My daughter scratched her current shape Mazda 2 in the area of the rear wheel arch. The damage was relatively minor and the car went in for repairs to an insurance approved bodyshop. There were several problems with the repair, some of which have been sorted out, but one is still remaining.

The Mazda 2 has a strip of mastic applied at the factory along the outer edge of the rear wheel arch which has then been overpainted (could be stick-on tape, as it is very even and would have been difficult to apply with a gun). This strip has not been repaired properly on the scratched rear wheel arch, it looks and feels very uneven, and creates the impression that the car has been in a way more serious accident. The bodyshop are insisting that they cannot repair this strip any better, and I am now discussing the case with the insurance company.

If anyone has experience with the repair of a similar mastic strip, or has access to Mazda bodyshop manuals, which should advise how this strip should be repaired, I would much appreciate hearing about it.