I was hoping to get some opinions on what to do with my Evo. I have a 2003 with 53k miles. About 8 months ago I got into a minor accident, a lady decided from the right lane on a two lane road that she would make a U-turn to the left in front of me and when I slammed on my brakes my front right corner hit her tire. Outward damage was minimal, the bumper was scratched up, the right front fender had a tiny spot at the wheel well area (at the top) that was bent and the right headlight assembly's mounting tabs were broken.

Only the headlight assembly needed to be replaced and the fender and bumper were refinished and painted. The physical work was great but the problem I have is the paint doesn't match. My Evo is yellow and as I have learned it was painted with a single stage paint. Yup the paint has faded over the years. It is not a perfect match because of the fading and the color difference is noticeable. I attached a picture (sorry not the best, its from my Phone).

So I have a stock Evo in great mechanical condition with an ugly bumper and right fender. I don't have many choices, I can leave it as is or get the entire car painted. I'm not too keen on repainting the entire car because of the costs involved but at the same time the difference is irritating. What would you do?

 

Take it to a body shop that can color match the faded paint and just get that corner resprayed.

Josh

 

I've seen a paint blend into the old color (painting the panels that were not damaged) so that it fades from newer paint (front end) to the older, untouched paint (rear end). Sometimes it would take painting half of the car, so the cost would not be much less than painting the whole car.

Or, find someone that will paint it on the side. I know a few guys local that paint for really good prices, they use the booth at their work and pocket the rest.

 

Clearly, it's too late to go back in time and look for a better paint shop. Given your description, it doesn't seem like the old paint was deoxidized/polished at any point during the process. That's where I'd start. The easiest and quickest route is a chemical cleaner. Depending on its impact, the paint would need to be polished. This process can transform faded paint. There's a bit more to this and if you're interested I can go into detail. Or, you can stop by the detailing forum.