When bringing your car to an auto body shop after suffering exterior damage, repaired areas often need to have paint touched up. But matching exterior paint color isn’t as simple as picking out swatches. Here is a guide to how collision repair shops choose the proper paint color.

How Auto Body Shops Determine the Perfect Exterior Paint Color

Make & Model

When matching your car’s exterior paint color, auto body repair shops enter its vehicle identification number (VIN) into a computer database to pull up its standard paint formula directly from the manufacturer. However, paint companies come up with alternates. Although all formulas will be in the database, finding your vehicle’s match will take some trial and error.

Cutting-Edge Technology

The temperature and humidity in the manufacturer’s paint system can also cause color variations, so sometimes using a vehicle’s VIN isn’t enough to get a perfect match. However, auto body shops can use a spectrophotometer to measure the amount of light in the hue of the car exterior. A computer then compares this data with the car’s VIN information to produce an accurate color. 

Paint Blending

Depending on where the light hits the angles of a car, the eye sees varying shades, which makes matching paint a challenge—what looks similar up close may stand out from afar. However, auto body specialists take advantage of these visual fluctuations. The paint they use may not be the same, whether because the formula is different or the car exterior has changed over time, so they blend the new into the existing to trick the eye into believing the paint is uniform in color. They may paint up to panel borders or in the middle, according to the body shape and repair job.

When your damaged vehicle could use repairs and a new coat of paint, turn to the professionals at DADS Auto Body & Paint Inc in Aiea, HI. For more than 40 years, this certified ASE Blue Seal shop has been one of Oahu’s leading auto body shops, providing residents with outstanding collision repairs and exceptional customer service. Whether you require dent removal or frame straightening, their staff can accommodate you. Call (808) 487-3654 for a free estimate, or visit them online for a complete list of services.