paint concern for 2014 ruby red tinted clearcoat owners

[lkatze2]

I just purchased a used 2014 Ruby red tinted clearcoat titanium from a Ford dealer, that claimed there were no previous accidents. After a few weeks I noticed that both bumpers have a slightly different shade of red. It is very noticeable from a distance and not so noticeable from very close. It does not appear to be caused by shade or sunlight or angle of bumpers. The front bumper appears to be darker, while the rear bumper appears to be lighter than the rest of the paint. I inspected it real close and there does not appear to be any signs the bumpers were repainted, but I am not 100% sure. Has any body else that owns this color experienced this issue? I would like to know if this is normal before I take it back to the dealer for a warranty issue.

[Griswald]

Plastic vs. metal, they may have never appeared the same. Go to a lot and compare.

[Cobra348]

Different lots of the paint mix can also have this effect. I had a '12 Ruby Red Fiesta that had the same issue and I bought it brand new.

[ElectricFan69]

I just purchased a used 2014 Ruby red tinted clearcoat titanium from a Ford dealer, that claimed there were no previous accidents. After a few weeks I noticed that both bumpers have a slightly different shade of red. It is very noticeable from a distance and not so noticeable from very close. It does not appear to be caused by shade or sunlight or angle of bumpers. The front bumper appears to be darker, while the rear bumper appears to be lighter than the rest of the paint. I inspected it real close and there does not appear to be any signs the bumpers were repainted, but I am not 100% sure. Has any body else that owns this color experienced this issue? I would like to know if this is normal before I take it back to the dealer for a warranty issue.

Sadly, it's not particularly uncommon, and not confined to a singly color or manufacturer. Being a red, and a tinted clear-coat metallic, this paint is likely to be particularly susceptible to the different-base-material fade, and noticeable difference of paint 'flop' as the cars are painted.

 

The other explanation is that the bumper skins were repainted due to scratches that didn't warrant an accident report. For example, my '08 TCH could stand to have the bumpers re-sprayed due to "love bug" damage on the front (these are nasty little insects that have seasonal swarms, and whose splots dissolve paint), and due to luggage loading carelessness that scratched up the rear bumper skin. Neither type of damage involved a collision of note - but both bumper skins have blemishes that should be fixed. Could be the dealer made a 'it seemed a good idea at the time' decision to do a re-spray in preparation to resell the car.

Edited January 2, 2016 by ElectricFan69

[hybridbear]

I just purchased a used 2014 Ruby red tinted clearcoat titanium from a Ford dealer, that claimed there were no previous accidents. After a few weeks I noticed that both bumpers have a slightly different shade of red. It is very noticeable from a distance and not so noticeable from very close. It does not appear to be caused by shade or sunlight or angle of bumpers. The front bumper appears to be darker, while the rear bumper appears to be lighter than the rest of the paint. I inspected it real close and there does not appear to be any signs the bumpers were repainted, but I am not 100% sure. Has any body else that owns this color experienced this issue? I would like to know if this is normal before I take it back to the dealer for a warranty issue.

Take a look at the PDF in this post: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9347-recalls-csps-gsms-and-outstanding-field-service-actions-fsas/?p=100763

[lkatze2]

thanks everybody for the responses. I am definitely going to try to find another fusion with the same color to see if it has the same inconsistency in the paint. I am leaning toward the idea that the bumpers were repainted by the dealer due to scratches, before the car was sold to me, but i am not 100% sure. I looked real close to see if there were any signs of taping and overspray, especially on the parking sensors, but the edges of the bumpers/sensors/fenders look real clean. I did notice a very small amount of "orange peel". If it was repainted they must have removed the sensors, since it is hard to tape them perfectly.

[corncobs]

We have two Ruby Red cars (FFH & Explorer) and they both have that color differences between the plastic and metal parts.

My FFH was also brand new and I have seen other cars not just Ford that appear to have slightly different paint shade between different surfaces.

[talmy]

My parents warned me to never buy a red car because of fading problems. That was 50 years ago. Ever since every time I've gone out to buy a car I've wanted to get it in red but was never successful. So just call me envious, even if your reds don't match!

[FernMTL]

Previous Mustang's Gen had the same issue. The bumpers were slightly different than the metal parts. And that's for all of them.

[lkatze2]

After reading the responses and viewing another ruby red fusion, it does appear that this is "normal" for that color on the fusions. It is extremely dissapointing that Ford would allow this "poor " paint job from the factory. I understand that the bumpers are plastic and the fenders/doors/hood are metal, but that is no excuse for paint that does not match. I have seen other auto manufacturers use similar colors and not have an inconsistent paint job. If Ford cannot put out a consistent paint scheme in the ruby red color then they should not sell this color.

[lkatze2]

just a follow up on paint color not matching. I just had the rear bumper and fender painted due to an accident. The color on the bumper now matches the rest of the car. The dealer was able to blend the color to make it match. The dealer told me this was a common issue with that color. He told me that many times the bumpers are painted at different locations from where the rest of the car is painted. I am not sure if what the dealer said is true or just a snow job, but at least the color matches. BTW, they said that repainting the bumper due to shade differences in the color, would not be covered under warranty.