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I have a Nissan Leaf 2018, my paint colour code is 326 (inner door code) my receipt for the car states it's a "special solid - artic white". The dealer has checked and has confirmed it's a 326 colour code.

I have attempted a repair for a small chip on the back bumper and the primer/spray looks good but from a distance and in certain light I can see that the spray is brighter than the rest of the bumper. My car only has 12k miles and not older than 12 months and I don't live in a sunny country. So UV bleaching isn't the issue.

I haven't applied a clear coat yet... not sure if this will darken it, I also haven't colour sanded yet. My question is how can I correct the fact that the white is brighter? Why is a solid colour of white such a miss-match? I purchased the Nissan 326 white paint.

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    As you suspect, the clear coat may change the appearance. Also the surface texture can have an affect , eg "orange peel, or dry spray ( rough almost droplets ), or a final wet coat ( mostly solvent) to flow and level the surface . Also a pro will usually paint a whole panel ( bumper, quarter panel, hood, etc) and not paint only a patch.
    – blacksmith37
    May 27, 2019 at 19:06

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Once the touch up is complete (lacquer makes a significant difference to the way paint looks as it's refractive index and color transmission is quite a bit different from open air!).

You may still see a slight difference though - even a few microns difference in the paint depth can be noticeable if you are looking for it. Given you haven't sanded the touch up yet there's probably a significant amount more paint on there than the surrounding areas.

There's an additional factor in that even with the same color code different batches mixed on different days are going to have slight variations

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  • Thanks for the detailed answer, when you say lacquer do you mean clear coat? youtu.be/sNhcqmlB0aI
    – G Gr
    May 28, 2019 at 11:44
  • @GGr yep lacquer = clear coat. To reassure you I've seen this effect in most stone-chip repairs when it's pre-sanding + clear coat and the difference largely disappears once it's complete. Especially if you machine polish the finished panel to even out the clearcoat afterwards.
    – motosubatsu
    May 28, 2019 at 11:47
  • That's great, I may aswell attempt to finish it and see how it comes out then. If it still looks bad I can then decide if it needs a professional touch!
    – G Gr
    May 28, 2019 at 11:49
  • @GGr Hope it all goes well!
    – motosubatsu
    May 28, 2019 at 11:59

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