Hey team!

The paint on my silver 06 sport is really starting to get beat up and I want to do some touch up work to it. Does anybody have any recommendations for paint suppliers or vendors? I started searching around and it seems like there are a TON of different aftermarket paint suppliers and I assume they are not all made equal. The paint code for this silver is 1D4 -- do you think that any of the aftermarket paint will work as long as it matches this code?

The issues I am trying to solve:

- peeling clear coat on the hood scoop insert (I think this might be plastic?). My guess is that I will need to sand and apply more base paint and clear coat.

- Tons of small chips from rocks on the front of hood.

- Mirrors are cracking and peeling pretty badly. They are plastic. I assume this will require a sand/paint/clear coat.

- Fenders above wheel wells are starting to fade pretty badly. On these the clear coat isnt really peeling or flaking so I think I should be able to just lightly sand and apply new clear coat. I think these are plastic.



Anyway, I would appreciate any hints/tips if anybody has dove into this project before!

Cheers

main thing to remember is that old faded paint will not match new paint, especially silvers & other colors with metallic in them. unless you are a professional painter & know how to blend the paint onto adjacent panels & even them you can usually tell. for smaller parts it may be ok but will never be a perfect match.

if the clear is peeling but the base coat isnt damaged you can try to just re-clear after sanding to feather the edges. same for any faded areas, but if the paint & base coat are cracked then it definitely needs sanded smooth or removed & then full base/clear applied. you can also try buffing faded areas if the clear is still intact... but the clear on these 4runners is pretty thin so be very careful buffing, if you dont have experience buffing i would get apro to do it.

I used Touch Up Paint and repair | AutomotiveTouchup for my mirrors, same paint code as you. They actually came out really good, especially compared to the before which looked like it was sand blasted from highway driving.
They may sell the hood scoop pre-painted, I know they sell the side cladding panels pre-painted but they aren't cheap.
My wife's corolla lost it's clear coat on the roof so I'm going to attempt to sand and repaint/clear. I do need to blend into the quarter panel so that will be tricky. Can't really look worse than it does now.
Though faced with the same decision on my 4runner I'd probably pay to have the panel painted because I care more about that vehicle.

My man - I strongly recommend you to get quotes to have the entire thing re-painted. I'm already looking into having my backup '07 Sport re-painted and am getting quotes for ~5-7k for a complete repaint (super white) then plan to add ceramic coating to it. Is that something you're open minded to or are you set on tackling this as a DIY project?

lol theres no chance in the world I'm paying 5-7k for a full repaint. I'm looking to sell the car soon and just wanted to do a basic cosmetic refresh. Saw it as a good opportunity to learn a few things while making the car slightly more appealing.

Appreciate the feedback none the less.

Automotive painting is a serious skill/art form. Generally speaking all you are going to to is make it look very obvious you don't know what you're doing. Some things which can be removed and painted separately i.e. mirrors, your scoop, etc can come out OK. As far as the hood and rock chips, be prepared to fill in every chip and sand it down smooth or have it come out looking pretty poor.

A single stage spray bomb will look dull and not match base/clear well at all. As previously mentioned you're going to have paint fade to try to account for as well. You can get an auto paint store to make a some base cans for you and then ask for what spray can clear they might recommend. But you need a very clean working environment, the right temperature, and solid prep work for this to come out remotely decent. After you are done you will likely have either fish eye paint which will look crappy unless wet sanded and polished. Or you will have runs which will need to be sanded out and then wet sanded and polished.

I am not saying some of this stuff can't be done just be prepared that the outcome you have in your mind vs. how it will actually come out might be vastly different. I have done enough light paint work to know I am not great at it. I can do certain things and other things I won't even think about doing. I personally wouldn't consider painting a hood without a proper spray gun setup and working environment. Sorry for sounding so negative just trying to set a reasonable expectation.

Maybe try the hood scoop first and see how it goes and go from there... Good luck. Send some pics and maybe we can give some better advice.

Solid comprehensive post you made there, sir! Well said. To add to your point, one might actually lose money if they did the work and it ended up looking funky where the buyer might haggle down the price because of what would need to be done to restore the paint to its original look.

I can understand why OP wants to improve paint and maximize the money for the sales transaction - and to be frank, if he's willing to treat it as a DIY and accept the possibility of losing money with the sale then he should tackle this project head-on. Otherwise I'd take it to a car wash to get it washed then sell it like I did. My dealer paid more than what I expected when I traded in my '04 after getting it washed with modest detailing on the tires and the paint was already bad, lol.

FWIW, I recently experienced the same issues on my 06 and found a reputable local mobile paint professional. I had them repaint just my side mirrors and my hood scoop as they were the most faded and didn’t necessarily need any blending with the rest of the vehicle which cost me about $300 (this was 2 years ago and still looks awesome). As far as the hoods concern, I traveled a lot mostly on the highway and my hood was destroyed. I ordered an OEM hood from the dealer and had it painted for about $800. It didn’t come with a hood scope so I just swapped out my recently painted scoop. It was cheaper for me to get the hood replaced rather than spending 3-4 hours to have them strip the paint and repair any minor dents. As far as the rest of the cars concern, I did a bunch of research on paint corrections and did a 5 step process myself that worked wonders on my black runner. 5 steps were... wash, clay bar, compound wax, polish and ceramic spray coating. I spent $350 on a buffer and other products and it’s pretty much brand new. Came out much better than I had anticipated. Overall spent a little over $1k but it was well worth it especially from a resale standpoint. I had someone offer me $11k and it’s pretty much stock but it’s super clean and I’ve maintained it. I haven’t posted in years but if someone tells me how to add pics I can show some before and afters. Not that tech savvy 😂

I got some urethane clear from an auto shop and did my hood. Just scuffed with 300 wet over the whole hood and shot it, and was happy with the result. I wasn't even worried where the clear was completely gone or not. It is a 2005, and now the hood is shiny instead of dull. I did have a cheap gun to use with the air compressor, but less than $100 for a decent fix that took just over 3 hours.

I need to the the roof and rear hatch as that clear as almost completely peeled off now as well. The car was in Vegas for the most part of its life so it got cooked.

Best to just leave it alone. Anything you try to do yourself will end up costing you money when you go to resell it. I buy and sell cars and manage a body shop. If I were going to look at two exact cars, one with peeling clear coat and faded paint and one where the owner attempted a diy repaint in his driveway...I would pay a lot more for the one with peeling clear coat. For the simple reason that you hacked up the paint...what else did you hack up. And we also can tell no matter how “perfect” a job you think you did.
Painting and body work is an art form, not something you do on a weekend like you change your brake pads. Your 4Runner is silver, the hardest color to match especially if the vehicle is older than 3 years. So you would be looking at a full repaint of the hood, blend both fenders at a minimum with the potential to partially blend the front doors. Remove both headlights and the bumper. Chances are the painter will have to sand the fenders all the way down to bare metal so look at 4-6hrs of repair time per fender. And a couple hours of repair for the hood. All in all, you’re looking at $1500 at least to do it correctly.
And even after all that, the chances of the silver matching the rest is 50/50 even with the best painter. A normal person probably wouldn’t be able tell but anyone who buys cars or has worked in the industry will be able to tell from a football field away. Only way to get it to match 100% is an entire repaint. My advice...leave it alone or do it the correct way. Or go the rhino lined route.

This. People equate clean with good/new, a basic fact that seems lost on so many people trying to sell things. A basic cleanup will get you more $ for very little effort and a thorough one even more on anything from a bicycle to a set of shocks to a full vehicle.