Trying to color match faded red paint...

Hey guys, hopefully someone has been in a similar situation and has found something that worked. I bought some Toyota touch-up paint for my new to me truck to try to fill in some rock chips and prevent them from rusting, but apparently my truck's paint has faded more than I realized! The color of the touch up paint is way off on places like the hood and front quarter panels - it's way too dark and makes my truck's paint look orange in comparison.

I know the color of the touch up paint is correct because it matches in areas that haven't faded.

So my question: what can I do to figure out what color might match better? I have the darker of the two first gen red colors (color code 3P1) but I feel like the lighter color touch-up paint may match better... who knows

Pics of the color - it's hard to tell that it's faded since it's pretty uniform in its faded-ness.



Any suggestions?

 

Give it a clay bar job, buff and polish the shit out of it to see if it will brighten it up then apply touch up

 

I clay barred and waxed it and it didn't help the fading much... now it's too cold to give it a good wax/polish until the spring, but I'll try again when it warms up enough.

 

Why not test the lighter color on an inconspicuous area or a piece of scrap metal or something? Just to see

 

+1 on buff & polish.

Also you don't need much warmth. The buffer you use creates heat as it spins. When the paint is warm that's when it makes it easier to be buffed away so, dooooo it

 

I see, that makes sense. I may have to try that. Thanks.

I'll probably order the lighter touch up paint soon and try that too, just to see. It's so cheap it's not a big deal if it doesn't work.