a panel gets damaged and needs repaired, the surrounding panels need to be painted as some colors are hard to match

 

I like ChrisFix's test: If you spray the scratch with soapy water and the line disappears while it's wet, then you can polish.



If the line DOESN'T hide under the soapy water, you need to fill the scratch first.

A filled scratch isn't that noticeable even if the paint isn't a perfect match. The line is so thin (after sanding and polishing) that it is difficult to see.

 

No question this scratch will need to be filled, like in the first video posted by Buff.

 

I have a lot of little nicks in my yellow fit. For a color that is so easy to see it sure seems to turn invisible to morons.
The only touch up that even comes close to matching that I have found is the honda touch up pen. I had a body shop buff out where some idiot hit my door in a parking lot (minor black plastic transfer from their SUV), they mixed me up a little jar of touch-up by their formula for mystic yellow and it was way off. So was one I ordered online, only the real honda touch-up pen matched.
It wasn't a subtle difference either.
I think whatever is out there as a formula for mystic yellow is wrong, and that's why body shops want a complete repaint.