So I have a 2012 Boss 302 Mustang in Yellow Blaze tri-coat. A girl accidentally hit me, and the insurance company has been great about everything, the body-shop has been great about it too and is trying their best and not trying to pass off mis-matched work at all. Will post pictures, the body shop, which is a reputable shop in my area has painted the area trying to blend it 3 or 4 times now. This car (I can get more exact numbers) but as it is singled down to is 1 of 5 as a build not just the paint, I am guessing at 2-300 in that paint for the year. How should this be addressed? I know a lot of people on here own or work for "production" shops so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Nice car. First thing I do is work on color match / spay out color -mid coat and clear with let down panels. This may take days to get color close to a blendable match. Good luck

Thank you, I drove by there last night and the tail light was off the car on the drivers side. So I called them today and asked about it I guess they had to bring the paint all the way out to the rear quarter. Kind of stressful, this car now has 8900 miles for 2012, I care for it meticulously its definitely not original now LOL. The only thing I have done to it is tint the windows. Oh well, live and learn.

BTW they said they did spray outs with the color etc on spray out cards, and that is when they decided they need to do a blend into the hood as well as the door, now all the way back. I know this has been frustrating for them but they don't have to drive it or pay for it.

That's a easy fix... Some painters struggle with some colors. I believe they're doing their best if they're willing to go that far to please you. Is your insurance paying for the extra work ? Is all of this extra work getting recorded to car fax ? If so the value of your car is going down for a very minor repair.

Okay so I have the car back it took them quite a while with everything and still have to finish the decals. I can see a slight "dulling" between the old and new paint. It has been about a month and should have the last decal put on next week.

What is the best suggestion for getting the 5 year old paint or actually clear coat to match the new clear coat? I was thinking of trying a clay bar first and working from there, I know many in here do blending. There has to be a safe technique without harming the old or the new clear coat to get them to blend equally?

I'd be inclined to take it to a "paint correction" specialty shop or "detailer" at this point. Clear coatings can be adjusted in compound/polish refinement many times without doing radical things. Yes, clay bar surfacing helps with that refinement process but that might just be the start of what is truly needed to get things matched back up. A detail shop should be able to outline what is needed and give you a cost estimate. If it's affordable go for it. If not, look at their steps and get back to us on this and I'm sure the guys can give you some guidance here. I run into similar situations with wood and metal surfaces on furniture all the time. We might have to do a partial rebuild on a piece 50 to 200 years old. On historical projects our new work must blend seamlessly into the old. Clears can be worked out in almost any finish system.

^^^^as above find a GOOD detailer, In your situation maybe ask for references.
Jay D.