Help Needed: Touch-Up Paint

[JohnC]

I`ve got a couple of scratches on my trunk and a couple of small rock chips on the hood.

I`ve tried using touch-up paint to fill the chip and then after it`s dried, I use 2000-grit wet sandpaper to sand it down.
I can`t get the touch-up to match up exactly though.

Ayone who`s good at touch-ups want to help me out with this? I am in the Bay Area.
I know I could take it to a professional detailer / body shop but they`ll charge me a lot of $$$ just to fix up a couple of scratches.

BTW, my car is a light green/blue color, like a teal? or turquoise? color.

[JaredPointer]

Sounds like the touch up paint is not matching the car`s paint. Is the car`s paint faded? Where did you get the touch-up paint at (maybe it isn`t the same color as the car`s paint)? Does the paint have any metallic flake in it? If the paint on the car isn`t faded and you are using touch up from the dealer to match the car`s color, you just might have to have a body shop mix you up some paint to match and touch it up.

[Eliot Ness]

Here is a good source for touch-up paint, not sure if it`ll match up any better but it`s worth a look:

http://www.paintscratch.com/

If it`s a two stage paint (base coat/clear coat) the lack of a clear may be part of the problem. The above site, when looking up your color, will tell you if it`s a clear coat and they sell that also.

[JohnC]

The car is pretty much new, I`ve only had it for about 2 months.

Paint is non-metallic, I got the touch-up from the dealer so it should be a perfect match.

I think where I`m having problems is the sanding... I don`t really know why I`m not getting it (I`ve tried a couple of times) so that`s why I want to seek some professional help (before I sand away all the clearcoat :-p)

[JohnC]

Nobody in the Bay Area wants to help me?

I`m sure there are some members on here that are from my area...

:(

[scottabi]

Could it be the touch up paint has sanding marks in it making it look duller than it really is?