Is this a poor Lunar Rock color match?

Greetings, my truck was serviced by a reputable auto body shop in my area. However, I'm feeling somewhat dissatisfied with the outcome. The only pieces that were painted were the corner bumper piece and the tailgate.

I'm not sure if I'm being overly critical, but it appears to me that the color match is not up to par. It seems as though the paint is closer to ocean blue than lunar rock. Their website states that they are able to perfectly match the color and they would try to blend adjacent panels. It is obvious that they did not touch the quarter panel at all.

Anyone have experience with repainted Lunar Rock body panels and can tell me if this color match is off or am I being too picky? I've been holding off on bringing up the paint issue until I return the truck for other repairs that still needs to be done.

Here is a list of other issues with the repair that they were unaware of until I brought it up.

1. Aftermarket bumper was tilted up causing the tailgate to hit the bumper. The body shop blamed the manufacturer of the bumper, but in the instruction manual, it even outlines steps to adjust the tilt of the bumper. I fixed the issue myself by loosening a few bolts and tilting the bumper so it lays flat.
2. The parking sensor lights were still on when I received the truck. The body shop never programmed the sensors after they were damaged in the collision.
3. The tailgate handle was not reinstalled flush with the tailgate causing the rear camera to get obstructed by the the plastic opening of the handle. I'm losing 30% visibility through my rear camera due to this issue

"Will you be able to achieve a perfect color match on my vehicle?
Absolutely. Along with the damaged panels of your vehicle, the adjacent panels of the repair area are prepared for paint. The repair area receives a base coat color and, as it is being applied, the color is blended into the adjacent panels. After painting, the first layer of clear coat is applied only to the repair area. After proper dry time, the clear coat is applied to the repaired portion and the entire adjacent panels. This procedure assures an undetectable repair every time, and is the recommended repair method by most vehicle manufacturers.

Today's modern factory finishes incorporate multiple coats of highly specialized paints. We have made a major investment in the finest computerized paint mixing system available and constantly upgrade our equipment and database to ensure that each vehicle we paint matches the factory original color. We take special pride in our ability to match factory finishes as the final step in the restoration process." - From their website

 

Take it back… that don’t match. Should be some kind of warranty….

 

Doesn’t insurance companies warranty any repairs done when you go who they recommend?

 

Not even close.

 

Woah...
Take it back and have them repaint it.

Not sure why they would guarantee a total color-match...

 

That is piss poor!!!! There is no way they can say they can’t see a difference. The bumper and bed will look different in a few years anyway, but shouldn’t be that bad on a new truck.

 

I concur with the others. That don’t match

 

I went through the insurance's "preferred" body shop so I'm hoping either the body shop or the insurance company to fix the issue.

Honestly, I thought there would be mix opinions on the paint, but it seems like poor paint match is too great to be ignored. Thanks to everyone's advice, I feel better prepared to bring up the paint problem with them.

Here's a few more photos of their poor workmanship. I'm still waiting for them to fix it.

 

@T315 Wow that is terrible work all the way around. You may want to get ahead of the body shop and file a formal complaint with photos to your insurance company ASAP as in as soon as you read this. Tell them you refuse the repair and want to hold payment until you approve.

Pictures are critical for an insurance company adjuster to take a stand with body shop. Plus you want to get to insurance company before they pay the body shop. Trust me you will get a better response from body shop if they aren’t paid yet. Do it tonight. If they get paid your fight will be a lot harder. That is a crap body shop. I have done body work and that is sloppy sloppy work. Don’t accept anything less than what it looked like when it was new. Be decent but firm until it is done right. Good Luck

 

Unfortunately, they were already paid by the insurance company. I've been working on a letter to the body shop and the the insurance company stating that there are still unresolved issues.

The body shop knew they did sloppy work because when I went to go pick up the truck, it was backed into a parking spot with the front of the truck facing out. You would think they would be proud of their workmanship and want their customer to first see the part that was repaired.

 

I understand. Have you told your insurance company about the poor quality work. If it is one of their prefered vendors they may have some influence over them.

 

I came in ready to say it was the nature of lunar rock but no, that’s way off. Take it back

 

The owner contacted late last night and assured me that they're going to find a solution for me. I would like to give me them the opportunity to fix the issue before escalating to the insurance company. They're a small family owned business and I wouldn't want them to lose business over this.

I was wondering if lunar rock was really that difficult to paint match. I thought it would be easier than metallic paint.

 

The problem isn’t the lunar rock color, it’s a lazy body shop. Sorry you’re dealing with that, but they should make it right.

 

Im partially color blind and can see that doesnt match. I had my bumper caps color matched inferno by a local collision place during my de-chroming and its a perfect match down to the flake in it. The shop who did yours didnt do it right apparently.. Hopefully the shop makes good, Id recommend getting any and everything the owner is claiming to do or fix in writing though. Trust nobody.

 

Speak with the manager. Realistically they should be ashamed they let it leave the shop like this. The MF's are high AF.

 

I thought I set my expectations a little too high because I picked this place for a few reasons. It's the top-rated shop in the area, they guarantee perfect paint match, and they boast that they have modern equipment to fix newer cars. When I called them early on to address the other issues with the truck, they seem surprised that they had to calibrate the parking sensor after replacing them and they didn't notice the rear camera being distorted. Honestly, I'm not even sure how they got the tailgate handle on with that much of a gap or how they didn't notice the two parking sensors lights on the dashboard.

Also, the aftermarket steel bumper replaces the whole rear bumper, yet they only gave me a $600 credit towards the aftermarket bumper. The total cost of replacing OEM rear bumper is well over $1200, but they only credited me for Bumper Assembly and a couple of other pieces. I didn't call them out over this because I was satisfied with getting some money towards a steel bumper that I always wanted. In hindsight, I should've made a bigger deal about this since they royally screwed me over on pretty much everything else.

I really appreciate everyone's input as it gives me a lot of confidence on pushing them to fix the paint.

 

This is precisely why we have language in our painted parts policy that states we use the MOST POPULAR paint code variant. We're sending out a couple lunar rocks for the Tacoma and I'm sure there's gonna be something. But you're right, that's the nature of Lunar Rock and this one is WAY off. AND their language basically guarantees it would match. They need to hire a marketing guy... I'm always happy to moon-light

 

Really good sign the owner contacted you. Hope he makes it right for you.

P.S. Another useful tool if they push back is explaining you are getting ready to post your google review of their company with photos. Most businesses know this kills their reputation for a long time and it is almost impossible to get it down once it is posted.

 

The same shop quoted me $1400 to paint the mustache on the truck. The price was absurd, but thankfully I didn't get them to do this as they were probably going to damage the front bumper assembly and mismatch the mustache. Looking forward to my BumperShellz coming

The owner addressed every issue I listed except for the color match issue in our email conversation last night. It worries me that he didn't talk about it, but he's probably avoiding that conversation until he gets more information. I'm prepared to post these photos on Google Review if they end up trying to deflect the issue.

 

We're super close to having a fully-fledged prototype. In fact, we're waiting on a member from these forums to confirm he can come over to the shop for a test fit (and PHOTOS finally)

Of course, with Lunar Rock, we could run into this issue same issue, just... less pronounced, we hope. BUT if anyone is unhappy, we WILL respray if they send it back.

 

That's exciting news! Looking forward to seeing how it looks on the truck.

I don't think it's realistic to expect a perfect match, and I would be totally satisfied if the BumperShellz was "close enough". Also, your product is already saving me over a thousand dollars. If the shop that painted my bumper cover was able to get a few shades of green on it, I might be willing to live with it, but my eyes are drawn to the tailgate and bumper every time I look at the truck. Also, their website states that they would try to blend into adjacent panels, which they clearly didn't do.

 

Yes! We're incredibly excited. All the hard work is finally paying off!

Yeah, it's a stark contrast for sure. At first, I thought it was Cement Gray!
Or Tacoma Rears in Lunar Rock are pretty freaking Sage colored. We had a Grille Surround in Cement Gray on one of the racks and they look completely different. The Green really pops, so I'm hoping for a better than "close enough"

 

all the comments made me thinking i am color blind, I can't tell the difference but thats probably me.

 

Yeah, color matching on these new colors is very hard to do. You even have differences among the various drums of paint that the factory uses. One Lunar Rock could look a little different than another shade and they could have come out of the factory within months of one another.