Expert: Dan Gardener - 12/15/2010

Question
this is going to be long; i have a 2007 miata true red color. i have had the front fender painted 6 times; twice by three different body shops.the fender was new from mazda when first painted and came already primed.after it was painted in direct sunlight it appeared to be a dead on match. but in normal lighting or at a distance it looked to be not as deep in color as the door. so the body shop redid it and same result. so i went to another shop and two more times;same result. so then i got a scratch on my quarter panel on the opposite side and went to another body shop to fix this. he primed and painted the quarter panel and it was a dead on match to the door in any kind of lighting and it was not blended to the door. so now i ask him if he could paint my fender and get it to match the door.no problem right? wrong.same thing happened.thats five times the fender has been painted. so now today he repaints the fender but primes it this time and same result;not deep in color. how can he paint the quarter and get a dead on match and use the same paint on the fender and not match? btw i refuse to blend into the doors in as much my doors are original paint and i want to keep them that way. if he can do the quarter with no blend why cant he get the fender right or any body else for that matter. got any idea of whats going wrong or maybe you have a solution. im ats wits end by now. this car is my baby and i want to keep it in the mint condition that its in. THANKS RON.

Answer
Hello Ron
This is a sensitive issue for you , I can tell.
My advice is , blend the paint into  the adjacent panel. There is no point in having an 'almost' original paint job . you already have painted panels.
Even with a blend, your car is still ' mint'
I hope this takes some pressure off.
Dan