Something not matching there ? 

Bumper and bonnet? Something to do with paint on plastic and metal being different in colour I think . Heard about this before

Mine looks slightly different shades too (bumper lighter), not as noticeable as that though. 

 

It’s a lease car , so I need to prove it needs fixed (bumper resprayed I guess ) 

It’s a 69 plate. October 2019

ive even had people say maybe it’s meant to be like that!..... No it’s not 

Dealership manager says they’ve never had a paint warranty claim in the time he’s been there. 
 

Just mentioned this to my brother as he paints cars for a living. Metal and plastic will always be slightly different but that is a drastic difference from the picture and he said he wouldn't be surprised if it has had paintwork done at some point to be that far out.

I’ve had the car from new. The only people it’s been left with is the dealership.
Paintwork was mint. I’ve no proof it was the dealership and they are denying going near the bumper. 
Not a lot I can do. 

The color difference between the bodywork and the bumpers is caused by the fact that the body of the car and the front and rear bumpers are spray painted separately.

The body of the car is spray painted at the Ford factory (in case of the Focus at the Saarlouis production plant in Germany). The front and rear bumpers are spray painted by the manufacturer of the bumpers at a different production facility. The front and rear bumpers are supplied at the production plant as a finished product that can be installed immediately. 

Color differences between the body of the car and the front/rear bumpers has been a well known problem for Years. Some specific colors however seems to be much more affected than others.

 

Even to that drastic difference? The cars only 14 months 

Was a perfect match before.

Surely that's the way the lights hitting it?  Maybe it's the first time you've had sun in Scotland in 14 months?  

On a serious note though, has it been parked facing south for most of the time and faded I wonder?

27 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Surely that's the way the lights hitting it?  Maybe it's the first time you've had sun in Scotland in 14 months?  

On a serious note though, has it been parked facing south for most of the time and faded I wonder?

North facing. And yes not much sun up here! Was looking great in the sunshine in the summer, no noticeable difference. 
The dealership manager couldn’t be more unhelpful. Although light is a factor,  if u were stood next to it you’d see the true difference between the 2 . 

53 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

Even to that drastic difference? The cars only 14 months 

Was a perfect match before.

Before what ? 

Why has the car been to the dealership ? 

50 minutes ago, Wino said:

Before what ? 

Why has the car been to the dealership ? 

All I can say is they had no reason to touch the bumper. 

2 hours ago, JW1982 said:

The color difference between the bodywork and the bumpers is caused by the fact that the body of the car and the front and rear bumpers are spray painted separately.

The body of the car is spray painted at the Ford factory (in case of the Focus at the Saarlouis production plant in Germany). The front and rear bumpers are spray painted by the manufacturer of the bumpers at a different production facility. The front and rear bumpers are supplied at the production plant as a finished product that can be installed immediately. 

Color differences between the body of the car and the front/rear bumpers has been a well known problem for Years. Some specific colors however seems to be much more affected than others.

 

I hear you but quality control in a factory is there for a reason. I think that pic speaks for itself. Thanks for the input . Appreciated. 

7 hours ago, Alex.S said:

what colour is that desert island blue? different angle front to bonnet different refraction of light & shadow lower sill looks the same as bonnet.

My car is this colour it changes depending on light however does look noticeable in that picture.

Yeah desert island blue. Looks to me like it’s had a crap SMART repair. But, I’ve owned it from new. Dealership have had it a few times but denying all knowledge. 

1 minute ago, Alex.S said:

Yeah desert island blue. Looks to me like it’s had a crap SMART repair. But, I’ve owned it from new. Dealership have had it a few times but denying all knowledge. 

i have an original ford touch up paint pen and its not 100% colour match on stone chips.

3 minutes ago, st line x 140 driver said:

i have an original ford touch up paint pen and its not 100% colour match on stone chips.

Worse than useless then. Fords are notorious for chips too. 

12 hours ago, Alex.S said:

I hear you but quality control in a factory is there for a reason. I think that pic speaks for itself. Thanks for the input . Appreciated. 

Production tolerances allow a certain percentage of color difference between the metal body panels and the plastic front/rear bumpers, mirror covers, side skirts, rear spoiler, etc. and also allow a certain amount of other paint imperfections. If the color difference and other paint imperfections are within tolerance the car will simply pass quality control even if there is a noticeable color difference or other paint imperfection.

Within the color codes that Ford uses there are several different shades. 2 cars that have the exact same color code can have a completely different shade of the color. The touch up paint that for sells covers all different shades within the paint code. On many vehicles there is a noticeable difference between the original color and the touch up paint.
 

To be honest on a mass produced product like the Ford Focus the production tolerances are quite large. In my opinion the overall build quality became worse within the last 15 Years. Cutting costs seems to be more important these days than delivering a quality product.

Unacceptable color differences between the metal body panels and the plastic front/rear bumpers, mirror covers, side skirts, rear spoiler, etc. are quite common. Some cars even had the bumpers repainted at the dealership before delivery to the customer (which can only be determined by measuring the paint thickness). If you think the color difference is unacceptable you (or in this case the lease company that owns the car) should file a written or E-mailed complain/warranty claim to the Ford dealership that sold the car. The Ford dealership should handle the complain/warranty request. It is possible that the dealership forwards the complain/warranty claim to Ford and demand an assessment of the car. In this case the Warranty representative from Ford will make an appointment and assess the car at the dealership. 

Back in the days I filed paint/rust related complaints/warranty claims for both my MK1 and MK2. In both cases the paint damage was assessed by a Ford representative (who rejected the warranty claim by the way).

History showed that Ford only accepts complaints/warranty claims about color difference if the color difference is out of tolerance and visible from any angle. This was for example the case with many Focus MK2/MK2.5 ST/RS vehicles. If the color difference is only visible from one or two angles and not from other angles Ford usually rejects the complaint/warranty claim.

3 hours ago, JW1982 said:

Ford only accepts complaints/warranty claims about color difference if the color difference is out of tolerance and visible from any angle.

Some angles are more noticeable than others but if you were stood next it it’s clear to see. I sent ford uk a message, they said take it up with dealer. He’s saying take it up with lease company, which is BS.

Although lease company’s been great. 

6 hours ago, JW1982 said:

If you think the color difference is unacceptable you (or in this case the lease company that owns the car) should file a written or E-mailed complain/warranty claim to the Ford dealership that sold the car.

Good advice mate. They’re ready (the lease company) to ‘escalate’ the matter. I thought I’d get some professional advice on it first. 

1 hour ago, Alex.S said:

They’re ready (the lease company) to ‘escalate’ the matter.

That's good. When I was involved with leasing a lot of vehicles through work, the lease companies were often a good ally in getting things sorted by the dealer/manufacturer, as obviously uncorrected faults can affect the value of their asset.