Expert: William Forster - 12/10/2006

Question
i was involved in an accident with a black 2005 toyota harrier.  my bike handle bar scratched/scuffed the gas tank cover.  is it possible to touch up only the gas tank cover without having to respray the entire rear panel? would blending colours in this situation be too difficult?
thanks

Answer
I am not familiar with how well Toyota black paint matches. It may be necessary to blend the entire quarter for the gas door to not stick out, and scream "I was painted". Modern paints are designed to be blended, and colors only have a "ball park" match. That is why we blend. Tinting is an option, but I don't know anyone who will tint paint for 3 hours to get paid an hour to paint a gas door. I know I wont. If you caused the damage, just suck it up, and pay to do it properly. It wasn't there before you caused it to be there, and no one else should suffer due to someone else negligence. Sorry to be so blunt, but I get a lot of questions like this, where folks think they are being overcharged for repair work for damage they caused on someone else vehicle. Take it to court, and I promise you, you will walk away having to still pay full pony, plus court costs. Not worth it, my friend. Bill