Car Touch Up Paint- Dirty Little Secret

Car Touch Up Paint- This question comes up a lot about car touch up paint repairs and this is an excerpt from a post I wrote in a Camaro forum recently.

Here are the dirty little secrets the car touch up paint industry would prefer you not know.

1. Mass-produced car touch up paint whether bought at the dealer with an official logo or a mass retailer…is a crapshoot for matching. Think about it, thousands of models from all of the major mergers. from 50+ years of manufacturing and thousands of colors…do you think they made up your exact to code formula in your tiny little bottle and how many bottles of car touch up paint are sold for your exact make, model & color every week just to have them just sitting around…

*mass-produced car touch up paint for economics and logistics is made in large quantities and then packaged into containers with the corresponding model year color info…it’s a color that is most likely “very close” to YOUR color however chances are you are not getting your EXACT color code formula. So for instance a certain metallic blue might be a close match for several different makes, models, and years.

It’s Difficult To Find The Right Car Touch Up Paint Color

2. If you buy car touch up paint from any vendor online or offline that mixes to order and gives you less than 2oz there is a good chance your paint will NOT be an EXACT match. Why do you ask?

2oz is considered in the automotive paint refinishing industry to be the smallest volume to accurately mix to code. You see by mixing .05 oz or even 1.0 oz some of the toners can zero out. This means the paint mixture is not exact bc it’s missing some toners.

*when you are spraying automotive paint exact match is mandatory (if you like to do nice work that is)…with hand touch-ups for chips, etc sometimes you can get away with “close” and this is precisely why the mass producers can get away with this…most people will never notice or if they do…figure they got a bad batch…end of the story.

*as one person on this thread said “any paint shop should be able to mix you up something for $5.00″. maybe 20 yrs ago not anymore, modern urethane paint is expensive. Also for an automotive paint shop to mix 2oz to code…is really more of a hassle and a customer service and they do it for customers bc they buy other supplies that do make money.

*most mobile pros that do touch up repair work have their own system and mix to code on the spot. They get the paint formula online and mix to code with a portable digital scale. These pro paint systems run from $1500 to $10K

3. Here is the answer to what happened to the good old days when they gave you car touch up paint with the car and why you wouldn’t want it anyway. Car touch up paint in a little bottle (that is pre-made and bought in a store) has a real shelf life of roughly 60 days before a much of the solvents evaporate. Sure you can add in some reducer if the paint has thickened to thin it out a bit, but do you have a reducer for automotive urethane paint on hand?

*if you are a Car Scratch Remover Customer.com customer all you have to do is email or call us - if there is any question about your car touch up paint*

(NEVER keep car touch up paint in your car glove, box trunk, etc exposed to excess heat it will accelerate the evaporation of the solvents.)

Car Touch Up Paint Has Never Been Easier

* I do agree with one person…manufacturers if they really wanted to promote goodwill would be to give a customer a bottle of car touch up paint as a courtesy, not at the time of sale but when the customer gets the scratch…however that, of course, would take money away from their auto body shop…so this will never happen 

*You will NEVER catch a pro using old car touch up paint…pro’s ALWAYS mix fresh, and toss whatever is leftover from a hand touch up. They usually throw away more than they used on a repair…just part of doing biz. Fresh paint mixed to code will ensure the best possible repair bc it will flow better (fresh solvents and toners) and is easier to work with.

So in the end, if you want EXACT matching car touch up paint go find a local automotive paint supplier and ask if they will mix 2oz for you (be prepared for sticker shock)

NOTE: Touch up paint purchased through Car Scratch Remover.com has a shelf life that is much longer than typical store bought touch up paint.

This is because it is custom mixed to order right before your order ships and the binders (solvents) are super high quality and keep the paint fresh for a long time. Just keep the container tightly sealed and in a cool dry place and you will be fine for quite a while.

However …because you are here at Car Scratch Remover.com and are already much wiser than the typical consumer you already know all of my touch up paint is custom mixed to order for your EXACT CAR TOUCH UP PAINT CODE in 2oz bottle naturally.