Hey Guy's
Was ready to order a 2011 in tuxedo black. I was told by dealer that there is not only a shortage of tuxedo black paint. But that a "new" black will show up in all the 2012 models and a couple more colors also. He said touch-up paint and any paint/body work needed is going to be a big problem. He said "if they can't find paint to sell vehicles, they sure can't find paint to repair them".
So I walked away (for now) and am going to wait until the 2012 order guide comes out and get the new black. was just wondering if any of you heard this or worry about this being a issue.

 

I've never heard this, and I'm hoping the salesman was BSing you, because my truck is tuxedo black. I guess I'll grab some touch up paint today to be on the safe side for the future.

 

The metallic fleck in the Tuxedo Black was man-made in Japan. Since the 'quake and tsunami they have ceased production of the fleck material.
I'm guessing that Ford has not been able to find a replacement for this material and has since looked into other options.
Here's a link from MotorTrend shortly after the disaster:
Pigment Problems: Supplier Issues Could Leave Ford Without Red, Black Paint - WOT on Motor Trend

 

Some of what the dealer said is true while other parts are a bit of a stretch.

Ford is not currently taking orders for Tuxedo Black and yes they are changing the black, but its not anything new. Its just going to be standard issue Black Clearcoat. How long this will last or if it is permanent is unknown at this time. The reason I say this is the plant in Japan that was the only place making the needed Xirallic is already back online, so there is a possibility that Tuxedo Black may be back and soon.

UPDATE 1-Quake-hit paint plant reopens in Japan | Reuters

Now as far as getting Tuxedo Black to do repairs and such, so far it has been a non-issue and is not expected to become one.

 

UPDATE 1-Quake-hit paint plant reopens in Japan | Reuters

 

The Tuxedo Black was listed as the only black for the 2012 SD in the 2012 order guide. Now that was a Canadian guide and was not the final copy either. So they will just keep everyone guessing until it's known for sure.

 

As far as touch up paint goes there's always Dr.ColorChip Custom Automotive Touch-Up Paint Kit - Dr. ColorChip: Automotive Paint Chip Repair Systems.
Been using them for years!

 

The plant is back and running and they're also talking about making the pigment in Germany as well. Once the supply chain catches up, things will be back to normal again.

 

The sales rep should be reported to the owner for making such falsified statements! Touchup paint can be made by ANY auto paint distributor as the formula is published by Ford and the oem paint manufacturer. Exact matching (even accounting for shade/fade differences) is obtainable by using "Industry standard" equipment for mixing the paint including the use of laser scanners that read the paint condition and input that info into a pc....common technology that has been around for at least 10 years!

 

Yes this is a half truth. There is a shortage NOW of the metallic flakes in the black paint. Ford ceased taking orders because they don't know how long the shortage will last. After researching and talking to many upscale paint shops, along with dealership paint shops, it seems that the specific metallic flakes were only produced in the plant in Japan. They also said the problem with matching the flake is that 2 of the metallic flakes that go into the paint are only produced in Japan and that's the only place they can be obtained. The scare from Ford and industry wide is that any reproduction of the Tuxedo Black from anywhere but the Japan plant will not have these 2 metallic flakes in the mixture which will make it hard if not impossible to match to the rest of the truck when doing bodywork and repainting. The way it was put to me was, it'll make the truck have a different shimmer in the light than the rest of the truck if painted without adding these 2 metallic flakes. It will be very noticable. This metallic shimmer was also developed and patented by this company, so it's highly unlikely it will be exactly reproduced by anyone without permission.

 

I have painted Tuxedo Black numerous times at work and I just don't see an issue re painting a damaged vehicle with that color. It's a good matching color and is made with the tints I use most every day. I should talk to my paint rep to verify if there will be a problem later or not.

 

I'm not going to say that its not true but.....

if it were true, The the President of Ford and the CFO would be facing up to 20 years in Prison plus $5 million dollars in fines for potentially falsifying their COOP/SOX compliance plan. This requires all critical processes and suppliers be identified and a written and annually tested plan that addresses alternate procedures, work arounds and inventory supplies...unless they documented that partially shutting down an assembly line due to a single source metallic flake or paint supplier would have no detrimental effect upon the bottom line- profits. The document would also have a given timeline of how log they could afford to be down or without a product befor they would hit their maximum financial impact.

I doubt very much that any president and CFO would sign off on a risk management plan like that!

 

Tuxedo Black is what I had my heart set on and regular black just isn't going to do it for me.

I do love the Dark pearl Blue, Candy and Race reds and Blue Flame. I would actually settle for most any color other than Silver, Tan and White.

 

That'll be a real bummer if they do switch back to just plain black. My wife's plain black car looks pretty dull compared to my truck. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

 

Ford's not the only one suffering here. All auto makers are having to scramble and or stop production of certain colors because of this. Certain shades of Red and some metallic colors other than Tuxedo Black also. The Japanese company makes these specific pigments which in turn they ship to BASF which in turn they mix into paint for the auto makers. So it's just a matter of time before they either move the operation elsewhere or reopen it's plant in Japan. They would stand to lose a *****load of money if they couldn't start production back up. Worse comes to worse, they sell their patent's on the paint's to another manufactuer.