Question regarding fender flares that are color matched from factory

Hello all.

I have a base model 2012 Tacoma....with the unfinished black fender flares. I recently got a set of Bushwacker flares (whoop!) that I am going to have color matched to the truck. The guy I am using did not know if the flares would have the same finish as the body and thinks the stock painted flares might have a slight matte finish on them.

If someone could provide some insight in to this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

The flares on these trucks are one of the few body panels in general that have a painted over texture to them. The paint itself on the factory painted flares is the same color as the body but if you look closely you’ll see there is a faint texture that is painted over. They’ll feel smooth to the touch though. The paint doesn’t have a different tint or sheen and is as close of a match from the factory as the rest of the truck. Given the flares are plastic and the body is metal, there will always be a slight variation but usually it is too small to notice.

Hope this helps.

 

I have a set of Bushwacker flares painted to match my 2006 Access cab, see below. The Bushwacker flares I got are smooth so the body shop I used had no problem doing them gloss to match the body. I think the factory flares if painted have a matte finish.

One note, I had other body work done at the same time so I had most of the body repainted the same time as the Bushwacker flares. The body shop said if I had only painted the flares it would not have matched the body color that well due to fade on the body paint. Since yours is a 2012 it may have some fade, so doing a matte finish on the flares may be the best way to not have a noticeable difference between the body and the flares if the flares are gloss. They should be able to use a matte or satin clearcoat versus gloss. The shop I used said it's not always easy to get an exact match on a plastic surface as compared to metal. I think they used a color primer on the flares to get a good match to the fenders.

 

Thank you both for your response. As I am getting the paint matched to the current condition of my paint, I am confident it will be a great match.

The stock flares do seem to have a bit of texture and I am sure if I had those painted, it would look really factory. I guess I will just tell my paint guy to match the sheen of the factory paint.

Have a great New Year!