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Warning on Race Red color

350DGRZ

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I have a race red '13 F-150 and I don't find the paint to be thin. My bumpers are body colored and have no chipped paint on them.
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Rednek

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I had a race red 2012 F150,I applied 3M paint protection to the front and never had a problem(except being a cop magnet)
 

gryphon1231

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Hello, I wanted to share a personal ownership story of a Race Red vehicle by Ford, admittedly nothing like a Bronco. This was my 2014 Ford Focus, which I bought off the dealer's lot 6 years ago. It is no longer in my possession, by virtue of family vehicle needs changing, but let me give the caveat that under almost all circumstances, I love red cars. However with the Bronco at least, I have not yet been able to convince myself to even consider Race Red as an option. All of this will depend upon your actual usage of the Bronco, but my guess is that most of us, despite being adventurous types, will try to keep our new $40k-$60k trucks in fairly pristine condition for at least the first few years.

When I bought the Focus, I had three requirements: hatchback (for the dog), manual transmission, and bright red. At least two of those three same factors play into my selection of the Bronco based on current needs, but probably not the red.

What I loved about the race red on the Focus: quite possibly the most intense red I've seen. It was so bright that in direct sunlight on a bright day it was almost almost orange-red, like looking at the flames of a campfire. It was so red that digital camera sensors would often trip out and render the car in a way that didn't really reflect what you see in person, unless I was very careful in taking the photos (FYI, the photos here are pretty accurate, but I had a few that turned out really funky over the years).

One thing I disliked with Race Red was that the paint layer was very thin and prone to chipping. This was a commuter vehicle seeing 15,000 highway miles per year, but being a car nut I like to keep even my commuters in pristine condition. This meant that at least twice a year, I had to go over a dozen plus random rock chips all over the whole front end of the car with touchup paint, build up a few layers, and then cut down the the little paint bumps with a DA buffer/polisher. Thankfully at the time, one of my nearby body shops affiliated with the Ford dealer offered this buffing/polishing service for free to people who had bought their vehicles new from that dealer, so I rarely had to do that part myself, but it was still a maintenance chore that has not really proved to be the case on other newer vehicles I've owned (BMW, VW, Nissan). This will be a small thing for many of you, but one reason these paint chips were so obnoxious to me is that Ford used a light gray primer, so they were very visible against the red. I'm sorry, I don't have photos of the rock chips, but it still bears mentioning here as a consideration. Hopefully Ford will provide a thicker application of paint on the Bronco than they did on the Focus, but if not, then for me at least that is one strike against the Race Red.

The other thing I disliked, is when I was once rear ended in traffic, the color proved IMPOSSIBLE to match. I had the car fixed at a very reputable shop, and they had to remix and repaint the bumper three times to get it even close to the color the eye sees on the original. It wasn't just a question of spraying on metal vs plastic, because the front bumper (which Ford painted) was a perfect match to the steel on the rest of the car. The photos included here are after the 3rd attempt, when I finally gave up on an actual color match, but for the rest of my ownership of the vehicle, the rear bumper always looked a little pink compared to the rest of the vehicle. Note, part of this is biology - the eyes are extraordinarily sensitive to variations of red, whereas other colors are not as easy to discern.

I know I'm not going to convince anyone who likes red cars not to like them, and that really isn't my point. I just want to put this information out there so if you are considering that option, you weigh the experience I've had with the exact same color (at least nominally) on another vehicle. I would also be very curious to know if anyone who has owned a Race Red F150 or any of the other vehicles Ford has offered in that color in recent years has had a similar or different experience. If the Focus was an anomaly and people have had better luck with other vehicles, then maybe I should add red back to the shopping list. I certainly hope Ford

Currently I am leaning more toward the more muted colors (Cactus/Area 51) as I think rock chips will not really show up much in that paint assuming Ford still uses the same baked-on light gray primer that I could see whenever the Focus got a rock chip.

I think the single stage paint made the touch-up work on rock chips easier, but the red made the color match almost impossible.

Thanks for listening to my ted talk.


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Yeah, not to worried about this. Like with all my past off road vehicles within the 1st couple of days I'm sure there will probably be several scratches or chips. The whole point of buying a Bronco is to take it off road and have fun, not treat it like a show car wrapped in bubble wrap.
 

Rednek

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And if your worried about offroad rash,I got the bumpers,grill,extended flares and running boards on my 2012 F350 S/D coated in bedliner 7years later of offroad bashing still looks like new.
 

Hoofnmouth

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I plan on a wrap as soon as i take delivery too many broncos are all going to be looking the same . Wrap drive it when i tire of it peel off paint is all pretty underneath.
 

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Wanted33

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I know you're right Tyler. But like you I do love a red vehicle. If I ever get a chance to order a Bronco, which seems iffy now that Ford won't have the build/price page up until December, it's probably going to be red. Now, that is if Ford doesn't come up with a true Powder/Baby blue option. I'll just stop by my local Xpel dealer, and have the front of that baby covered. :)
 
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I know you're right Tyler. But like you I do love a red vehicle. If I ever get a chance to order a Bronco, which seems iffy now that Ford won't have the build/price page up until December, it's probably going to be red. Now, that is if Ford doesn't come up with a true Powder/Baby blue option. I'll just stop by my local Xpel dealer, and have the front of that baby covered. :)
I've had a dozen cars over the past 2 decades +/- (I lose track). 4.5 were red (one was a 2-tone F-150), 9 have been manual transmissions. My manual transmission ratio will improve with the Bronco, but I'm still conflicted on whether red suits this vehicle.
 

Wanted33

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I've had a dozen cars over the past 2 decades +/- (I lose track). 4.5 were red (one was a 2-tone F-150), 9 have been manual transmissions. My manual transmission ratio will improve with the Bronco, but I'm still conflicted on whether red suits this vehicle.
I agree. I've found picking options is easy, but picking the color gets downright hard. :)
 

Sighlense

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quite possibly the most intense red I've seen. It was so bright that in direct sunlight on a bright day it was almost almost orange-red, like looking at the flames of a campfire.
Makes it even more appealing. Been waiting so long i am contemplating changing colors yet again. Never been a fan of a red vehicle but damn, this color with all the black trim (WildTrak) just sings!
 

Daktari

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I sure hope the paint is a bit more than one thin coat and some good clear over it, at what these cost.
I'm torn about having ppf applied, seems quite expensive (1-2k range from what I see for Rubicons?) and how well doe they really work? I have maybe two or 3 chips on my 19 year old Taco.
I can't imagine ceramic coat does anything much against rock chips? It's not really a 'ceramic' coating from what I read.
In the end, it's a truck, not a show car (something I'd never own) so hopefully little things are an easy fix.
I was also looking at the rock deflector (or what that plastic front spoiler is called), used to like the look but it seems a bit dated to me now.

I might get a quote from some of the ppf installers here, but I'm not spending 2k on that. Having a chip fixed can't be all that expensive, if I'd even bother down the road.

Knowing myself, i'll wash it twice the first week, every week after that, then once a month to once a year to "I really should scrape the moss off, but it's kinda funny" like with my Taco :-D
 
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BrentC

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I sure hope the paint is a bit more than one thin coat and some good clear over it, at what these cost.
I'm torn about having ppf applied, seems quite expensive (1-2k range from what I see for Rubicons?) and how well doe they really work? I have maybe two or 3 chips on my 19 year old Taco.
I can't imagine ceramic coat does anything much against rock chips? It's not really a 'ceramic' coating from what I read.
In the end, it's a truck, not a show car to me (something I'd never own) so hopefully little things are an easy fix.
I was also looking at the rock deflector (or what that plastic front spoiler is called), used to like the look but it seems a bit dated to me now.

I might get a quote from some of the ppf installers here, but I'm not spending 2k on that. Having a chip fixed can't be all that expensive, if I'd even bother down the road.

Knowing myself, i'll wash it twice the first week, every week after that, then once a month to once a year to "I really should scrape the moss off, but it's kinda funny" like with my Taco :-D
Race Red is super easy to apply a touch-up paint stick to rock chips. Non-metallic paints are very easy to maintain.
 

BroncoBiker

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I have a very similar red in my 1994 Ford F-150 ( don't remember the actual paint name), it still looks great, few chips but easy to touch up, i wax it every year.

I went with the race red for my Bronco because of how well the color seems to hold up with the proper care.
 

MadMan4BamaNATL

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I sure hope the paint is a bit more than one thin coat and some good clear over it, at what these cost.
I'm torn about having ppf applied, seems quite expensive (1-2k range from what I see for Rubicons?) and how well doe they really work? I have maybe two or 3 chips on my 19 year old Taco.
I can't imagine ceramic coat does anything much against rock chips? It's not really a 'ceramic' coating from what I read.
In the end, it's a truck, not a show car to me (something I'd never own) so hopefully little things are an easy fix.
I was also looking at the rock deflector (or what that plastic front spoiler is called), used to like the look but it seems a bit dated to me now.

I might get a quote from some of the ppf installers here, but I'm not spending 2k on that. Having a chip fixed can't be all that expensive, if I'd even bother down the road.

Knowing myself, i'll wash it twice the first week, every week after that, then once a month to once a year to "I really should scrape the moss off, but it's kinda funny" like with my Taco :-D
Way to revive a thread from last August!

It's not the paint chips that are a concern but more of the scratches from tree branches on trails. This is just one of the reasons I went with Area 51, as "stripes" may actually give a bit of character paired with a white top.

I am sort of like the OP in being into car detailing and paint corrections, but that was for BMWs. Not sure I will care that much for the state of the paint on this truck outside of the initial correction that I plan to do once I get it home from the dealership at some point in the next year.
 

RhodeIslandRed

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first of all, all the color matching in those pictures looks fine.

Second, I'm not sure about your reputable body shop. The last time I had a quarter done, they zap the existing paint with a scanner and the color is mixed by the computer. you can't tell where the p ends and the a begins.

But more importantly, I agree with a lot of the comments in this thread that the sooner this rig gets broken in, the better. When someone rear-ends me, that's an opportunity for an ARB bumper.

Here's some terrible color matching that I could live with.
Ford Bronco Warning on Race Red color 1621369237422



full disclosure, I ordered Race Red.
 

TJconvert2.7

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There is definitely no character limit
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