Mike Hoekstra
New member
- May 26, 2020
- 470
- 0
Today’s detail went every which way but right. Long story short, the vehicle was parked across the park from a water tower that was being painted and there is white industrial paint overspray on every surface of the car. When I spoke with the owner yesterday, after being contacted by the painting company to try rectify the paint, he had mentioned that he thought the vehicle was in an accident at one point and never reported.
Fast forward to this morning when I get the vehicle and give it a rinseless wash to have a better understanding of everything, and my painters eyes immediately start seeing things that confirm the customer’s suspicions. OK, so it has been repainted, and should have a clear coat. Wrong. I tried a test spot with CarPro TarX and an aggressive clay. The TarX marred/reactivated the paint and the clay physically pulled the paint it was that soft. OK, "Joe Backyard Body Man and Friend who does painting" has been here. I cleaned the surface and buffed it back out with Blackfire One Step to fix the paint. OK, next step let’s try just the clay and clay lube, nope, next plastic razor blades…. Nope, but some hope as a couple spots came off. Last gasp effort - steam with a plastic razor and clay. Nothing. What worked was a long-handled metal razor blade, with a low attack angle and a very soft touch. However, to perform this over the entire vehicle was more than cost prohibitive. Furthermore, there was no way to correct the problem without doing further damage to the vehicle.
So, after two hours of working the car and several attempts, it was time to pronounce last rights, and call the owner of the vehicle and give him the bad news. 1. I am unable to remove anything. 2. Your vehicle was definitely in an accident at some point and not reported and then show him when I delivered the vehicle.
Several factors contributed to this realization as I looked at the vehicle and worked on it -
1. The orange peel was different on all of the panels
2. There was black overspray on the underside of the tail light that I could see through the white backup lens because it was taped off and not removed
3. There was a definitive tape line running the length of the trunk lid area on the rear quarter
4. There was a distinct tape line that could also be seen to a trained eye of a painter where they taped the bumper in half and blended it out right above the license plate
5. The gaps on the door panels didn’t line up
6. The front clip and hood had a wide enough gap to put my index finger between them
7. Paint removal on what should be a base coat clear coat vehicle
8. Light spot on the right front quarter panel that wasn’t completely covered
Clearly the customer was upset his car could not be fixed, but furthermore explaining to him all of the issues related to his car were far more serious than he had previously thought. He thanked me for trying and the honesty. As detailers, we not only have to do right by ourselves, but do right for our customers. Today was a good learning experience for myself, and thought I could share some finer points of my painting experience with my fellow detailers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Fast forward to this morning when I get the vehicle and give it a rinseless wash to have a better understanding of everything, and my painters eyes immediately start seeing things that confirm the customer’s suspicions. OK, so it has been repainted, and should have a clear coat. Wrong. I tried a test spot with CarPro TarX and an aggressive clay. The TarX marred/reactivated the paint and the clay physically pulled the paint it was that soft. OK, "Joe Backyard Body Man and Friend who does painting" has been here. I cleaned the surface and buffed it back out with Blackfire One Step to fix the paint. OK, next step let’s try just the clay and clay lube, nope, next plastic razor blades…. Nope, but some hope as a couple spots came off. Last gasp effort - steam with a plastic razor and clay. Nothing. What worked was a long-handled metal razor blade, with a low attack angle and a very soft touch. However, to perform this over the entire vehicle was more than cost prohibitive. Furthermore, there was no way to correct the problem without doing further damage to the vehicle.
So, after two hours of working the car and several attempts, it was time to pronounce last rights, and call the owner of the vehicle and give him the bad news. 1. I am unable to remove anything. 2. Your vehicle was definitely in an accident at some point and not reported and then show him when I delivered the vehicle.
Several factors contributed to this realization as I looked at the vehicle and worked on it -
1. The orange peel was different on all of the panels
2. There was black overspray on the underside of the tail light that I could see through the white backup lens because it was taped off and not removed
3. There was a definitive tape line running the length of the trunk lid area on the rear quarter
4. There was a distinct tape line that could also be seen to a trained eye of a painter where they taped the bumper in half and blended it out right above the license plate
5. The gaps on the door panels didn’t line up
6. The front clip and hood had a wide enough gap to put my index finger between them
7. Paint removal on what should be a base coat clear coat vehicle
8. Light spot on the right front quarter panel that wasn’t completely covered
Clearly the customer was upset his car could not be fixed, but furthermore explaining to him all of the issues related to his car were far more serious than he had previously thought. He thanked me for trying and the honesty. As detailers, we not only have to do right by ourselves, but do right for our customers. Today was a good learning experience for myself, and thought I could share some finer points of my painting experience with my fellow detailers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro