my car was hit in a parking lot and the driver took off now im left with replacing my door and fender. I need a new paint job n e ways so i was thinking about goin with a flat black, but ive heard its really hard to maintain. Anybody have advice?

First thing you need to do is figure out if you want flat or satin. Most people don't understand there is a difference.

These are flat finishes. You'll notice they have no shine, and look more like primer.




These are satin finishes. They don't have enough shine to make them really glossy, but just enough shine to make them stand out compared to flat finishes.




Satin finishes aren't all that hard to clean in my opinion. I have a few parts on my car that are satin finish, and they always wash just as easily as the rest of the car.

Shadowfire wrote:First thing you need to do is figure out if you want flat or satin. Most people don't understand there is a difference.

These are flat finishes. You'll notice they have no shine, and look more like primer.




These are satin finishes. They don't have enough shine to make them really glossy, but just enough shine to make them stand out compared to flat finishes.




Satin finishes aren't all that hard to clean in my opinion. I have a few parts on my car that are satin finish, and they always wash just as easily as the rest of the car.

interesting. i painted my bike flat black and it looks just like the 3rd and 4th car same amount of shine and everythin. the first two look more like ultra flat paint. and if your worried about the durability of your paint if you paint it flat black. you can lay down a clear coat on it. they make clear coats in a flat if your rattle canning it then krylon makes it and you can get it at a walmart. if your using a gun i think ppg makes a flat clear

There is a satin flat black cobalt on cobaltss.net. it looks pretty good.

Borderlin3 wrote:There is a satin flat black cobalt on cobaltss.net. it looks pretty good.

i f'ing love that cobalt, to the op: do satin, its the @!#$

ppg product is call flexn flat clear, you can mix it to certain degrees of gloss, or you can use kustom color flat products, there stuff is uv protected, and its cheap too, my alero is flat grey not hard to keep clean at all


can i haz bondo

alright sweet that clears up a lot of questions ill prob go with the satin then

Flat is very difficult to maintain. We had a '94 F-150 we rattle canned flat black, and after a year, it was all water spotted and looked like it had been oxidized by acid rain. A satin will still give you some protection from the elements and should look good for longer.

rattle can flat black

Just dont get oil, antifreeze or anything else on it, its fun to clean off...