Front bumper paint mismatch on ordered car, what should I do?

[Rusherific]

So hello everyone! I wish this wasn't my first post on this forum, but I ordered a 350R a year ago and it finally made it to the dealership a week ago. They finally sent me pictures and I noticed that the front bumper looks a little off compared to the rest of the car. What makes this complicated is that I moved 400 miles away since I originally placed the order, so I can't check it out in person and I have a shipping service already scheduled to pick it up 2 days from now.

I've read up on bumper mismatch issues and understand already that it's 1) a common issue for many manufacturers and 2) a reality of mixing aluminum and plastic body panels from different suppliers so it's never going to be perfect and 3) that paint is more complex than just pure color, it can look right from one angle and not so good from a different angle or lighting condition. I get all that.

That said if it looks as bad in person as it does in these photos to me then I feel like that's unacceptable in a $72,000 car. I attached a couple of closeups from what they sent me, the left side is original, the right I enhanced a little bit just to make clear there is in fact a color difference (white can be hard on screens, I happen to have a really nice PC monitor at home for work which is probably the only reason I noticed it at all). I don't want this to turn into an argument about whether it's bad or not--there's no way for anyone to know from photos, it could be fine in person, or even worse, who knows!

What I want to know is, assuming it is bad, if anyone has dealt with Ford on this issue and whether they'd fix it under warranty. I've found a lot of threads about Tesla Model 3 owners with the same problem getting fixed by Tesla, but I don't know the reality of that with Ford. Can I wait for it to arrive for me to see for myself? Or do I need to refuse delivery if that's the only way to make them responsible for it? Maybe I'm being crazy, I dunno, just want to know my options.

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[ice445]

I can definitely see it on my home monitor as well. It's pretty bad. Is the base color Oxford white? The bumper almost looks like a more arctic white. Sometimes the sealer or ABS plastic type can cause color mismatch like this, but I would still push them to fix that. It's also unfortunately possible the car was damaged in transport and "fixed" by a body shop. Manufacturers don't have to report that to you.

I can't help with what options you may have as far as recourse, but I can confirm you aren't crazy.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Wow, that does look bad. I've seen differences between hood and bumper on new cars before, caused by the way paint tends to shine differently on plastic versus metal, but they were very, very subtle, only noticeable if you looked very hard and from a specific angle. Yours is really obvious. It's clearly abnormal.

 

[Ace]

You can always spot small differences on light colors, but this is really way too much. It looks like a completely different color tone. This is definitely a flaw from the factory that the dealer should fix before delivery and can get the money for that back from Ford.

 

[Soulja4187]

I say ask to get it fixed before you get it picked up otherwise no other dealer would touch it unless you call ford to explain your issue and see what they tell you. I bought my car from out or state and it had a seat rattle, paint chip between rear window and trunk and a broken seat trim. I had to fight a local dealer to have them fix it.

 

[Bikeman315]

Do you have anyone in the town where the car is located that can put eyes on it. The pictures certainly show a difference but as you already know pictures can be deceptive.

If not, it’s a crapshoot. You cannot refuse it. That would start a back and forth you will never win. You could ask the dealer to fix it but do you really want a brand new car that has been repainted? They could also replace the bumper put either of these fixes comes with a new bag of troubles. The real questions are how badly do you want this car? That’s the easy one. The hard one is what are you willing accept to get it?

 

[Soulja4187]

Do you have anyone in the town where the car is located that can put eyes on it. The pictures certainly show a difference but as you already know pictures can be deceptive.

If not, it’s a crapshoot. You cannot refuse it. That would start a back and forth you will never win. You could ask the dealer to fix it but do you really want a brand new car that has been repainted? They could also replace the bumper put either of these fixes comes with a new bag of troubles. The real questions are how badly do you want this car? That’s the easy one. The hard one is what are you willing accept to get it?

Also any repairs that are done on this car from this point on will be on the carfax. Do you really want that?

 

[Soulja4187]

Also the price on this car isnt cheap so if I was you I would invest in traveling there to see it yourself and make a determination if you could live with it or if you need to move on. But can you really move on if you already signed all documents?

I told myself I would never buy another black car but after seeing the paint match issues from factory and if I ever got in an accident matching any other paint would be a hit or miss. I just got black again

 

[WildHorse]

Looks like just some weird lighting to me.

 

[EvilMerlin]

I think its more weird lighting.

Keep in mind, as someone stated, paint reflects differently on different materials. CCD's in cameras see lights and reflections a lot differently than the human eye does.

You need to put some eyes on it fast.

 

[george g]

White paint that is thin will have a blue tint to it, and your's looks blueish.

 

[Ghost50]

I lean on it being the lighting too.

I know mine, depending on the lighting and angle, will look off as well.

With that being said the thin paint and the contrast in materials of the hood and bumper certainly stand out on these cars.

 

[njudd921]

Lighting and angles can be deceiving in pictures. It won’t be a 100% match because of the material being painted, but I don’t think it’s a different shade. Can’t you ask them for close ups?

 

[Crowd Hunter]

Bumper looks darker than the hood and fenders to me. I had a white Ford Edge that looked like this, and it bugged me from the day we bought it until the day we traded it.

 

[m3incorp]

Did you ask the dealer that sent the pics if they could tell a difference?