Edgy01

Well,--was I in for a shock this afternoon when my salesman passed this note on to me--I had ordered a "Paint To Sample" Gulf Blue #328...

"Thank you for the color code. I've inquired about this color and regret to inform you that the factory won't be able to get you this color. In fact, any light nonmetalic color won't be possible. Is there a substitute color your customer would like?

Best regards,

Gabriele McFarland
Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
European Delivery Dept. "

Anyone ever heard anything ELSE like this from Porsche? I've been driving Porsches since 1974 and ordered in the past and NEVER had this sort of response! When you say "Paint To Sample" that means ANYTHING to me! The email is odd in that it says they can't paint ANY light non-metallics.

Dan

Cab S
98 Non-Metallic Paint to Sample (Gulf Blue)
RA Natural Leather Cocoa
CUC Painted Model Desig Rear Lid
CO2 U.S. Standard Emissions
M6C Coco Floor Mats
P01L Adaptive Sports Sts Lthr Int
V5 Brown Top
XJT Rear Ctr. Console Makassar
XLF Sport Exhaust System
XSB Sport Seat Backs in Leather
Z0997 Custom Tailoring
2493 Exterior Color to Sample
342 Heated Front Seats
407 19" Sport Design Wheel
450 Ceramic Composite Brakes-PCCB
451 Makassar Str Whl Multifctn
482 TPMS
498 Delete Model Designation
550 Hard Top
640 Sport Chrono Package Plus
680 Bose High End Sound Package
789 997 Paint to Sample
801 Makassar Package
TD5 Tourist Delivery

996toomey

I would look into that further. Doesn't sound right.

Edgy01

So,--they're not painting WHITE anymore (a non-metallic light color)?

Will learn more tomorrow when PCNA comes to work.

Dan

THPorsche

maybe they want to see an actually sample? Just a wild guess, I once asked a Porsche sales if Porsche can paint the color in one of those Standox colors (different hue/ color from different viewing angles) that have a part number in Standox/ DuPont website. The sales told me Porsche would need an actual sample color chip.

Edgy01

Glassurit #328 is a color that they have painted many times in the past. I could understand that with a color that they have no experience with.

Dan

20C4S

can they do metallic white?

Jim Michaels

Pearl white is a metallic.

shonuf

i had a 73 911s gb-special color, 77 turbo ptm gb , currently a ruf rturbo gb #328.

OCBen

That's interesting that they won't paint your Gulf Blue because of the plastics versus metal painting issue that results in a mismatched appearance. Do you know if Gulf Blue was a single stage paint when they used to paint it; i.e. no clear coat?

Edgy01

I finally got feedback from PAG and PCNA as to WHY they can't do it now. Posted asa separate post on the 997 list under Paints and Porsche. Interesting discussion from Porsche.

Ultimately,--their objective, which I certainly accept, is for a happy customer.

Dan

OCBen

Well, duh... I read that, hence my comment about painting on plastic versus metal. But why did you create an entirely new thread instead of posting right here in the thread you started about this very same subject? That's why I'm trying to limit my replies on the subject to this original thread you started. I have no idea why you did that.

Anyway, what color will you now be getting?

Edgy01

Ben,--I'm looking into the "gulf blue" that Gulf Oil was putting on the McLarens--much darker.

I'm still NEW to posting and wanted to link the discussions but just didn't do it.

Years ago the 328 Gulf Blue was a single stage (no clear coat) color. I understand that everything today is clearcoated.


Dan

Vintage

Edgy01--I had a similar response from PCNA. I had ordered a 997S in Fayence yellow because I loved it on a Carrera GT I saw at the dealership. But then I was told by Porsche that Fayence wouldn't bond to steel--only to the carbon fiber of the Carrera GT. I didn't push it any further but they (my local dealer) came up with another yellow (Ferrari fly yellow) that is very close to Fayence, so I went with that. Maybe they could find a shade of blue for you in some different kind of paint?? I don't know.

Edgy01

Thanks. I'm going to work with them to come up with something that will work. They came back today (cross posted under Paints and Porsche) and had this insight:

"I understand your frustration. I had the same reaction about two years ago when PAG denied a request for Gulf Blue paint. I fought them for a year and have a mile-long email trail on just this one car. I even made a trip to the paint shop in Zuffenhausen to see samples and to get a first hand explanation.

The technical reason that some colors cannot be offered has to do with the different paint processes used by suppliers of plastic parts versus the factory process used for the body. While they both use the same paint formula, the clear coat formulas and processes vary. These variations are enough to slightly change the tonal appearance of the paint color, thereby causing a mismatch effect. Because this mismatch effect would likely be viewed by a customer as a quality problem, PAG reserves the right to reject certain colors. For some reason, non-metallic light colors have the biggest problems.

After receiving my paint-to-sample "education", PCNA added the comment in the MY05 order guide stating that not all requests can be fulfilled and that PAG may need to conduct feasibility testing. They do this testing on a continual basis and have a growing list of paint codes that are not valid for color-to-sample use. The list was about 140 colors long about a year and a half ago and it has surely grown since then. Unfortunately, Gulf Blue is on the list and will not be painted. The only exception was Carrera GT due to the fact that the body and accessory pieces were painted using a consistent process."

The bottom line is that I want something a bit unusual,--right now focusing on something like maybe a Talbot blue, a Royal Blue (former Pcar color) or a dark blue.

It's funny as we KNOW that a competent paint shop can make this work,--apparently they just don't want to spend the time making it work. I think they simply provide a paint number to their vendors and tell them to 'paint it #328" and deliver it on this day. When they put that up against the body it doesn't match up. With the CGT perhaps the carbon fibre and other component parts are closer as base materials.

Dan

Sobe

looks like they are doing it