For every car manufacturer, there is a listing of all models of cars made in each calendar year. Each model comes in different colours, and all of these cars are registered in a database linked to the serial numbers, or VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of the car. No two (legally registered) vehicles have the same VIN number, throughout North America. If you have a Ford, you go into a Ford dealership parts and service counter. They will be able to provide you with the UPC codes for the paints that were used in your specific vehicle. You can order the paint then and there, or take the information home to compare prices online.
Any coatings, undercoatings or interior paints will be included in the list of paints associated with your specific car as well. But the problem starts to become apparent when you compare the original paint with what is currently on your car. Exposure to the elements, extreme heat and cold, driving rain and heavy winds, laced with sand and other airborne debris, driving along the highway all take their toll on your cars paint job. As does the Sun. Parking your car in direct exposure to the Sun will drastically fade the colour of your car’s paint. It becomes apparent that a complete paint job will be necessary, no patch-working is likely for any cars older than three or four years old. It is always best to have a professional paint your car, as they can properly bake the paint at an even temperature, with no chance of foreign objects attaching to your paint. The cost of a basic paint job, with one coating of wax baked onto your car will be worth the cost difference as opposed to buying six to eight cans of paint and finding a place to paint your car free of airborne particles like sand, hairs pollens and dirt.
If you park your car outside with no protection from the Sun, the colour will fade and become less shiny with time. Matching car paint colours becomes an act of complete sufferance, because there will not be an exact match. There are some car paint suppliers who claim that their paints will blend and take the original colour of your vehicle, but there are people who will sell you swampland as prime waterfront property. For minor paint chips or small scratches, order two cans of paint from your car manufacturer based on your vehicle’s VIN number. You can purchase some good quality wax and make the paint shine like a mirror with a little elbow grease.
Online car paint suppliers can take your VIN number and a very small chip of paint off of your car, and make a perfect paint colour match, and supply it in an aerosol spray can. This is more expensive than buying the original paint from the manufacturer, but the paint will match what your car looks like now, not when it rolled off of the assembly line. Decide which you want first, and then decide whether the extra $250 or so to get a smaller car painting company to do a basic paint job is worth it or not. And it really should be worth it, because $250 to $400 will get you a very nice paint job with a great shine nowadays.
If body work is required then that price goes up, but for the quality of the paint job, and care for no foreign objects being painted onto your car, the price really is worth what you get. And you can choose between how your car looks now, or how it looked the day it rolled off of the assembly line.
