Step one is the factory paint code. Most automakers print it on a label, usually inside a door jamb, while other brands use the glove box, the trunk or a spot under the hood. In a paint maker's database, the code points to a formula: a first draft of the color, not the final word.

Here is the catch. I-CAR, which trains the collision industry, names reasons a standard formula can fall short, including factory variances, different plants and paint suppliers, unidentified variants, weathering and earlier repairs. Paint makers may publish several versions of one factory color, sometimes tied to the plant that built the car.

• Door jamb stickers often carry the code
• Other spots: glove box, trunk, under the hood
• A code is the color's first draft
• Weathering and plant differences can shift color (I-CAR)
• Paintwork across every make and model

Who does the work matters, too. Minor or major, repairs at the Ocala shop go to its I-CAR Gold Class Certified Team. The certifications page also shows five program recognitions: Certified Assured Performance, Kia Recognized Collision Repair Center, the Nissan Collision Repair Network, Hyundai Recognized Collision Repair Center and American Honda's ProFirst Collision Repair Facility certification.

I-CAR is direct about color. Matching is done on every vehicle that rolls into a collision repair facility, black paint included, and color match is often subjective, with no one simple fix that ensures a match every time. I-CAR also recommends checking color early in the repair. In practice, the goal is a color that blends in.

• The repair crew is an I-CAR Gold Class team
• Certified Assured Performance and Honda ProFirst
• Nissan Collision Repair Network
• Kia and Hyundai Recognized Collision Repair Center
• I-CAR: black paint needs matching too

When the formula comes close but not close enough, refinishers typically tint it. I-CAR's definition: changing how a color looks by mixing small doses of toner into the original formula. Next comes a spray-out card, sprayed per PPG with the same equipment and technique used on the car, given two coats of clear and checked in natural sunlight.

Blending follows. As I-CAR describes it, the new basecoat is carried into the neighboring panel with some original color left showing, so the eye reads one color, not two. Blending can never take the place of tinting, I-CAR adds. PPG sets the minimum blend area at 12 inches for basecoat colors and 24 inches for tri-coats.

• I-CAR: toner tints the formula
• Spray-outs copy the gun and technique used on the car (PPG)
• Cards judged at face, flash and flop angles (PPG)
• Blends leave some original color visible (I-CAR)
• PPG minimums: 12-inch basecoat, 24-inch tri-coat blends

Last comes the clear coat, the top layer on most modern cars. It gives the finish its gloss, shields the color from UV light and is formulated with UV absorbers and light stabilizers that hold off dulling, cracking and color change. Nissan's guidance takes the final clear out to the panel's edge or a natural break, and automakers such as Hyundai do not recommend blending clear coat.

Florida is hard on that top layer. Weathering-test company Q-Lab calls the state the internationally recognized benchmark location for outdoor testing, noting that twelve months of Florida sun can equate to several years' worth of weathering elsewhere. Humidity counts during the repair, too: I-CAR says overly humid air slows evaporation in waterborne and solvent-borne paints. Send the collision team a message with any questions.

• Clear coat supplies gloss and UV shielding
• Hyundai advises against blended clear coat
• Final clear runs to a panel edge, per Nissan
• Q-Lab benchmarks weathering in Florida
• Evaporation slows in overly humid air (I-CAR)

So who handles the color in Ocala? The shop keeps an in-house paint team, and its painters work with body technicians and collision coordinators on anything from a minor dent to a major collision repair. It has also invested in computerized paint matching systems and says it is dedicated to restoring a vehicle's appearance and performance.

You also get a lifetime warranty on all repairs performed at Jenkins Collision Centers. Staff members help with insurance claims, write up repair estimates and give you progress updates until the work is finished. When you request an estimate online, the comments box is the place to describe the paint damage.

• Painters on staff alongside body technicians
• Color matched on computerized systems
• Lifetime warranty on all repairs performed at Jenkins Collision Centers
• Help with your insurance claim
• Progress updates until the work is done