Auto body repair & detailing: Paint Finishing Question - Solvent vs. Water, dodge intrepid, oem market

Question
I have a 2004 Dodge Intrepid which was recently rear ended. I have narrowed it down to 2 different shops - One has switched to water based paints and the other uses solvent based paints. Will the paint application type (solvent vs. water) make a difference when trying to color match the original finish best? If so, is there a way to determine if (or when) my car manufacturer swicthed processes so I know which place to choose top provide the best matching? (the shop using water-base said that it sometimes makes a difference in matching the shades but I'm not familiar enough with this process to know the truth). THANKS!!!!!

Answer
Hi David,

I don't know the extent of the damage that is being repaired on your car but either system that is used should be a blendable match. For instance, if you have damage in the middle of a door the shop would repair the damage then paint the damage and blend inside the area of the door and then clear-coat the entire door. The blend would actually make the color appear to match. So in other words, you shouldn't have to figure out when your manufacturer changed grades of paint for the best match. Besides that, the type of paint that is used in the refinish market is totally different than what is used in the OEM market because of the applications and such differences. OEM's use robots and machinery to paint. In summary, Any good painter should be able to blend out minor differences in paint regardless of whether it's solvent-based or water-based to appear to be a perfect match.