Is shop paint visibly different to factory paint?

Question

I've got my 2008 Jetta painted at a shop in Northern California with a very good reputation and customer satisfaction.

Whilst I was originally happy with the work, after not seeing my car for a couple of months and it being delivered all nice and shiny, I almost immediately drove it through snow in Colorado within the first week after getting it back, and after having it for a couple of months, started feeling dissatisfied that the new paint looks considerably more matte than the old paint, where the old paint looks much more glossy.

I brought the car back to the shop in California, they said they'll polish it, and it seems like it might have helped; however, I'm concerned that the owner of the shop seems to be claiming that the difference in paint is a result of me talking the car to the snowy regions that potentially tree their streets with harsh chemicals, even though I only had it there for a couple of days, and washed the car within about a week after getting out of Colorado's snow.

• Why's my car's new paint noticeably more matte than the old paint being noticeable more glossy?

• Can a regular person tell a difference between the factory paint and a good shop paint?

Answer 1

You should not be able to tell the difference between refinish and OEM paint. As was previously mentioned paint takes a long time to cure and you should have been instructed how to care for it, like don't wash the car for x weeks etc. Pictures would help better identify the problem.