Many cars have higher prices due to body color. Is this because the price of car paint is different?

When buying a car, you will find a phenomenon, that is, models of the same grade and configuration have different prices due to different colors. Some color models even require a price increase before you can take delivery of the car. Why is this? Do different colors of car paint cost different amounts?

You are really right. Car paints of different colors not only have different material costs, but also have different complexity of painting processes. This results in different or even large differences in the selling prices of cars of different colors. The paint of common models on the market can be roughly divided into plain paint, metallic paint and pearlescent paint according to the material. These three types of paint are not only different in material cost and spraying process, but also in the color and flash effect of the paint. Of course, there are more advanced matte paints and chameleon paints, which cost more and have more complicated spraying processes, which are beyond the scope of today's discussion.

First of all, it is plain paint. Plain paint is the simplest and most basic car paint. It is composed of resin, pigments and additives. It is characterized by low cost, simple spraying process, and generally only requires one process to complete; however, its surface gloss is not very good, the color is relatively monotonous, the surface hardness of the paint surface is not high, and it is easy to scratch. Most of the common white, bright red and black paints we see are plain paints, among which the cost of white plain paint is the lowest. This is probably one of the reasons why there are so many white cars on the road.

Let’s talk about metallic paint. Metallic paint is also called metallic flash paint. It is based on plain paint and adds fine metal particles (aluminum powder). When the light hits the aluminum particles, it is reflected by the aluminum particles through the air film. It looks like the metal is shining. It is very beautiful and cool, so more and more models use metallic paint. In addition, by changing the shape, size and concentration of aluminum powder, we can also control the sparkle of the metal and spray a personalized car color; by controlling the thickness of the varnish layer, we can also make the paint surface show different saturations, making the car The paint is more beautiful. Metallic paint not only has high brightness, but also has a harder paint surface. A layer of varnish needs to be sprayed on the outside of the color paint. This layer of varnish has a very high hardness after drying and can effectively protect the color paint layer inside.

Mazda’s Soul Red is very popular among many people. Generally, a price increase is required to buy a model in this color. It is actually a type of metallic paint, but its spraying process and varnish are very unique. Ordinary varnishes are colorless, but its varnish has a faint red color. Therefore, this kind of car paint can only be sprayed in 4S shops and cannot be done elsewhere. Because of this, it is very expensive to repaint models of this color, and it is difficult to restore the effect of the original car. Many people also call it "bastard red".

Pearl paint is also called mica paint. Some people also call it pearl paint, saying that it contains pearl powder. In fact, it is a mica pigment coated with titanium dioxide and iron oxide added to the plain paint, not pearl powder. When light shines on these mica particles, it first shows the colors of titanium dioxide and iron oxide, and then complex refraction and interference occurs in the mica particles, making the paint surface look radiant and the overall texture of the paint surface is very good. And due to the unique reflective properties of mica, there will be subtle changes when viewed from different angles. The richness of color and rendering power are greatly increased, giving people a luxurious and noble feeling. The hardness of pearlescent paint is also very high, and its anti-oxidation ability is very strong, which can keep the paint surface as beautiful as new for a long time.

Compared with these three kinds of paint, the cost of plain paint is the cheapest, and its spraying process is also the simplest; the cost of metallic paint is higher than that of plain paint, and the spraying process is also more complicated; and Pearlescent paint is the most expensive, and its spraying process is similar to metallic paint. Therefore, it is normal for models with different colors and materials to have different prices, usually ranging from 500 to 2,000 yuan. For example, if they are both white, there is a difference of 2,000 yuan between polar white and pearlescent white. This is because polar white is an ordinary plain paint, while pearlescent white is pearlescent paint. For some luxury cars, the price difference will be even greater, such as the Porsche Cayenne. If you choose dark blue metallic paint, you will need to add more than 17,000 yuan. However, the higher the cost of car paint, the higher the cost of later repairs. For example, if you spray a bumper, plain paint only costs about 300 yuan, and metallic paint costs 500 to 600 yuan.