2011 Mitsubishi Touch Up Paint (20 OEM Colors)

The 2011 Mitsubishi Vibe

2011 was a hell of a year for Mitsubishi. You had the Lancer Evolution X tearing up the asphalt, the Eclipse Spyder catching the last rays of its long-running sunset, and the Outlander and Endeavor holding down the family fort. Back then, Mitsubishi wasn't shy about the palette either. We're talking 24 distinct colors in our database for this year alone. From the iconic Rotor Glow Metallic and Octane Blue Pearl to the deep Sunset Pearlescent, they had enough pearls and metallics to make a mermaid jealous. It was an era of "look at me" paint that actually had the guts to match the styling of the cars.

Paint Health Check

Here is the cold, hard truth: 2011 falls squarely into the Thin Paint Era. By this time, the robots at the factory had become a little too good at their jobs-specifically, the job of saving the company money by applying the absolute minimum amount of paint required to cover the metal. If your Lancer or Galant looks like it's been Pepper-Sprayed with gravel, that's why. The factory clear coats from this period are notorious for "Robot Efficiency"-they're thin, brittle, and prone to "checking" or "crows feet" on the hood and roof. If you've got a Kalapana Black or Labrador Black Pearl that hasn't been garaged, you're likely seeing that clear coat start to get cloudy or flake off in sheets. It's not that the paint was bad; there just wasn't enough of it to fight the sun for a decade.

Restoration Tip

When you're fixing chips on a 2011 Mitsubishi, build your layers slowly. Because the factory paint is so thin, if you go in and "blob" a massive drop of paint into a chip, it's going to stand out like a sore thumb because it'll be three times thicker than the surrounding area. Use a fine-tip applicator and apply a thin base, let it dry, and then build it up until it's just level with the rest of the panel. Since the factory skimped on the thickness, your job is to restore that depth without making it look like a high-school art project. And for the love of the craft, seal it with a high-quality clear coat immediately-once that thin factory clear starts to lift at the edges of a chip, it won't stop until the whole panel is naked.