SCRS asked the following four questions of the refinish manufacturers:

1. Is blending the basecoat recommended by your company to achieve proper color match between panels?

2. Is tinting the basecoat material a recommended procedure to achieve a proper color match to the vehicle's existing refinish?

3. Are procedures such as tinting and blending commonly performed in conjunction with each other, or are they redundant processes?

4. Does your company recommend performing one, or both, of these processes to achieve a proper color match on the repaired vehicle?

The SCRS said that the overall conclusions from the responses were consistent with SCRS's position on this issue: that research of the color code and existing variations provided by the refinish manufacturer and blending of the color coat are both recommended operations to perform an acceptable match. Also, if the refinish technician performing the repair determines that the color variance requires adjustment, it's a consistent recommendation to tint to a blendable match. Finally, when tinting is necessary for color adjustment, it's always done in conjunction with blending.

SCRS has posted the responses from each refinish manufacturer on its website (click HERE). 

SCRS researched this topic due to feedback received from its membership. The initial notification came from membership in the Northeast and indicated that several large-size carriers had made the determination on "tint or blend" within a relatively short time period of one another and had begun to implement the approach within the marketplace.

Upon polling other markets, SCRS discovered that the practice was growing across the country.

"In our refinish department, it's not unusual to both tint and blend the paint to achieve a proper color match," said Shannon Chambers, head painter at Dingman's Collision Center in Omaha, Neb. "In talking with our estimators, I know they're getting more and more pressure to reduce the estimate costs, but these are operations that I have to perform to live up to our customer's expectations of our shop. In addition to the tinting and blending, I have more time spent than ever researching the color tools and indexes that we have; these are steps that I have to go through if I want to do repairs the right way."

"The insurance companies that aren't willing to pay for the necessary operations like these are trying to lower the industry standard simply because it adds to their bottom line," said Kye Yeung, owner and head painter for European Motor Car Works in Santa Ana, Calif. "If they were interested in raising the standard, they would spend more time listening to the craftsmen in our industry without the need for all this additional labor and documentation.

"The key element we're  dealing with is that you have a 'recipe' to make a certain color rendition. All the manufacturers have different raw materials, and you often have to adjust to compensate for minor differences in those raw materials. Especially in areas where we're now painting with water and working on vehicles originally painted with solvent, it's important to understand the materials, how they react to one another and the processes we need to undergo to achieve that color match.

"For 20 years, operations like this weren't an issue, and yet suddenly you get insurance adjusters coming in stating they aren't allowed to pay for it anymore, even though they could yesterday. Customers today are far more particular about their vehicles, with the majority of them being concerned about the color matching after the repair. The refinish work is one of the primary results of our labor that they can actually see. In my mind, color tinting and blending are necessary operations that can't be arbitrarily dismissed."

Read paint manufacturers' response to SCRS's questions on tint or blend

SCRS