Let me start by saying I know nothing about paint/body work. I bought my chevelle last year and it had been painted Dupont Purple Pearl Metallic. I love the color, its almost black, but when its sunny its a dark purple. The problem is anything that touches the car scratches it. Even drying it off leaves marks. I've tried everything from microfiber towels to old t-shirts and in the sun it looks like someone took light sand paper to it. My question is did someone do somthing wrong in the paint process to make it like this? I've noticed they cut alot of corners on the interior, so I assume they may have not done everything right on the outside. Also, if you stand back and look at the front qtr panels versus the doors they are darker. Is somthing wrong with the paint or is it the nature of the color? Does anyone have any tips to keep from scratching it? I like to keep the car clean, but I feel like I'm doing more harm than good somtimes.
Thanks
Steve

First, no matter what you use, you will create scratches to some extent. Terry cloth towels are the worst.Plus, they don't dry worth a s#it.
I would suggest you get a GOOD Chamois.
I use a chamois call the firemans friend.
This is the second one I've had in the last 20+ years. They do an excellent job of drying, and leave no water spots. They're Machine washable, and come with a nice plastic storeage tube.
Keep it clean, and it will last for years.
Second, you need to use a polish to remove those pesky scratches, and swirl marks.
Talk to your loacl Body shop supplier for recomendations, and proper polishing cloth.
Then, you can wax over the polish to help protect it. Use only pure carnuba wax..none of these cleaner/waxes. Even still, this is only going to last so long before you have to repeat the process.
As for the panels not matching, it could be a couple of things...
Either they were re-painted at some point, or they were painted off the car, or painted at different times, etc. It painted correctly, there is no reason for teh panels not to match.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Dennis,
I stopped by a body shop last night after work and they said the same thing, they said the scratches showed faster due to the color of the car, they recommended Mist-n-shine to hide them. Their theory on the color differences was that they were painted off the car and at a different angle. In the sun one appears a little darker than the other.
Thanks
Steve