Clear coat respray

Long story short, a local Nissan dealership body shop burnt through my clear coat when attempting to repair a misaligned hood that had caused my paint to wear off between the hood and driver's side fender. After doing some paint touch up, the shop wet sanded the edge of the hood and fender and then used a rotary to finish the the job.

In doing so, they burnt through my clear coat near the edge of my hood as well as on the top of the fender, about the size of a silver dollar.

Now this original repair was completed under warranty since the truck is brand new.

I brought the truck back after discovering the damage and they are going to have to re-spray the clear on the front quarter panel and entire hood, after adding some color to the burnt through areas. Btw, the truck is black.

I am pretty ticked off at this point.

How durable will this respray be in the long run? I also told them that I want the dang orange peel to be matched to the rest of the vehicle. Is this possible?

I further requested that all bolts that are touched to remove the panels be touched-up with paint as well. Doubt they will do that.

So, to any paint experts out there, will this repair just look like garbage? Especially on a black vehicle?

I did ask if they could swap the panels from another black truck on the lot, and they refused. I am just really ticked off that they caused this damage and now I have to have a respray on a truck with 800 miles on it.

I just don't want to run into any future issues with this repair. I am going to inspect this repair attempt under my detail lights at home once I get the truck back. It is scheduled to go in for this respray Jan 5.

Also, is there anything I should specifically ask them to do to ensure a proper job is done? I have no problem taking the truck back as many times as needed to have it done properly. I am not going to settle for any hack job.

7PaintGuns said:

That's a shame. If they have a quality paint shop it should be fine and yes they can definitely match the orange peel. It's always better to retain a factory finish. When spraying at the factory the vehicle is a controlled environment free of any contaminants. Things can happen in a body shop with panels sprayed by humans but 99% of the time it should be fine. Does their paint have a lifetime guarantee? Do you know what kind of product they are using such as PPG, Axalta or Sickens?

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Yes, they said they would have a lifetime guarantee on the paint. I will have to find out what brand they use. I'll give them a call on Monday to find out.

Yeah, I am pretty ticked off. Plus they have been pretty smug and rude when I pointed out the damage. I really feel like they should swap the panels being that THEY caused the damage to begin with! The collision shop manager told me that the job won't look factory when completed. This was not something that instilled great confidence in me.

WaxMaster1 said:

That stinks. I feel for you. If the paint is just black, no metallic, panel painting will be no problem. As far as matching orange peel, that just depends on the skills of the guy painting your car. Long term durability....I would want PPG if the oem paint is PPG. I'd want Dupont if the OEM paint is Dupont, etc, etc.

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Thankfully, the paint is NOT a metallic. It is what Nissan calls "Super Black."

Come to think about it, I may make a call to Nissan customer relations and see what can be done about swapping panels, rather than a respray job.....Or at least some sort of compensation.

7PaintGuns said:

If you want the panels swapped, just ask for a new truck. No I'm not saying that to be a jerk. I do not want to come off that way, but that's exactly what I would tell the dealership. I paid for new truck, it wasn't right, I asked you to fix it, you made it worse. I want something else. With only 800 miles on the truck this is something they should entertain. You bought a new truck for a reason. If it were my truck I wouldn't really care but I paint cars for a living and would be confident with my repair.

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Funny that you mention this. Believe it or not, this truck is actually a replacement for a previous Frontier I had that had major paint defects from the factory. After A LOT of back and forth with Nissan corporate, and a visit by a Nissan "field engineer" it was determined that the truck had contaminates on it when painted resulting in solvent pops throughout the entire vehicle. I refused an entire truck repaint at the time and Nissan finally agreed to buyback the truck and put me into a new one.

Well, all seemed well and resolved until I noticed the hood was misaligned on the new replacement truck...and thus began the journey to where I am now. I believe this is why the dealership has had an attitude with me concerning this issue....

So I doubt I have a any chance of a second replacement vehicle. All I know is that Inwill never purchase a Nissan product again due to their lack of quality control and customer service...

Yeah, it is really unfortunate. I love the truck. Just wish they didn't destroy it in their "repair attempt." Unreal....

2black1s said:

Swapping panels is not the norm but I've done it twice...

I swapped out a door on my new truck (2015 Chevy Colorado) that was damaged when I picked the truck up. I told them the only way I would take delivery is if they would replace the door with another off of a new truck. Not a factory replacement door painted in their shop, but a door off of another new truck with the factory finish. Repainting was absolutely out of the question for me. It took 6 months but they finally came through.

I also did the same thing with a deck lid on a Pontiac Solstice I bought in 2007.

There is no authorized way of doing such and most dealers will simply tell you it can't be done - but I've done it twice!

No matter how good they do repainting yours, it will never match the durability of the factory finish.

You need to make a friend at the dealer that will take care of you... Calling the manufacturer will more than likely get you nowhere.

Good Luck. I feel for ya.

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You are correct. I know for a fact they can do a panel swap. When picking up the truck, there was a deep gouge on the plastic bumper. Their body shop asst manager pulled a new front bumper off of another new black frontier on their lot to avoid repainting a replacement bumper for me. He said the same thing; that a repaint would never be as durable. Unfortunately, this manager has since left the dealership about 3 weeks ago. So....he would of been that "friend" at the dealership.

When I went in last week to ask about a panel swap, the sales manager who was very helpful initially with my replacement truck, did a total 180 when I asked him about that option. What's funny is, when they were resolving the bumper issue, he was concerned I would not give them a good review. He made a point to tell me that anything less than perfect on Nissan's survey would not be good enough. When the bumper was completed, I tossed them a bone and wrote glowing reviews on line and gave them a perfect score on Nissan's survey. I even specifically named those who assisted me. Apparently this was quickly forgotten and this is the thanks I get. How nice of them!

Coopers ST said:

Have them fix it, if it isn't perfectly 100% factory look don't accept it, make them redo it. Make them keep redoing it till they swap panels or get it right.

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EXACTLY my plan of attack.:xyxthumbs:

I just wrote an email, firm but polite, to the customer relations manager at the dealership asking to resolve the matter the correct way. If denied again, I'll shoot an email to the owner of the dealership.

If shunned again, I'll start the respray process and accept no less then a professionally done job.

The truck is scheduled to go into the body shop on Jan 5....so I have some time to haggle with them....

RFrommann said:

They giving you a loaner vehicle while in shop?

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Yes they are. They have an in-house rental department of Altimas...

UPDATE

After receiving the email I wrote them this morning, the dealership has agreed to swap my panels. I received a call from the GM (the same person who originally denied my request to do the swap) and he stated he wanted to keep a good relationship with me. So, truck will be in this week for the panel swap. Success.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice and insight!