Is this really typical of body shops?!?!

[Kristopher1129]

Not just typical. That is EXACTLY how they give fresh paint back every single time (in most cases I've seen). Correctly polished paint coming back from a body shop is a rarity.

In all honesty...it's not their job to correct your paint. They are mainly concerned about leveling your clear coat. Once they get rid of a large portion of that orange peel...it's up to the detailer after that.

Now you can choose to either level the orange peel completely, or polish out the holograms.

I see this ALL the time in my shop, and the body shop rarely covers the bill.

 

[Theostoubos]

It was one thing for the deer to destroy part of my car. It didn't know any better, and it lost it's life in the process.

But I was shocked by the "professionals" who did this -

It looks like they sat their beer cans on the trunk!!!

Boy did I ever get a dose of perspective through all of this. The place I took it was one of State Farm's "preferred" collision centers. The work is guaranteed, and the people I dealt with were super nice. I believe they think they did a good job. When I picked it up, I was told not to run it through an auto car wash for a few days until the paint cures a little longer, and I was given a certificate for a free detail.

What I want to do is fix small sample places all over it, take it back to them, show them what it can look like, and give them a copy of Mike's book.

Actually, I came very close to doing that when I was still mad. Here's one of my spots ...

However, that probably wouldn't go over very well, so I guess I'll just fix it myself and let go of the resentment......

What baffles me is that they pretty much did it all over the car... How the hell did they do this ? I mean you have to put some effort to accomplish something like that....

And if by any remote chance they are just a bit proud of what they do, then the least they can do is a one step AIO...

I guess I'm dreaming right ?

I just don't get it. How these people maintain their clientele ?

Aaaarrrgghhhh

 

[Laura]

Im not really seeing buffing swirls.To me it looks like wash induced swirls and marring .


How does the paint itself look? Any runs? Lots of orange peel ?Color match? Any overspray?

Maybe you got a better job then you think .Honestly you will be surprized how easy for you it will be to polish this out while the paint is soft .Get on it as soon as possible would be my advice!

Actually, I agree with you. In all fairness, it had been raining and when they got it, it was dirty with road grime. I honestly think they wiped it down to clean it up, and most of this is from all the grit that was already on it. The driver fender and door definitely have some rotary swirls on it, but from what I can tell so far, the paint is matched very well. There is compound caked inside the door jam, but that and the obvious place on the trunk where they sat something round is probably the only true sign of carelessness.

I think it'd be worth the entertainment value to see the expression on their faces when you ask them if they aren't embarrassed a girl can finish paint better than they can.

Don't think I haven't played out that scenario in my head a few times!! I'd love to go sashaying in there with my spiked heels and PC!!!

I've read your posts and like your writing style and presentation. Was inspired several days ago to post this on the limerick thread, because your POS thread:

I read of a lady with two pails,
determined to finish without fail.
Polished swirls like a pro.
RIDS meeting her deathblow;
at the end- not even a pigtail.

I LOVE IT!!!!! How creative!

your "free detail" they gave you...instead of getting your car swirl-free, they are giving your car swirls, free!

Nice!! You guys are just full of linguistic wit! :laughing:

In all honesty...it's not their job to correct your paint. They are mainly concerned about leveling your clear coat. Once they get rid of a large portion of that orange peel...it's up to the detailer after that.

I agree with you! It wasn't just paint they had to deal with in this repair. They had to figure out what parts to order, order them, install them, etc, etc... At a dealership, the garage guys work on the same type car all the time, but here, these guys re-assemble everything. Mine had very minor damage compared to most, but it took several weeks to fix because of the headlight. It had to come from Germany, and the first one they got in didn't have the right connector, yada, yada, yada... I can totally understand how I got it back like this.

To them, they got it smashed up and dirty; they are returning it put back together and clean(ish)...What's to complain about?!

What baffles me is that they pretty much did it all over the car... How the hell did they do this ? I mean you have to put some effort to accomplish something like that....

And if by any remote chance they are just a bit proud of what they do, then the least they can do is a one step AIO...

Buddhadog has it right, I believe. They did a rinseless/waterless wash, poorly. To them it looked better than when they got it.

I just don't get it. How these people maintain their clientele ?

Easy, their clientele is State Farm, ALFA (Alabama Farmers something or other), Mayham, and the Lizzard. They ONLY do insurance claim work. I know this because while I had Paw Paw (He is explained in the thread I did leading up to this one, http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...eme-practice-what-i-did-not-do-chevy-pos.html), I'd asked if they would fix the driver side door because it was bent and leaking. They told me no, I'd be better off taking it to the dealer because they normally didn't do that kind of work.

I'm really not trying to knock them; I fully understand why my car looks the way it does. I just happen to be of the .0001% of their customers who is an Auto-geek.

 

[Bigpat]

After a very similar problem with Geico i will never ever use the "preferred" shop... ruined my body lones on my last car, i now will wait however long it takes to get the job done right...

 

[Shane731]

Well that sucks. You could just bring it to Detail Fest and let Mike use it for one of his machine polishing classes - then you would get it fixed the right way for free! :dblthumb2:



Uhh, you are coming to Detail Fest, right? Right? oke:

 

[TLMitchell]

Don't think I haven't played out that scenario in my head a few times!! I'd love to go sashaying in there with my spiked heels and PC!!!

Don't forget the fishnets.... they make a statement :drool:

TL

 

[sparty]

Yikes. That looks like a once over with a dirty or dry wool pad with a rotary used by an unskilled, poor sighted, sadistic "professional". Sorry about that mess, but it can be fixed.

- Sparty

 

[MadMerc]

GOOD GOD!!!
Looks like my Idiot neighbor detailed your car.
He does that to his E350 on a yearly basis.

 

[SkateForGirl]

Wow. That sucks Laura
They hacked up the whole car. I would tell them to shove that free detail up their a$$'. You going to get it done yourself?

 

[lokichaos]

one word girl…OUCH! I literarily CRINGED when I saw those pictures.

It is really annoying though when guys don't take girls seriously when we are trying to tell them about car paint. Especially when its a customer.

Hope after a lot of :buffing: your car comes out mirror like again!!

 

[Laura]

Hope after a lot of :buffing: your car comes out mirror like again!!

Well...I just placed a substantial SALE20 order, so I'll be stocked up and ready to go as soon as my schedule and the weather cooperate!!

I'll make sure I post the pics!

Don't forget the fishnets.... they make a statement :drool:

TL

My neighbors already stare at me while I'm working on my car. Maybe I could wear the fishnets and heels while I'm fixing it this time - for entertainment purposes!

Hmmm...I wonder...would it be considered wrong or illegal if I set out a tip bucket by the driveway...:idea:

 

[conthedon]

A couple of weeks ago I just had my car's front bumper repainted, headlight assembly replaced, and spoiler replaced due to someone backing up into my car when it was parked. I took it to my dealership, which I guess they contract the job out to local shops, and I got the car back with the entire car swirled out and surface scratches, it was so bad that I noticed it indoors as soon as I was walking to it. They try to claim that they didn't do it, ultimately they compounded and waxed it which got it to my liking. I was pissed though to say the least since I just did a 3 step paint correction by hand in August which I spent around 3 days on. Shops are ridiculous, I'm sure they get away with it on light colored cars or people who don't pay attention.

 

[Kaban]

This is pretty typical of "bad" bodyshops. Notice I didn't say "cheap" bodyshops, because I have seen the work some very expensive shops produce and it is very similar to your pictures.

Why did they "buff" the whole car? Pretty typical work with a rotary that wasn't followed with a fine polish after the compounding phase.

 

[matttathome]

I had almost the same thing happen to me! Deer and all. I am still working on getting the right fender repainted due to them burning through the clear coat. I also had the same issue with them scratching the rest of the car by setting things on the trunk and then denying it. Good luck I hate to see this happen after taking such good care of something only to have someone else damage it.

 

[[email protected]]

I have had to correct many cars fresh out of body shops and large scale detail shops what ever happened to taking pride in ones work?

 

[dougaross]

This is pretty typical of "bad" bodyshops. Notice I didn't say "cheap" bodyshops, because I have seen the work some very expensive shops produce and it is very similar to your pictures.

Why did they "buff" the whole car? Pretty typical work with a rotary that wasn't followed with a fine polish after the compounding phase.

The local Audi/Mercedes shop is the same.

 

[alko]

I should NOT have looked at this LMAO! I do expect my car to come back all swirled up though. :-(

Sorry this happened to you. I can DEFINTELY feel your pain with this. We'll see how mine turns out.

 

[art72]

Great thread! - I love women in high heels & fish nets working on cars! :dblthumb2:

Wow, it's amazing how much you can learn from a picture! My take on it was you could show them the before/afters, and then leave them a price list and a business card. *If nothing less, it would speak for itself and probably have them stunned they were showed up by a chick! -Or it might land you a regular client.

To me, I think it's awesome when women have knowledge of vehicles. My wife has helped me diagnose, repair, and replace motors in the past. While we certainly aren't getting any younger, she's been super supportive of starting up a mobile detailing business.

Hopefully, my two teenage girls (13 & 15) will 'adopt' similar interests and concern for their (future) vehicles, as do the female members here at AG. If all goes well they'll be part of the crew, and I won't have to hire any work out.:xyxthumbs:

Gotta ask; Did you eat the deer?

 

[Laura]

To me, I think it's awesome when women have knowledge of vehicles. My wife has helped me diagnose, repair, and replace motors in the past. While we certainly aren't getting any younger, she's been super supportive of starting up a mobile detailing business.

Hopefully, my two teenage girls (13 & 15) will 'adopt' similar interests and concern for their (future) vehicles, as do the female members here at AG. If all goes well they'll be part of the crew, and I won't have to hire any work out.:xyxthumbs:

Gotta ask; Did you eat the deer?

I'm pretty much a diagnoser and repairer of mosts things around the house. Actually, I did that with my dryer heating element this weekend. I like doing the first round investigation at least before punting; mainly because I can either fix it cheaper, or so I'm knowledgable enough about the issue that I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off.

Unfortunately, neither of my daughters (10 & 13) have adopted my interests... yet.

No, didn't get the deer. It happened in the city limits, so they used my tax dollars to discard it...meaning the road crew might have gotten it; who knows...