Maybe a dumb paint-related question.......

[Pushing Fifty]

...but I honestly don't know what to do here. I have a 2000 Cyber Green Beetle with mismatched paint. The doors, fenders,hood,and bumpers are the true Cyber green. However, the trunk and the roof are faded to almost the later and lighter Gecko Green color. It's very obvious when parked outside.

Anyway, my rear bumper and hood need to be repainted anyway due to scratches and rock chips. So I figure while I'm at it, why not have the trunk and roof repainted in the true Cyber green?

Well, I've taken the car to 3 different body shops and here is what they said:

One shop wants $1800 to repaint all the above panels and this would include disassembly to avoid "flaking" risk.

Another shop says they can simply mask everything and spray the panels for $1000.

A third shop says the only way to match the colors is to repaint the whole damn car. They want $6000. Needless to say, I will not be choosing this option. I only paid $7000 for the car itself.

This leaves me with option 1 or 2. My question is this: By masking things as opposed to taking everything apart, how much real risk is there that the paint would actually flake? Given choice 1 or 2, which would you do?

There is one more option that's rather unorthodox, but a possibility: I could also just have the hood repainted in the lighter, faded shade to match the trunk and roof and have a 2-tone Beetle! That is, IF a shop could mix the color correctly.
Thoughts? Anyone? I really need advice on this!

[pdoel]

Keep in mind, there is no paint code for the faded Cyber Green. Their best bet is to get the paint code for Cyber Green, and paint accordingly. Trying to get them to try and mix a paint to match a faded color, is going to be dang near impossible.

If you wanted to do a two tone (for example, having the roof black), that's one thing. But purposely trying to have half the car look faded, and the other half normal, would be kind of goofy, and I think after a month, you'd wish you had it all the same color.

For that much painting, $1,800 doesn't sound like a bad deal. I had a scratch on a fender, and just to repaint part of the fender, it cost me $800. So $1,800 for all that painting isn't bad. I'd personally go with that option, only because $1,000 for that much work, would worry me that it's going to be a quick and dirty job, and you won't get the quality you'd want.

[Wingnut_rb]

If there is that much fading on those panels and you paint them, you will probably notice how faded the parts are that you do not paint. The green is a nice color, but I haven't seen a color fade that bad that fast! You just have to decide how much you're willing to spend first, then get as much as you can for that price.

IF masked and prepped right, you shouldn't have any issues with flaking...IF! Try to get some references from whoever you go to.

[Pushing Fifty]

I've had good spot jobs done before without flaking issues but then again, I've never had to have essentially half a car repainted all at once, either!

One guy I work with suggested Maaco, but I've read horror stories about them.

Pdoel, you're probably right about my "unorthodox" idea and it would probably look pretty funky. So this leaves me with masking or not, and about an $800 price difference, plus the hope that the other panels won't end up being lighter than the fresh Cyber green paint.

I don't think that will be a problem, because the previous owner had parts of the car resprayed since its build date. He just ignored the roof and trunk.

The funny thing is that I didn't even notice how mismatched the colors were until I had the car for about a month!

[Volkswoman]

When paint is old, the trick is finding a shop that will mix paint not by the color code, but by the eye ball method. Some paint guys have a real good eye and can do it. Then you can have only some of the panels painted and it will match. I have a '99 NB with white paint. Of course the paint is oxidized, so I had a can mixed by the eyeball method. He mixed and compared a few times and voila! A match! I am using it to do touch up and it matches well. All depends on the shop and paint guy dong the mixing.

[Pushing Fifty]

The shop I'm thinking of hiring (the $1000 match job w/o disassembly) has done work for me before on this Beetle. Believe it or not, I actually had the beginnings of (gasp!) rust in the lower inner seam of the passenger door. It was a Minnesota car, and apparently the owner didn't pay attention to that door. Conversely, the driver's door bottom has a very nice coat of oil but not a speck of rust. Anyway, they had some paint left over so they painted my steering wheel spokes Cyber Green, also!

I don't think the paint will flake, but if it does, then I'll have it re-done with the extra labor of removing everything. It would probably take a few years to show signs of flaking, anyway......

I think I asked you this before, but are you the same Volkswoman who used to have a column in VW Trends a few years back?

[Volkswoman]

No, I am not the woman who had the column in VW Trends. I sure do miss that magazine though! I really liked her column. Since the magazine went bust, I figured it would be okay for me to use that handle without stepping on anyone's toes.

I am the volkswoman who has a mobile auto detail business in Hollywood, Ca. It is called Elaine's Fine Auto Grooming. I am on YELP in Los Angeles. I am not a paint specialist, but the years of owning a '65 VW Squareback, and now a '99 NB has found me learning many different ways to do repair on my own cars and also adding the paint touch-up to my repertoire of offerings to my customers as well. I do alot of scraped lower front bumpers that are constantly getting damaged. I don't do body panels that require a body shop's work. But like I said, I can do touch up on the little stuff, bumpers, door jambs, rocker panels, etc.