OK, about three months ago, I hit a deer with my 2010 Focus. I had the the insurance to pay for repairs (it was about $1500 in damage, mainly to the fender and the bumper cover and headlight), etc, and the car was fixed. Problem is that I took it to a dealer (a good dealer I've been going to for the past decade for service, but never really had any body work done by them).

Anyway, for some odd reason, they can't get the color just right. They claim that they use these "color cards" to match colors to determine the "best" coloring (was told that each of 4? of Ford's factory use a slightly different hue of the same color... my car is the Sangria Red color). My problem is that from an angle, the there is a slight color mismatch between the driver's front door and the fender. It's not so noticeable from straight on, but it noticeable in low light or bright sunlight.

Any suggestions? I've taken the car back to the dealer twice and they've tried to correct the color, but it's still off. Is it possible to get a pre-painted part from the factory (based on color codes, etc)? I thought that dealers use color codes and not these "color cards" to do a visual comparison.

Or can someone else suggest something? The reason I'm going on about this is because every 3-4 years, I generally will to trade my car in for a new one since I drive excessive amounts (like 30k a year) and in that time, the car gets up to about 150k on it. I was getting it appraised just a few days ago and in both apprasals, they both mentioned something about the fender being replaced, thus decreasing the potential trade-in value.

Suggestions, or does someone know of a good shop in the northern IL area that can do an "Expert color match" to match the fender to the rest of the car so that there really is no difference in color.

Reds are the toughest color to match. A good shop would have blended the paint from the fender to the door to avoid the issue your having.

The four color cards from 4 factories is kinda true. Each factory can not match exactly the other factories color. But again this is why you match the color on the car then blend it to the rest of the body.

Reds are the toughest color to match. A good shop would have blended the paint from the fender to the door to avoid the issue your having.

The four color cards from 4 factories is kinda true. Each factory can not match exactly the other factories color. But again this is why you match the color on the car then blend it to the rest of the body.

That's what I figured. But kind of don't understand how they could have done such a poor job at blending... It mean, it's doesn't stick out like a sore thumb or anything like that, but it is noticeable when you're close to it (within say, 5 feet or so, so anyone looking at the car would notice it). What I don't understand though is it's more noticeable in the little indention near where the fender sticks out and goes around the wheel (where the little silver grille piece used to be on the 2008 models). But everywhere else on the fender I can't really see a difference (except where the hood meets the fender, but that's not all that noticeable).

I guess I"m a bit picky because I still have about 3 years of payments left on this car... if it was paid off or an older car, I wouldn't care so much, but I'm going to have this car for the next 3 years or so so I want it to look nice. Would knowing where the car was built (the factory and location) help in matching paint colors??

Well also a general rule of thumb is the 5 foot rule. If it looks good from 5 feet away then your ok. You can get with a foot of just about any paint job and find problems.

Could be worse, try looking at any new car of any make, there are some fenders that are worse off. Blending can make it less obvious as stated above but if nobody notices you good. I know I've pointed stuff that annoys the crap out of me and they told me I can't see what your talking about lol.

Could be worse, try looking at any new car of any make, there are some fenders that are worse off. Blending can make it less obvious as stated above but if nobody notices you good. I know I've pointed stuff that annoys the crap out of me and they told me I can't see what your talking about lol.

Same here. I have a patch on one door I did that I can see that no one can.

Same here. I have a patch on one door I did that I can see that no one can.

Well, normally I'd agree, but I mean my insurance agent made a comment about the coloring when doing a check-up of the repair job. He recommended that I try to get it fixed again or go somewhere else.

I suppose I can see his point of view because I have my car financed through the same company that I get insurance from (My father was in the military so I quality for the ex-military insurance and banking options which is very good I must say). But anyway, I can kind of see because if (in the even that I didn't pay the loan off, for example) the company would want to be able to re-sell the car after repossessing. I haven't had one yet, and don't plan to have one, but as I said, I can see his reason for being picky about it...

Plus, I must say myself that I'm a bit picky too.... rust and natural occurances I'm OK with. If a car is 10+ years old and is fading, etc, then that's a different story. This car is only 1 year old with only about 12k on it.

Plus, I have to travel to client's locations and such, and I want to project a good impression on my customers, and not show up in some mis-colored, damaged vehicle. While some may look past that, others (particularly the bigger clients) may take note. If it was only used for personal use, I probably wouldn't care as much but since I use it for both personal and business use, that's where looking good counts I think. (and from angles more than 5 feet away, you could tell. The only time you couldn't tell is in florescent light, but in daylight it was quite obvious).