Painting a car is one of the most common collision repair and auto body projects. Painting can also be one of the most common projects where mistakes are made. Painting mistakes can be hard to spot until they become a serious cosmetic problem. Whether you’re a customer who is painting their own car or a collision repair technician, there are some red flags you should watch out for after your paint job is complete. As one of the northeast’s top auto body part suppliers, our article this week will focus on 5 ways to spot a bad paint job on a vehicle.

1.You notice the new color doesn’t match. Matching colors is one of the hardest parts of painting a car. It is also one of the mistakes that is the hardest to notice. It is even hard to notice in artificial light but can be more obvious if you look at the paint closely in the sunlight.

2.The paint has an uneven texture. If you notice that the paint has ripples and waves after it dries, it was likely applied or sprayed incorrectly. Paint that is spayed to close to the vehicle’s surface often has this problem. When an auto body technician is trying to paint the car in a rush, they may not wait until the first layer is dried before applying the next coat. This is the most common cause of uneven texture in paint.

3.The paint is runny and sagging. If you have drippy looking paint, it was probably mixed incorrectly. It can also be caused by painting a layer that is too thick. A layer of paint that is too thick will run when placed under a heat lamp. If that starts to happen, you may have to start the layer over again.

4.Sections of paint have overspray. Some auto body shops try to get their painting done in a hurry. When they are in a hurry, they often forget to mask off the area around the spot that is being painted. The panels that aren’t masked off often have paint overspray on the surface. The paint overspray is often hard to remove and may require painting more sections to resolve the problem.

5.You notice stains bleeding through the paint. If the vehicle surface is not primed correctly, stains will bleed through. Make sure you or the technician apply the correct amount of primer before starting your painting job.