Adding for tri-coat or three stage paint is similar to adding for clear coat. However, you will need to know when to add for clear coat and when to add for tri-coat. Tri-Coat consists of base coat, mid-coat and clear coat, which is three different operations that you must do to get the paint to match. The mid-coat may be a pearl coat or a tinted clear to create different effects, including shifting colors and adding more depth. It may be very difficult to determine by looking if it is a tri-coat or not. To be certain if you are charging for the correct operation is to locate the paint code on the vehicle and look it up. The paint code is NOT part of the VIN number. It is a code that is located in various places on a vehicle. The p-pages will give you some general ideas of where these paint code labels may be located and will help you identify tri-coat colors.
When adding for tri-coat you do not add for clear coat. The clear coat time is included in the tri-coat application. Use the same formula by deducting for overlap and for adding clear, except add 70% per refinish hour to your first panel and 40% to each additional panel.
Let’s examine the same example that we’ve been discussing with tri-coat.
Body Labor Paint Labor
Repair Hood Panel 2.5 3.0
Deduct for paint overlap .0
Add For Tri-Coat 2.1
Adjusted Paint Time w/ tri-c 5.1
Repair Right Front Fender 2.0 3.0
Deduct for paint overlap -.4
Adjusted Paint Time 2.6
Add For Tri-Coat 1.0
Adjusted Paint Time w/ tri-c 3.6
Repair Left Front Fender 1.0 3.0
Deduct for paint overlap -.4
Adjusted Paint Time 2.6
Add For Tri-Coat 1.0
Adjusted Paint Time w/ tri-c 3.6
Total Labor 5.5 12.3