[CliveS]

A word of caution to anyone else that has a lithium White Ampera. As I had a couple of stone chips i ordered some touch up paint from my dealer who had to get it from Germany. I duly shook the pot for the required 2 minutes then applied it to the car. Instead of white it was a dirty grey. The dealer confirmed it was the correct paint code and sent the paint back to Vauxhall. They accepted it was not the correct colour and are having another pot sent from Germany but are concerned it may not be a one off. Vauxhall are saying that the dealer should, by using solvents be able to remove the defective paint and make good but the dealer has promised that if they can't then the front panel will be resprayed. I'll let you know how it goes.

CliveS

 

[Terry Cooper]

Aahhhh ....... not just me then, I have the same problem. Now those odd couple of stone chips look far worse than if I had left them. Did the dealership have any comments?

 

[Brett Sinclair]

I checked with a Vauxhall dealer when I bought my car and they confirmed that the UK doesn't keep stock of any touch-up paint for the Ampera, it's all held in Germany.

 

[Clive.S]

The second pot of touch up that came through from Germany was no better and eventually the dealer had a local paint shop touch it in. It wasn't perfect but was acceptable. Having learnt the lesson I then had the front of the car and mirrors clear wrapped with self healing film. That kept it clear of chips for the next 40,000 miles when I traded it in for the next one. My new one is also lithium white but I have now been lucky enough to find a man with a van that comes to me to do the touch ups and I defy anyone to see where he has painted. He mixes the paint in his van and adds various tints to the recommended mix until blends exactly. Unfortunately I think this is the only way.

 

[HandyAndy]

I have the cherry red metallic paint, and ordered a touch-up for where the back corner body got a bit rubbed. The colour of that was fine. As it's a brush-on job you can see where I did it, but it's low lown at the back where most people won't see it, and it's an improvement on the underlying black plastic so I'm happy with their red touch-up.

 

[The_Wiggster]

Hi @Clive.S , please can you advise home much it cost at the time to wrap as you have advised, as this is something I would like to get done to the front of the car?

Also with regards to the original post, my father in law is a panel beater by trade, I scraped the underside of my front bumper and also pranged the corner of the rear bumper (not at the same time), he could not locate the code for the paintwork on the Ampera so had to go straight to the dealer, but he did obtain and now has a supply of the correct paint (Lithium White), ready for my future accidents . Suffice to say it is an exact match and looks identical to the original...

 

[Clive.S]

Hi @The_Wiggster I had the full front bumper, headlights, fog lights, front third of the bonnet, wing ends and wing mirrors wrapped for £329 in November 2012. It was done by Autoworx in Beckenham who did the computerised cutting off the car so no damage was done to the paint. It took less than a day to do.
Glad to see you managed to sort out the paint matching.

 

[The_Wiggster]

Hi @Clive.S thanks you for the insight, it is much appreciated, did you tell your insurer? and if so did it alter your insurance premium, I realise that as you only applied a clear plastic it wouldn't have changed the exterior look but just interested..

 

[Clive.S]

I must admit that as the wrap did not alter the appearance (or add value) to the car, I did not advise my insurers. A lamp post leapt out at me (!) in a car park about a year later causing damage to the front quarter and my insurers paid for the repairs including new wrap to the wing and mirror without raising any questions.

 

[Gerald.Tomson]

I had a touch up stick from my local dealer in Silver Topaz. nothing like the cars colour at all...

 

[HandyAndy]

[QUOTE="Gerald.Tomson, post: 240442, member: 664"...Silver Topaz. nothing like the cars colour at all...[/QUOTE]
I've had a colour-matched bottle of metallic silver for a Mazda done at Halfords, where given the VIN and any other details they should (in theory) be able to look up your paint's info and they mix an assortment of paints to suit. It wasn't a perefect match for, but as that was a rusting banger it was a lot better than paying dealer price. Might be worth a punt, you never know, they may get it spot-on for you?