OEM Paint Sticks?

[BoSNiaN]

Has anyone else actually used them on the car? There are a few scratches on my body from my previous owner that I wanted to touch up so the dealership ordered a dolphin grey one in for me based of my VIN and it was ~$15. Now, that was last summer and I just got around to using it and the patch match is HORRIBLE The paint in the stick is wayyyy too dark and I am so glad I only put a drop on a door blade because it really sticks out, even when it fully dried.....Even still, I'll have to use paint thinner or something to get it off because it is noticable. The paint stick name is "dolphin grey metallic" and I had never heard the word metallic used for dolphin grey so that was my first thought (that there are different dolphin greys) but when I went to the dealership, the guy said nope there is only one and the part number for that paint sticks I was given is the exact ones I need according to Elsa and my VIN.

Not only did I waste $15 and my time, but now I don't have any way to cover up those few scractches.....Anyone know what is going on? Should I look for aftermarket Audi Dolphin Grey paint sticks? Certainly couldn't be any worse of a match than the official Audi ones....

[drumnjuny]

my shit has mega chips in it :(

i only used a touch up kit once, and it was on a bmw... but dear god it made a few semi-noticable scratches look.... SO much worse haha... and very noticable

[desmo]

you might try here: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

By the way, to your eye, is your paint metallic, or not?

[BoSNiaN]

you might try here: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

By the way, to your eye, is your paint metallic, or not?

I'm no expert on paint so I'll leave that up to you to debate Plenty of pics in my signature link. According to that site though, there are 3 different kinds of dolphin grey but I am sure mine is LX7Z Dolphin Gray.

By the way, OEM part number for dolphin grey is LST-0M2-X7Z if that helps anything.....Can paint expire? What about in a year? Maybe it had something to do with sitting in my garage for a year...

[desmo]

if it sat in your garage for a year, and particularly if your garage is unheated, that could definitely affect the paint.

[cheemn]

I used the same OEM Audi paint pen on my Ibis and it was not even close!!!!!!!!! My paint was new when I used it and my car is garaged!

[BoSNiaN]

Well, I am ready to try anything at this point....Kinda retarded if you ask me that so many of us have had bad experiences with the OEM paint sticks being off, but has anybody had good luck with any 3rd party brands?

If so, which company specifically made them, what much was it, and how was the color match?

[Schweini]

Yeah, I bought a Brilliant Black paint pen and it sucks balls. No matter how many coats I add, it never seems to blend in to the car, now I'm left with horrible blotches and I just don't care to buff out. Honestly think the scratches and dents were less visible than the pen

[doublezero30]

the full name is dolphin grey metallic. just because you never read it on here doesnt mean its not correct, it just means AZ is lazy. look at any website that will make you paint (automotive touchup, paintscratch, etc) even ebay sellers selling those stupid "m3" spoilers call it dolphin grey metallic. with touch up paint you REALLY need to mix it up well, and also apply it in very light coats. otherwise, like what is happening to you, it will look too dark. i have learned this through personal experience, and now every customer that buys touchup paint from me i tell them this. regardless, i think touchup paint always looks shitty.

[BoSNiaN]

I just bought 2 aftermarket paint sticks on ebay to try out....Couldn't find any locally. Both are labelled as "LX7Z Audi Dolphin Grey" so we will see what happens and I'll take pics along the way....Certainly couldn't be any worse of a match than the OEM stick

[Sly Raskal]

Although I haven't tried them, I heard from someone that Dr Color Chip is great. I have a spot on the corner of my door blade that needs touch up due to my stupidity and been thinking about trying them out. Also have a rock chip on the edge of my hood that also needs touchup.

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

[Hugh@EuropaParts]

I got a "paint kit" from m y body shop... matches PERFECTLY!

[CorneliusRox]

OP, I have had similar issues of it being way too dark. You're going to kick yourself when I tell you how I used the same paint later on and it matched perfect.

...I shook it up for about 5-8minutes while walking around the house doing other things. That shaking made it match dead on.

[blancoA4]

I recently had my front right fender repaired (the first owner hit something) and had them give me a small bottle of extra paint to use as touch- up paint. I think they did a great job of matching the paint, but ibis white can't be that hard of a color to match....lol.

[Jay-Bee]

I got a "paint kit" from m y body shop... matches PERFECTLY!

I recently had my front right fender repaired (the first owner hit something) and had them give me a small bottle of extra paint to use as touch- up paint. I think they did a great job of matching the paint, but ibis white can't be that hard of a color to match....lol.

My car is at the body shop now, i asked them for some of the color matched paint, they said no prob!

I'm gonna have a freshly painted front bumper, both fenders, and the rear driver's side quarter arch... and a hood that's all chipped to hell, haha... no extra monies to throw down for the hood, oh well. Gonna have enough to touch it up and hopefully it looks decent!

[blancoA4]

^^ haha. Well maybe no one will notice...

[doublezero30]

OP, I have had similar issues of it being way too dark. You're going to kick yourself when I tell you how I used the same paint later on and it matched perfect.

...I shook it up for about 5-8minutes while walking around the house doing other things. That shaking made it match dead on.

this is because the paint is metallic. the metallic flakes need a LOT of mixing to match right.

[BoSNiaN]

I got a "paint kit" from m y body shop... matches PERFECTLY!

Do you mean like you were getting something else painted and they put some of the paint in a can for you or? If not, please recommend the maker of said perfect match paint and what color

[BoSNiaN]

You're going to kick yourself when I tell you how I used the same paint later on and it matched perfect.

...I shook it up for about 5-8minutes while walking around the house doing other things. That shaking made it match dead on.

Thanks for the tip man but it didn't work Fapped the stick as I walked around my garage for at LEAST 10 minutes and put a 2nd layer over the spot I put the initial spot (that came out too dark) and the paint came out equally as dark....Ordered 2 different ebay "dolphin greys" so I hope they are a better match to a) cover that point and b) fix other scratches. If they are equally as bad, I'll have to look into a paint remover or something else to get the dark spot out.....

[Extreme-AutoWerks]

Although I haven't tried them, I heard from someone that Dr Color Chip is great. I have a spot on the corner of my door blade that needs touch up due to my stupidity and been thinking about trying them out. Also have a rock chip on the edge of my hood that also needs touchup.

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

X2 has worked miracles for our customers ...

on a side note .. you can order the factory paint in a small spray can form right from the dealer .. it works very well if you know what your doing.

[Sly Raskal]

X2 has worked miracles for our customers ...

on a side note .. you can order the factory paint in a small spray can form right from the dealer .. it works very well if you know what your doing.

Alex! Now I remember, it was you that told me that. I couldn't remember who it was. Thanks for the tip again!

[BoSNiaN]

X2 has worked miracles for our customers ...

on a side note .. you can order the factory paint in a small spray can form right from the dealer .. it works very well if you know what your doing.

I do not when it comes to painting so I will hope one of those 2 ebay sticks will do the trick, if not, I'll give dr.colorchip a shot.....So far, I've wasted at least $30-40 and dr.colorchip would be another $20-25 shipped

[BoSNiaN]

Sometimes I am too hard on the Chinese eBay paint stick came in last week and it is a 99.9% match....MUCH better than even the OEM one. Covered up the spot I used the OEM paint stick on and did a few more smaller nicks on the car. Below is a sample pic of the color match: