Paint question

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Not sure when I noticed this but I've noticed that the paint on my beater Camry doesn't quite match. Now, since the clear coat is shot it really doesn't matter, but it makes me wonder: was my car in an accident years ago, and the paint just faded differently, because it was repainted?

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Originally Posted by KrisZ
Yup, it was repainted. This vintage Camry's had a paint matching problem between the bumpers and the rest of the body from the factory, but the paint on the body itself had no such issues.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking--if it was just the bumper it'd be that, but body panels, nope. Whoever did it, did a decent enough job, I've not had problems with anything oddball (missing brackets, overspray, etc), other than recently the rear likes to toe in (and after 200k is it really unexpected?).
 
My guess is that the door was either repaired and repainted or replaced with a junkyard door.
The handle paint color seems to match the rear quarter based on what I am seeing in the picture.
 
I had myself convinced for a bit that it was the rear quarter panel that was painted, as it is the only section of paint that doesn't have clearcoat problems! More looking though and now I'm wondering if someone repainted everything on the car but that rear quarter panel, as the door jambs look more like that area than the doors, hood and other fenders do.

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I've driven it for 3 years, so if it was wrecked and fixed, then I certainly haven't found issue with the way it drives (other than it drives like every other boring Camry out there).

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Originally Posted by Gebo
How does the rear door compare to the driver's door?

I didn't snap a pic when I went out at lunch, but I'd say all four doors and both front fenders all match. Hood, roof, trunklid, no clear coat so unknown, but they are certainly a darker shade than I'd expect.
 
Originally Posted by WhyMe
if you know someone with a thickness meter you can check to see if the paint thickness is uniform


Great call. You are 100% correct. You can buy one for about $50. They are called "Paint Spys". The "Your Car Angel" website has them for sale.
 
Usually only horizontal surfaces will lose the clear coat. It happens to TONS of cars here in the desert. Vertical surfaces are fine.

That's how my Camry is (maroon). But the hood I think has been repainted, it's still fine.
 
To my eyes and from your pic's, it looks as though ONLY panels were replaced with those from a very similarly colored Camry. Maybe from a different year or two('97-'98). You know how car companies change/eliminate some colors while keeping them similar? Or the dye lots are way off.

Can you see a paint edge inside on the door jamb? This is often a clue that there has been paint work done.
To my eyes, it looks like a pewter or titanium colored car matched with gold or champagne color.

Perfect for a beater!
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My MIL had a Camry v6 of that era and the same color. The colors didn't match, and faded at vastly different rates (in a tropical climate) between the horizontal and vertical surfaces. Very poor quality paint Toyota seemed to use on those.

But color mismatch is common between metal and plastic parts. Our odyssey was hit and the rear bumper cover damaged. Replaced it with OE parts and it was incredible how much better the match was after a real auto body shop that truly does quality work handled it, versus the factory!!
 
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