How many of you guys had to beat on your body shop to get your car painted right?

[TRBON8R]

This repaint has been a disaster from start to finish, and has now taken a turn for the worse. I went and looked at the car this week only to notice that my wheelwell moldings had been painted GLOSS BLACK. Not only that I had to ASK the body shop to paint the trim piece that goes along the bottom of the windshield, which they obviously had no plans to paint. They also didn't paint the core support area underneath the hood. I mean WTF, this is a 5k paint job and I'm having to tell these guys to do this stuff?

It gets worse. I go to look at the car again yesterday. They corrected the flaw with the wheelwell moldings........well kind of. When I get down close and look at them I can see where they sprayed over the rubber residue from the last time I was at the racetrack and went through the burnout box!!!! So both rear moldings have rubber chunks encased in a fresh coat of paint. Then I notice that the vertical trim molding piece that sits directly behind the side windows has been painted the correct trim color on the passenger side, but has been painted gloss black on the driver side. Then there is the matter of the trunk lid. I mean the fit isn't even close. There is a huge gap on one side along the top of the sill. Also the driver door opens kind of funny now. It kind of pops open when you pull up on the handle, so obviously the new door moldings must need some work.

I was supposed to pick the car up today, but I just can't see taking it in this condition on the "promise" that they will fix everything right if I bring it back. I just pray that when I go look at the car after it has been polished up that the paintjob itself is good. I guess all the other stuff can be corrected, but I just shouldn't have to go through this kind of heartache with the kind of money I'm paying these guys. I just feel sick right now.......

 

[BlownZ]

Did you get references before plunking your car down there?

 

[TRBON8R]

Yes, I got a reference direct from a local TR owner. I've also heard through a friend of mine of a second GN owner who had his car done there. My friend who knows what a good paint job looks like, told me the guy's car looks flawless. Then again maybe they had to fight to get things done right on their cars as well.

I've found it to be true of car guys that many of them wouldn't even tell you the truth if they actually were unhappy with a shop's work. No one wants to admit that in hindsight they might have made a better choice.

 

[BlownZ]

Yeah...you do have a point there. Good luck...for 5k you should expect near perfection in my mind.

 

[84GNTTYPE]

When I got my car restored I had to fight with the guys also. He told me that he was going to paint all of the trim gloss black and that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. I said I didn't think so. There are some panels on my car that have been stripped and painted 4 times because they couldn't get it right. The main problem in my case was that it was a new shop. The owner had been doing bodywork for 25 years, but he had trouble getting his employees to live up to his standards. He knew that the work was sub-standard and wouldn't let it leave the shop like that.

Granted I got an excellent deal on all work, but the agreement was that he would do the job cheap and it would work as advertisement for his shop. It looks great now and I know he has gotten at least 10 jobs off the car and it's only been on the road for about a year. Now if I find something wrong (as I do periodically) I just take it back and he fixes it, it's nice that the shop is only a mile down the road.


Hope your situation turns out for the best. Just don't let those guys push you around. You're paying for them to do what you want.

 

[zam70]

If all the details were discussed before hand, they should make everything right - just give them a chance.
In defense of body shops, don't think ANYTHING is implied. If you didn't request the core support painted, you shouldn't have expected it painted. (if you did request/pay for it, then it should have been)
Another thing, body shops are HUMAN TOO.
Are you telling me you NEVER screw up? Seems everyone always expects perfection from body shops but few want to pay for it. $5000.00 would get you a factory quality paint job at my shop. For perfection, it is $10,000+. If you think that is to much, you have obviously never painted a car (to show quality). It is a phenominal amount of work that 99% of the public cannot even fathom. Materials alone would cost $1000 - 2000 dollars. 3000 labor (dollars left after materials) equates to roughly 64 hours to do the job - YEAH RIGHT! Not enough time for a "perfect" job...barely enough time for an OK job. It takes approximately 24+ hours to do a final wet sand and buff for a "show" quality job.

If you want a perfect paint job, tell them you expect it perfect and don't request a "deal"... drop off your car without asking how much it will be. Tell them to do what ever it takes for it to be perfect and it will be.
To often people expect TOP QUALITY work but they always want a "deal"...if you want a deal, you'll get one but, it's not the body shop that will suffer.

NOW, I'm not meaning to hammer on you, my point is, give them a chance to make it right. Don't get mad, just be persistant and patient...A complete paint job is a HUGE undertaking...alot can be over looked...

 

[turbohawg]

For $5k, it better be a damn good paint job. I got my car painted for $1k and the only problem I had was the driver fender. Had a flaw, big ass run and a bubble from bad prep. The guy keep BS me around until I finally had enough. You should have seen his face when I pulled up, snatched the masking tape off the car and drove off. I ended up giving him $500 for the trouble he caused me. Yeah, I had to pay $200 for the respray of the fender from another shop. I suggest you do the same if you start feeling like your sick ever time this guy gives you a line. He could have taken me to small claims court but guess what. If you find a good body shop, you better send them a x-mas card every year.

 

[turbohawg]

I'm not saying that these guys are giving you the run around. See if you can work with them. I gave the person who painted mine a plenty of time to fix it. When I saw him sitting on his ass and his help working on another car, I just lost it.

 

[equalizer442]

Another thing, body shops are HUMAN TOO

so what bodly orphus do you drive your car in to, you dont use the back door do you?

jokes aside i had a BAD time with a guy one time, i got one of my 67 buick skylarks painted awhile back. my dad worked with the painter, he even seen some of "his" work. we thaught that he had painted cars on the side but in reality he had only painted 1 fender on his truck while taking a night class at he had only started a few weeks before he just forgot to tell us that he had never even painted a whole car before.

to complicate things he tryed spraying it in his own personal garage, dirt floor btw. when we got the car back it had runs and drips ALL over it and on one fender alown i had counted 73 places that you could see sand under the paint.

 

[BlownZ]

5 THOUSAND dollars only gets you an OE quality paint job??? Holy crap and all these years Maaco has been doing OE quality paint jobs for 300 bucks plus materials....who knew!!!!

In my mind OE isn't that great...and isn't that difficult to achieve...hence the Maaco reference.

 

[zam70]

turbohawg - I wouldn't even look at your car for $1000.00 if you mentioned "complete paint". You should be happy you found someone to work on it for that price... A grand wouldn't even pay for the materials we use.

BlownZ - If you ever saw how Macco does paint, you'd understand why it's so cheap... Also, if you think Maaco does OEM quality, you sure have low standards when it comes to paint...to each their own but I prefer my paint to have a shine...
We spend more time simply preping the car for paint (making sure it's good and clean) then they do on the entire job.

I sincerely hope they take care of you...some of those things mentioned are are just bad work ethic...they should step up and make it right.

Just for the record, we painted TurboSams car earlier this year, and he has some complaints....we will happily take care of it AS SOON AS HE GETS THE CAR TO US! (are you listening Sam? J.K. get'er running first, you're not on a time limit)

 

[JRSGN]

zam70,
What Color is your car?? Not to take this thread off course But it looks GOOD.

Jim

 

[GS_Beavis]

If I pay $10,000 for a paint job it better glow in the dark and have a gold plated frame................

 

[zam70]

JRSGN - thanks
It is a 2000 Lincoln LS color, Midnight grey metallic - code "TV"

 

[TRBON8R]

Originally posted by zam70
If all the details were discussed before hand, they should make everything right - just give them a chance.
In defense of body shops, don't think ANYTHING is implied. If you didn't request the core support painted, you shouldn't have expected it painted. (if you did request/pay for it, then it should have been)
Another thing, body shops are HUMAN TOO.
Are you telling me you NEVER screw up? Seems everyone always expects perfection from body shops but few want to pay for it. $5000.00 would get you a factory quality paint job at my shop. For perfection, it is $10,000+. If you think that is to much, you have obviously never painted a car (to show quality). It is a phenominal amount of work that 99% of the public cannot even fathom. Materials alone would cost $1000 - 2000 dollars. 3000 labor (dollars left after materials) equates to roughly 64 hours to do the job - YEAH RIGHT! Not enough time for a "perfect" job...barely enough time for an OK job. It takes approximately 24+ hours to do a final wet sand and buff for a "show" quality job.

If you want a perfect paint job, tell them you expect it perfect and don't request a "deal"... drop off your car without asking how much it will be. Tell them to do what ever it takes for it to be perfect and it will be.
To often people expect TOP QUALITY work but they always want a "deal"...if you want a deal, you'll get one but, it's not the body shop that will suffer.

NOW, I'm not meaning to hammer on you, my point is, give them a chance to make it right. Don't get mad, just be persistant and patient...A complete paint job is a HUGE undertaking...alot can be over looked...

I don't recall saying that I never screw up, nor did I request any "deals". When I do screw up I have to answer to my customer and explain what went wrong, just like the body shop has had to do with me. I'm sure you work at a great shop and do quality work, but in my opinion 5k should buy a nearly flawless paint job. I've seen too many 99% flawless paint jobs out there in the 5k range to believe that it can't be done at most good shops for that price. Sure you can spend more, but you shouldn't have to for a quality job. For the record no I didn't specifically request that the core support be painted, just like I didn't specifically request that the left fender, the doors, or the roof be painted. For the amount of money being spent painting the core support is a no brainer. This isn't Maaco we're talking about. As you mentioned though, I've learned a lesson that that when dealing with body shops it is wise to never assume that anything is implied.

All that being said, I went by the shop today and things started to look up. They addressed a couple of the items I mentioned. The trunk now fits properly and the core support was painted. The car will have to go back and have a couple of the trim pieces resprayed and they need to do a little more color sanding on the trunk. Their attitude seems pretty good. It probably didn't hurt that I was polite but firm in voicing my concerns. I believe them to be a good shop and think in the end they will take care of me. I'll let you all know how it works out.

 

[BlownZ]

I got hit in my company car and Maaco painted the rear quarter. It looks as good as it did before. I am not in any way defending Maaco...you get what you pay for...and for 5k dollars with little to no body work I think you should get a HELL OF A LOT.

 

[Red Regal T]

Scott (zam70), is speaking for the good guys. He's a good guy. They are out there but hard to find. Sometimes the customers are part of the problem.

Hell, I could never defend a bodyshop. I've heard a million horror stories. When I was painting cars on my own, I'd use bodyshops as a sales pitch. Your insurance company could easily put out $5000 to repair a car that needs a fender and bumper. How long do you think that takes in comparison to doing a show quality paint job? I'd much rather fix the bumper and fender. They just take on paintjobs as fill for when they are slow. Many bodyshop workers have no talent or clue to how to do a nice job. The $6.00 an hour apprentice painter's helper was probably prepping your car for Mr. Superspray.

Also, they are cornercutters. Many customers accept cars that have terrible work done to them because most people don't know what the hell they're looking at. They're more likely to notice some dirt spot on the tire. That's just another factor in the body business mind set. "We'll get the money and hope he don't notice". If he does notice, "hey, leave your car........we'll get it back to you next week" (you wish).

 

[zam70]

Johns right on - Very accurate depiction.
I'm lucky to have the guys I have. Most of the people who work for me have morals and personal pride in their work...they are payed accordingly as well. ($80,000+/- a year for the good ones).

Good to hear they are taking care of you.

If it's a GREAT job, I still stand by the statement that $5000.00 is a good deal. For those who think it is outrageous, do a complete paint job sometime...you won't think it is anymore.

 

[hot6-231]

Originally posted by zam70
If it's a GREAT job, I still stand by the statement that $5000.00 is a good deal. For those who think it is outrageous, do a complete paint job sometime...you won't think it is anymore.

Hmmmm.........Good deal for the shop!!

 

[zam70]

OkOk I surrender.....
time to give up