hoping to pick some brains. Thanks in advance for the help.

I just purchased a newer used Honda Odyssey van for my wife from a car lot. Upon arrival to purchase the vehicle the salesmen promptly explained that the front bumper, hood and mirrors are going to be re-painted at their "professional" body shop so don't worry about the chipped up paint. We were not told about the chipped paint prior to making the 3 hour trip.

I thought ok, well if they are willing to re-paint the panels thats fine, I'm ok with that. They just said we would have to schedule with their body guy when he calls us.

we made a deal, and they did write it in the contract that it included the re-paint.

We were leaving to head home and I asked the salesman if they send the body work to a local body shop, or do they have a body shop at one of their other locations. The salesman told me that they paint the vehicles in the two portable car awnings over in the gravel area behind the lot and he walked off.

He can't be serious! I'm not a body guy but I know dang well you can't get a quality job painting in a dang car awning on a gravel surface. And they call that their "professional" body shop! However at that point we were done with the day, tired and ready to leave.

so basically I'm trying to arm myself with as much information as I can when their body guy calls to schedule the drop off of the vehicle. The vehicle is a Honda Odyssey van in black. When I look closely it has some light metal flake in the color.

First off I want to know, to correctly match the paint, which kind of paint must he use? Is this a 2 stage base/clear to correctly match? or can a single stage urethane paint be used and correctly match?

I just need to know all the right questions to ask him when he calls to make sure some cheap crappy paint job doesn't get put on my wife's $25k van I just got her.

Thank you in advance for the help.

they are going to use a "lot guy" a mobile paint guy sits on his lot touching up cars all day.
it works to some degree and some are very good at it and others plain suck. hard to say because you could get either guy. but if it was me id barter for a few bucks off or extra key and key fob etc.... bumpers chip and yours will chip again

before dropping it off, look around the grille and bumper cover ends- where they meet the fenders. the paint will be nice and clean there.snap some pics. pop the hood and snap some pics along the edges of the engine compartment and the hood itself. also the mirrors. what youre lookin for is smooth paint and after ya get it back, it should look exactly the same- no paint built up in the seeems, no tape lines anywhere, no overspray.
get it in the sun and look for color match before signing anything.

its a common practice for dealerships to have lot guys. anything to up the profit. if they have a body shop, they dont want to plug that up with chip repair.
as dave said, some of them lot guys are pretty dam good. some not.
hope it goes good for you.

They did say complete re-paint of the panels so its def not going to be a touch up job. The previous owner tailgated semi trucks on the highway, or it was towed behind a motorhome or something, because its pretty bad. As far as negotiating at this point, the deal has been done so don't think there is much negotiating that can be done at this point.

I should have questioned their "professional" body shop right after they said it, however they have several locations so I thought it isn't too far fetched for them to have an actual paint booth at one of their locations.

To match the factory paint, must it be a 2 stage paint job? or can a single stage paint match the factory black with metal flake?

If a single stage will work, what kinds should be used?

Any brands to avoid?

I want to inform myself with the information so when I ask him I'll know what to allow to be put on the vehicle, or what to kindly decline be put on the vehicle.

Tomsteve good tips, I'll do that for sure.

Thank you very much for your guys time.

Okay, let me take a crack at some information with you... First, yeah, it is a touch-up job in my opinion, even if you are doing whole panels. I'm a furniture touch-up pro. myself and I do tops, whole sides, hell, even whole pieces sometimes by filling, coloring, blending, sealing, and topcoating right in the home or office. And, yes, I have very specific materials designed for that... A few guys that have trained/worked with me over the years even switched over from woods to become mobile car touch-up guys. Some are franchised and have the deluxe mobile set-up in a large truck with inflatable paint booth and mini-color mixing bank, 4 to 6 stage turbine system right in the truck. Others simply have a "hit list" of the factory codes/finishes that have been emailed to them so they can pick them up at their jobber before they hit their assigned lots. Now the rub comes more with just how talented a guy is rather than what specific brand or stages of paint he will use on your job. And you are not going to be able to control "what" they put on there..... And here is why, if a talented touch-up guy that can do almost invisible work is forced to use spec. products that he may have never used before what do you think your chances of getting invisible work? In higher level conservation (these are usually historically significant pieces) and restoration furniture work committees try that same line with me.... We want you to only use "blah, blah, blah" only in this project. My answer to that is, "Look, do you want my best work or not?" So, it's either my way or I'm outta there.....
Honestly, I think the biggest tradeoff with some of these guys work is if they make sure their work is all buttoned up with at least 2 to 3 coats of clear 2k for durability. We've got one guy here in town that does pretty good work like this but finishes up with some kind of cheap 1k clear. Looks great for a few months, then peeling, chipping,etc., comes back.

I don't want to scare or intimidate, you but I had a friend that was an auto detailer/ body man at a dealership. I also use to do touchups for a dealership locally, when I could work them in. i'm going to tell you right off its a used car, they got your money, and they have to pay some one to do the repairs. your going to get the cheapest job they can do. to repair the front of a rock chipped car anywhere near right is a lot of work, they aren't going to want to pay someone to do that. my bet is they are going to lightly rub it with a scuff pad, maybe. then shoot 1 coat of base and 1 coat of clear, and use the cheapest materials known. then call you to come and get it. if it all possible I would try and stop by and watch the job being done if your that concerned about it.
I could be wrong there might be a dealer that cares, but the chances are slim.
sorry Jay D.

Yeah, it's a shame but it is about getting stuff rapidly out the door most of the time with used cars. The one mobile touch-up guy I know has almost exclusively quit working for dealerships and works direct for the consumer now. They kept beating him down on pricing and suggesting he use crap for materials to achieve that end.

yep as above. I use to get a car from the dealer, sales mng. would say just make the front all one color another words he meant scuff it if I wanted to and shoot it. don't spend time sanding any chips out and I need it back the next day. then they wanted to beat me down on the cost. anyway our working relationship didn't last to long. every now and then I would get a higher end used car and they would give me a little more leeway but needed to keep the cost down.
Jay D.