VidPro

... Unless you can do it yourself.


I have a long list of horror stories about my cars at body shops. Today I have a new one.


I brought my sub 1500 mile 2014 Mustang GT convertible to my local dealer body shop to have my lower rocker moldings painted satin black. It’s something I wanted to do myself or at least take them off and delivering them to the shop but I couldn’t find the time. I also thought taking them of without a lift would be tough. Anyway I drop off my car to the shop on Monday. Today I finally get the call that it’s ready. Now my car is my weekend fun car that sits in my driveway covered when not in use and I know every single inch of the car and the finish which is basically flawless. The minute I look over the car on the lower front fender near the rocker molding is a deep through the clear scratch. FUMING! Of course I get the "it was there” standard comment but my general demeanor and use of colorful language convinced them otherwise. Actually one of the body shop guys came out and was honest and said he knew it wasn’t there when I brought it in. He made comment that it’s the cleanest car he’s ever worked on. That told him right there I’m somewhat of a fanatic about keeping this car in as perfect condition as possible. So the car stays another day to have the fender painted. New car with hood blisters fixed and now fender paint.


My friend always warns me of having extra work done because of stuff like this and I should have listened.

CCTking

This is why i know guys thatbwork at dealerships and body shops. When they work weekends and the paintbooth is open i just pay em for the materials i need to use (unless i have my own stuff) and a few extra bucks for each hour im in there. I started with spraying dip and then i tried my hand at painting stiff for my buddy on his 04 v6. He got the paint ordered to our local ford dealer and asked me to paint and show him how as well. 4 hours later and his roof, hood, trunk lid, fromt fenders and front bumper were looking brand new. The doors and rear bumper were already new and he had just installed a flat black gt pedestal spoiler the week before (it was dipped but i sprayed a few coats of matte clear over it to preserve the finish and it came out great)

Jazzman442

There are not a lot of people out there that really care anymore. They get therre job done and want ther check. Not many have any pride in there work. I have always done most of my work myself. I have just put in a lift to do just about anything now. it really is terrible that we can not drop off a care and get it fixed and clean when we pick it up. I just had my 2006 Mustang painted on the hood and some scoops. When I went back to pick it up the color was off. Then they precede to tel me not is right. I'm like look at it. You are in the body and paint business. Really that looks right you? Then they repainted and it was better not perfect.. LOL No body cares anymore.

CCTking

Thats thensad fact of the world. Gone is the day when almost every shop took a great sense of pride in their work. Back when people would donthe best they can to attract more business. Back when shops had gearheads that were passionate about their work wether it was a simple trim installation to full body and paintwork. No matter what car it was they would do their best. Now those types of places are very few and even further in between. This is why i want to get my masters in market and management as well as hit UTI for a couple different certifications and someday open up my own shop. One that will do everything from custom exhaust work, to fabrication, to almost any repair. Of course gonna start small but maybe one day i will join the ranks of stellar shops that not only people will love, but people will respect and appreciate.

VidPro

I just got back. I got a call after I posted the above that the body guys were able to reduce it to almost invisible but he would paint it even if I wanted it to be painted. So I got up there to look at it and it's slightly visible where they had parked in that particular light and so I took it. The rocker moldings look great those came out fantastic. I love the satin finish on them and they look really nice. But the scratch is visible in the light it's in now so I'm pretty pissed and actually a little depressed. I don't mind creating my own little mistakes (I still get upset and pissed) as much as they bother me stuff happens but when you take a car to a body shop to have a piece pulled off and painted and they scratch a body panel I just don't get it.

I understand what you're saying about body shops and I usually look for a body shop like I might look for a doctor. These guys have done work for me before and They've done really really nice work. That includes fixing the corrosion on my brand-new car as well and making it look great, that's why I gave this a bodyshop a chance to do some cosmetic work.

Anyway I need to chill out have a few beers and forget about it for now. I think I may put lower rocker stripes on. That was part of the plan anyway and I'll cover up the the leftover scratch.

Screw it. I called him back left a lengthy message about how I'm pissed off and I shouldn't have to think about buying decals to cover up the poor work. He called me right back and the end result is I'm taking it up tomorrow morning - he said they would take care of it and do it right. I don't care if he has to go through 5 gallons of clear coat I wanted done right and I want to look factory.

Once I chill for a bit I'll start recounting some of the nightmare stories that I've gone through with body shops in my area. Some of the stories are quite amazing.

VidPro

Car is back at the shop. I'm demanding it be fixed the right way to my satisfaction.


So I’ll give you one of my stories. There’s so many I can’t do it in order. J


So when I had my 2000 GT convertible I wanted the center part of my cobra hood painted black. I found a great shop south of me after hearing some good things about them from another forum. I had some insurance work done and a few other things and I got to know the owner and his son who always worked on my car. He’s good and any time I go there he is the one I always make sure to have working on my car. Well on this job he wasn’t around so they had a trainee working on my car. I got the call to pick it up so being comfortable with them and trusting their work I really didn’t give it the look-over. I headed to my favorite pub to show my friends and as they were looking over the car my friend said hey there‘s something in the hood clear on the new black paint. Laughing ensued and it was pointed out that a very large mosquito met his demise in my clear coat. Also the edge of the new black looked like a serrated knife. It was really bad work and no QC. The owner is a standup guy and fixed it the right way very quickly but it was a pain since they are so far away from me.


The old and the new.