Halfords Car Paint review

catsmaty

I bought a paint spray from halfords, Unfortunately it didn't work for me, I trusted them and painted the whole bonnet and ended up paying 300 euro for a professional to fix it.
It didn't say on the tin to test it on a patch and was never told to do so, I trusted that will be a perfect match, the Manager was unfriendly and was using a bad tone when speaking, I would advice anyone not to buy their paint.

T-Maxx

And I would advise anyone not to paint a car's bonnet with a rattle can and expect a perfect match and finish.:eek:

catsmaty

you are right, that was a mistake

Owen

Apart from the fact that you shouldn't use an aerosol to paint your bonnet, Halfords, in my personal experience, have never had an actual colour in their aerosols that corresponds to the paint code on the label. I've mistakenly trusted the labels 3 times now, and each time it's been a completely different shade.

ronanc15

catsmaty wrote: »

I bought a paint spray from halfords, Unfortunately it didn't work for me, I trusted them and painted the whole bonnet and ended up paying 300 euro for a professional to fix it.

It didn't say on the tin to test it on a patch and was never told to do so, I trusted that will be a perfect match, the Manager was unfriendly and was using a bad tone when speaking, I would advice anyone not to buy their paint.

If it was that easy to do, a professional wouldnt be charging 300 to do it!!:rolleyes:

Ive used their paint to do a rocker cover before and it was a1

Mr.David

catsmaty wrote: »

It didn't say on the tin to test it on a patch and was never told to do so,

did it say on the tin to point the nozzle towards the car?

Did it say not to drink the spray paint?

come on, in fairness a bit of common sense goes a long way.

pburns

'Husqvarna sold me this chainsaw and it never said in the instructions not to use it to clip my toenails':rolleyes:

Who sprays an entire bonnet with a bloody aerosol can?

Blame your own naievity not Halfords.

jvc

catsmaty wrote: »

I bought a paint spray from halfords, Unfortunately it didn't work for me, I trusted them and painted the whole bonnet and ended up paying 300 euro for a professional to fix it.

It didn't say on the tin to test it on a patch and was never told to do so, I trusted that will be a perfect match, the Manager was unfriendly and was using a bad tone when speaking, I would advice anyone not to buy their paint.

Was it one you picked up off the shelf or was it one they made up for you to match the paint code of your car?

woody33

I have to say Tom in Halford's Waterford goes out of his way to get a good match. He made up a batch as per the VW code, but then when he brought it out to the car, he wasn't happy and sent away for slightly different tints. All for €6 worth of stone chip touchup paint. I did find the paint dried too quickly for me to brush onto slightly larger spots, but that could be down to me.

TomMc

Takes me back to my youth respraying my bicycle.

Seriously OP, touch up paint is best kept for stone chips or very minor bumper repairs, not much else. You cannot expect to respray a whole body panel properly with a spray can. And if the paint colour was 100% you would still make a hames of it. Without lots of prep beforehand and several layers of clear afterwards, it would still look awful.

It depends on the colour to an extent, but even with the exact colour it would nearly always turn out a different shade. That is why bodyshops are forced to respray perfectly good (adjoining) panels to blend in same. Colour matching is a real skill developed over years and years of practise. 300 quid to respray a bonnet isn't that expensive so your kind of lucky it wasn't a more costly error.

catsmaty

jvc wrote: »

Was it one you picked up off the shelf or was it one they made up for you to match the paint code of your car?

It was suppose to be the exact coded colour according to their specifics catalogue.

catsmaty

For those two big headed sarcastic members who replied above, there is no need to be awful, lots of people would do this mistake, if someone tells you this is the coded colour for your car, then why not to respray the bonnet?
Especially if they don't say this is for small patches or it is only a touch up paint?

catsmaty

TomMc wrote: »

Takes me back to my youth respraying my bicycle.

Seriously OP, touch up paint is best kept for stone chips or very minor bumper repairs, not much else. You cannot expect to respray a whole body panel properly with a spray can. And if the paint colour was 100% you would still make a hames of it. Without lots of prep beforehand and several layers of clear afterwards, it would still look awful.

It depends on the colour to an extent, but even with the exact colour it would nearly always turn out a different shade. That is why bodyshops are forced to respray perfectly good (adjoining) panels to blend in same. Colour matching is a real skill developed over years and years of practise. 300 quid to respray a bonnet isn't that expensive so your kind of lucky it wasn't a more costly error.

Thank you for you honest and polite reply.

catsmaty

T-Maxx wrote: »

And I would advise anyone not to paint a car's bonnet with a rattle can and expect a perfect match and finish.:eek:

That was suppose to be the exact coded colour and not off the shelf.

beam99

Just a little bit of advice, a colour code off a car is only a reference, you then have to check is there any colour varience ( different shades ) I have seen many body shops paint bonnets, even then it is not a 100% match to the rest of the car, they then have to fade the paint out into the wings to get it 100%.

TomMc

Well Op, you were quick to trash Halfords over a tin of paint, so you have kind of brought criticism back on yourself. A bad workman blames their tools.

If I was to go and buy any motor manufactures OEM paint, the exact colour say metallic silver, that very same paint would produce several different shades depending on how I applied it. You would notice the difference, when you place a repainted panel and an original factory one side by side. They would stick out like a sore thumb. The skill is in blending them in.

Sorry for your troubles.

CreepingDeath

catsmaty wrote: »

It didn't say on the tin to test it on a patch and was never told to do so,

Ah now, do you still have the spray can there ?

I've a can of Halfords Toyota Lucerne Silver metalic spray paint in front of me now.

Here's what it says

Halfords Spray can wrote:

This paint is colour matched to the original standards used at the time the vehicle was manufactured. However car paints are susceptible to ageing, oxidation and colour fade. Therefore a perfect colour match cannot always be guaranteed. Whilst ideal for repairs, these aerosols are not intended for respraying an entire vehicle.

Always test on an inconspicuous area

Masada

Halfords paint can vary wildly, it really depends on where you get it and how good the guy is at making it.
A friend of mine works for halfords and they leave all the paint mixing to him, the other guys get more complaints when they do it so he gets asked to look after it.

the fact that it didnt match could be down to a load of different things though, like how many layers were applied, the base colour of the piece you were painting, and the freshness of the paint in comparison to the car, if the car was a few years old it might be slightly more dull than it used to be.

Some of the comments do seem a bit harsh but in all fairness, you tried to do a pro's job and failed miserably, inevitable if you dont know what you are doing.
that's hardly the fault of the guys in halfords. you could paint a bonnet with aerosols no probs, but it also requires you know what you are doing and that the most important step, the preperation is done correctly.

thethedev

:pPfft! I painted my car with a roller and it worked out fine!!
But then it was solid white.....

bazz26

To be honest Halfords is the last place I would go to looking for paint for a car, whether it be made up paint, aerosol or touch up paint.

If my car needed more than a touch up I would have it done professionally as I would not have the skill to do a good enough job myself. For chips I order a touch up kit from the main dealer, these touch up kits are not expensive and the dealer orders it via your car's VIN meaning the paint colour is a perfect match. I paid €10 for a touch up paint kit from the dealer last time.

Owen

The issue is as some have stated, the staff in Halfords mix the aerosols as stock is depleted. You have to be 110% accurate with the amounts your putting in, because not only will it affect the colour, but the size of the fleck in the metallic/pearl can vary also. Having young staff poorly trained is the cause of this variation.

MinnyMinor

I knew someone years ago who painted a whole car with a paint brush:D

EPM

Please try not to drag up old threads.

Closed.