SCRS offers documentation on tinting to a blendable match

Jan. 1, 2020
In feedback received from membership, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) has become aware of a growing number of instances where insurance carriers have made determinations to limit claims settlements for either "tinting" or "blending
In feedback received from membership, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) has become aware of a growing number of instances where insurance carriers have made determinations to limit claims settlements for either "tinting" or "blending" individually, but not reimbursing for the operations mutually.

The initial notification came from membership in the Northeast that indicated that several large-size carriers had made the determination within a relatively short time period of one another, and had begun to implement the 'tint or blend' approach within the marketplace. Upon polling other markets, SCRS became aware that the practice is growing in application across the country, and that collision repair facilities are in need of clearly stated documentation to substantiate the processes they undertake to perform proper and undetectable refinish repairs.

"In our refinish department it is not unusual to both tint and blend the paint to achieve a proper color match," shared Head Painter at Dingman's Collision Center, Shannon Chambers. "In talking with our estimators, I know that they are getting more and more pressure to reduce the estimate costs, but these are operations that I have to perform to live up to our customer's expactations of our shop. In addition to the tinting and blending, I have more time spent than ever researching the color tools and indexes that we have; these are steps that I have to go through if I want to do repairs the right way."

To offer the industry beneficial and substantive information, SCRS contacted each major paint manufacturer with four questions intended to clarify what processes and procedures are recommended and supported by the manufacturer's training. The questions were:

Is blending the basecoat recommended by your company to achieve proper color match between panels?Is tinting the basecoat material a recommended procedure to achieve a proper color match to the vehicle's existing refinish? Are procedures such as tinting and blending commonly performed in conjunction with each other, or are they redundant processes?

  • Does your company recommend performing one, or both, of these processes to achieve a proper color match on the repaired vehicle?
  • While each manufacturer's response was put into their own language, the overall conclusions from the responses were consistent with SCRS' position on this issue.

    Collision repair professionals have a wide variety of tools and resources available to assist in determineng and producing proper color application. Research of the color code and existing variations provided by the refinish manufacturer and blending of the color coat are both recommended operations to perform an acceptable match; if the refinish technician performing the repair determines that the color variance requires adjustment, it is a consistent recommendation to tint to a blendable match. When tinting is necessary for color adjustment, it is always done in conjunction with blending. SCRS has posted the responses from each refinish manufacturer on its website.

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