For a professional outfit, with the best kit, matching is easier, but not always 101% if perfection is what you want without painting adjacent panels and sometimes the whole side of a vehicle.
My Range Rover had had paint to the O/S rear door.
I didn't notice it when I bought it, but would walk past the car and sometimes stop and double-take.
After a few weeks, I gave in and took it to my approved MB bodyshop and they painted the door and each panel either side to perfection!
I found the above garage (I would back them against any outfit in the UK because they are so professional and have the best equipment)) many years ago after being recommended by a M-B dealership and have never looked back and I'm lucky to have found them.
They get all the top end stuff from M-B. I remember seeing an SLS Coupe there that had been eye-wateringly keyed.
They painted it to perfection - Brilliant!
A great thing about this place, is that, although they don't have to be, the two directors are sometimes hands-on.
However, even this outfit once had a problem with a pearlescent Maserati. They are professional enough to reveal this.
They had painted the panels on the car twice and even though they had the top matching equipment and Sikkens paint for the job (they called in the Sikkens rep) they were flummoxed.
It transpired that the matching was not just about colour, but also about the weight/density of the paint - The match was spot on, but when applied looked a different colour! Original Maserati paint bought and the job was perfect!
Insurance companies pay around half the rate of an approved bodyshop, so they will happily guarantee the work, even if they car is returned, because it cost them half price in the first place and if a return ratio of 33% (which it isn't!) happened, they'd still be very much quid's in.
You don't have to have your car repaired by the insurers bodyshop.
They won't like it if you don't because it will cost them more, but there's nothing they can do to stop you taking your car to Harrods for the repair if that's what you want to do.
They will guarantee the work because they save money.
A bodyshop working at a cut price can never viably give the same job as a bodyshop that is being paid a fair rate to carry out the works to a good standard.
