Paint fading over time would be true if it was 1993 or around about there and older, when manufacturers used lead based paint, as it would dramatically change color over time, waxing and polishing would temporarily bring the color back out but soon as UV gets at it again it would just go back to how it was, it was especially visible on red cars, my 1991 Celica GT4 RC in red was practically pink in some places.
With newer paint formulas I really don't buy the shops excuse that the paint faded that much in just 6 years, even if it was lead based (which I doubt), it would take much longer than 6 years, so the rep is most likely right and they changed the paint formula mid generation and the match isn't quite the same.
Wow...seriously?
The shop is full of crap. Good shops are supposed to color match paint, not just by looking at the VIN, but by actually mixing the paint correctly to make sure it's 100% accurate to the original spray.
There's actually sort of a longer story behind it.
The non-OEM bumpers the shop got had severely bad fitment issues so they actually sent out the car to a local Mazda dealer and they ordered one from Mazda corporate and had it shipped from Japan to Dallas.
About 3 weeks after I dropped it off, they called me up, said it's almost ready and I just need to be at the shop to sign off on it. So I went there and that's where they told me the entire story and showed me 3 non-OEM bumpers.
They actually put each bumper on the car to let me see how bad it was, and yeah it was terrible. Huge ass panel gaps here and there and misaligned everywhere that it was crashing on the headlight assembly. Then they put on the bumper from Mazda Japan and it fit perfectly.
As for the paint, it really wasn't noticeable when I picked it up and didn't notice it for another couple of weeks or so. That's when I brought the car back to the shop and where they gave me that answer... it wasn't years later actually that I found out that Mazda might've changed the paint formula.
I actually did ask the paint guy at the dealer I worked at last year and you're right it can be color matched as long as the paint guy actually knows what the fnck he's doing, but most guys just follow the given formula on the computer and since the bumper was probably painted in a booth, separated from the car, the guy wouldn't have noticed at all. Then you add in that the formula might've changed, then yeah it's just not a good recipe at all.
Where are you mounting it? Maybe a more straight ahead view would be better
I've got it mounted on the passenger side window. I'd love to mount it to look straight ahead but as you can see, it's only possible if I drop the top(but then the headrests will block some of the view):
If I put up the top, there's nowhere for me to mount the camera as there's a crevice right below it that lets you stow the top like the picture. I also don't have a rollbar so I can't mount it on there either.
/editorial/articleLeadwide-2016-volkswagen-scirocco-r-wolfsburg-editiongtl24u.jpg)
