How fussy should you be with new paint jobs?

[Alphamale]

Is it too much to ask a paint shop to re-do a job if you see pits in the paint surface? How about "orange peel"? Can you ask the paint shop to avoid ANY "orange peel" in their finish? Is it too much to ask them to call you immediately after the car is brought out of the curing room? A lot of places seem to finish the job, drive the car out into their lot and let it sit there a day or two, until they have time to call you. This is what happened to me. Sure enough a bird bomb was smack dab on the hood of the car. Dried, no less. Am I being unreasonable to have them repaint the entire hood again? There was also a lot of peel on the surface not to mention a pit or two where it looks like paint bubbles 'popped'. If you look close, you can see this. But how adamant should I be about them re-doing this job? Is there any way to get a paint shop's guarentee that they will produce a "laser-like" finish to the surface? A lot of places will say things, but their end result is less than acceptable. How fussy should one be?

AM

 

[SuperSport]

I think it depends on the paint shop and what you are paying for. Take for instance myself. I am redoing my Chevelle this winter. Me and my Dad are doing all of the body work and probably will have a couple hundred hours in blocking the car to get it as straight as possible. I have already contacted a painter that I know does award winning work. We agreed on a price and while its not crazy expensive, it certainly is not cheap. If there is any Orange Peel after he buffs it out or any other things you described, he will be fixing them. He already knows this though because I told hi I am wanting a show quality job and thats what we agreed on. Now if I took it to Maaco and got the 300 special, I probably would not be saying anything about these problems because I got what i paid for.

 

[LuxuryMobile]

SuperSport makes a great point that I agree with. If you feel that you paid enough to take the work back and ask for it to be fixed then you should.

 

[Alphamale]

Ok, then how much is a fair price for that kind of 'show room' quality paint job? I would think that you will have a harder time trying to get a small shop to re-do a paint job compared to let's say a dealership. You could come back with,"well ask for references and reviews from other customers. But how many customers actually even know what "orange peel" is except for a fruit rind? Most customers don't look THAT closely. Is there a franchise out there that is a favorite of the car collector? Are there shops that say "well, you want the next tier paint job". It may cost more, but that's what I want.

 

[SuperSport]

Its hard to put a price on a show qulaity paint job. Paint is the last step in many when it comes to making the body of a car "show quality" While painting is a big step, the body work is a much bigger step. I have a friend with a 71 chevelle that is wanting some body work done and nice paint(no rust repair, or panel replacment) He has gotten estimates from $7,500 to over $10,000. You can can find cheaper and pricier then this. You hear all the time at shows of people who had their car painted by some retired painter in their back yard on the side for much cheaper. It helps if you know the right people sometimes. The shop I am dealing with only does restorations and show quality paint work for the most part. The customers that come to them does know what orange peel is. Before choosing them, I looked at some of the other local cars that they had painted.

 

[DLB]

Don't expect a show car job unless the price ends in "thousand dollars". Then, depending on the level you want, you pick the number that goes in front.

DLB

 

[Alphamale]

Don't expect a show car job unless the price ends in "thousand dollars". Then, depending on the level you want, you pick the number that goes in front.

DLB

Wouldn't equipment become a factor? What kind of "after-the-spraying" work is done by the shop and what should you expect them to do? How much of a quality job is determiined by the machine technology and how much is manual labor by the painters via buffing and whatever?

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Is it too much to ask a paint shop to re-do a job if you see pits in the paint surface? How about "orange peel"? Can you ask the paint shop to avoid ANY "orange peel" in their finish? Is it too much to ask them to call you immediately after the car is brought out of the curing room?

Yes, if there is solvent pop that goes all the way through the fresh clear, you shouldn't even have to ask them to re-work it, if they're a reputable shop they'll fix it themselves.

Orange peel is to be expected to some extent, some painters are better than others but since wet sanding and buffing to remove the peel is fairly simple to do it's no big deal. No need to rework it in the booth.

A phone call takes 5 minutes... you can certainly ask but if you're like me, I stop by the body shop at least once a day while a vehicle is there so I get to see it every step of the way and I have a pretty good idea when it's going to be in the booth/coming out of the booth.

A lot of places seem to finish the job, drive the car out into their lot and let it sit there a day or two, until they have time to call you. This is what happened to me. Sure enough a bird bomb was smack dab on the hood of the car. Dried, no less. Am I being unreasonable to have them repaint the entire hood again?

Did the fresh paint get etched, or was it alright after the bomb was wiped off? If it was fine, no need to re-work. If it could easily be wet sanded out, no need to rework. If the paint wrinkled or had any other irreparable damage, yes they should re-work it in the booth.

There was also a lot of peel on the surface not to mention a pit or two where it looks like paint bubbles 'popped'. If you look close, you can see this. But how adamant should I be about them re-doing this job?

Solvent pop or dry spray definitely warrant re-work because you can't repair them easily via wet sanding and buffing. If it's just orange peel you can cut/buff it yourself or pay a professional DETAILER to do it for you (NOT the body shop... their guys generally don't know what a detailer knows about finish sanding and buffing) to get the perfection you're after.

Is there any way to get a paint shop's guarentee that they will produce a "laser-like" finish to the surface?

Sure, there's a way: Money. Lots and lots of money.

Otherwise, the best you can hope for is a finish in a condition such that you can wet sand, buff it out to perfection, and have the laser-like finish you are after.

 

[DantheMan]

This should be stuff that should be talked about BEFORE the paint job, imo...

I dont know what you paid, but it takes alot of money for perfection.

 

[DLB]

Wouldn't equipment become a factor? What kind of "after-the-spraying" work is done by the shop and what should you expect them to do? How much of a quality job is determiined by the machine technology and how much is manual labor by the painters via buffing and whatever?

Here's something to ponder: In the 1970's/1980's/1990's some of the hottest paint jobs that have ever been laid were done. Their equipment wasn't near as advanced as it is today. What does that tell you?

I dont know what you paid, but it takes alot of money for perfection.

He nailed it. You should have an idea if you are expecting more than what you paid for. If not, then pin the painter down and tell them what they have to do.

DLB

 

[Fly bye]

What does that tell you?

That tells me that due to EPA regulation, modern paint systems are not as good as in years past. Maybe there will come a day, when chemical engineers will devise a system that adheres to strict EPA regulations, and at the same time, give fantastic results.