taylor15

Hi all, I am looking for a bit of advice on how to proceed with an issue I've recently had with a body shop that has done a poor paint job on my 2009 cayman. I'm omitting the name for reasons.

Due to an incident I had to have my hood, fenders, bumper and rear quarters repainted which was covered under insurance as a comprehensive. Damage was due to gravel coming out of back of a dump truck. While I filed with my insurance it looks as though the carrier is taking care of it and they'll get that settled due to images I had. Only include that because I know it will get asked.

After my car was in the shop for about three weeks I get a call that after they had sprayed the final coat of clear on it a detailer went over the whole car with a coarse pad. After 2 attempts at buffing this out they call and tell me the car is done.

I go to pick up the car and it has swirl marks throughout. They try not to take ownership and give me the "black is hard" excuse. I am not having this, but have to take it up with the district manager before I can get resolution.

I am able to get the car to their "flagship" location where they wet sand and polish the car. When I picked it up it looked fantastic! Here we are, 6 weeks later and now it looks worse than before. The polish was basically just hiding the poor job.

In my opinion they ruined the clear and are just trying to find a way to not have to redo the work. They have not only ruined the new paint, but the original paint on the doors, roof and rear deck lid are also scratched badly. When I contacted the shop they advised they had another product to try that was specialized for black cars and new clear coat isn't necessary because we would still be doing the same thing afterwards.

I responded that I wanted the whole car to be cleared and would accept nothing more. We would not be doing the same process because we wouldn't be starting out with a car that had been buffed with a coarse pad and now be chasing a corrected finish. I do not want them sanding more and further damaging the original paint (they said they put clear on very thick so they have a lot to work with).

Any advice on how to proceed here? My insurance individual who handles their account says he'll make sure it's re-cleared, but if they do not fix do I have any legal recourse? The car is more damaged now than it was when I dropped it off and they seem to be hell bent on trying to detail the scratches out. My opinion is that after 3 details and a wet sand if they aren't out, they aren't coming out. This pad was so rough it took the color off the Cayman emblem and they had to replace that also.

Marine Blue

taylor15

Any suggestions on a place to find good detail shop recommendations? If it can be fixed without a repaint I would prefer that route as I don't want them taking out glass which would have to be done for the roof and rear deck.

Marine Blue

GregWormald

Your contract is with the insurer, not the shop. Don't deal with the body shop. Deal with your insurer and let them deal with the shop.

As recommended it would also help to have the knowledge to give to the insurance company. It's unlikely that they would be experts in paint and finish--they are experts (I would hope) in insurance and authorising repairs.

That's really bad luck. I hope it all comes good.

Krampus

Taylor,

Since I see you are in GA I will suggest Jean-Claude at Detailed Designs Auto Spa. He has helped customers with issues just like what you are talking about. If nothing else a consult with him is worth its weight in gold in my opinion. He has my Boxster doing a paint correction and clear bra currently. I won't ever use anyone else. Included is a link to a video as well. His youtube channel is full of great info and some beautiful cars that come through his shop.

http://detaileddesignsautospa.com/

danzibar

Firstly I'm very sorry you've had to go through this, I've been through it myself and it is truly heart breaking sometimes!

My side hobby is detailing, and I've been paid to "fix" bodyshop problems like yours in the past. Couple of points which I think are important to note:

1. Bodyshops aren't detailers. They either don't have the expertise or time to get paint looking perfect afterwards as 99.99% of people can't tell anyway.
2. Terminology is important here. Polish doesn't cover things up, it's an abrasive and is used to level the clear coat. Wax / sealants are generally used to cover up finer scratches.
3. Someone has already mentioned this but.. go to an actual detailer. They can tell whether the clear coat is damaged, or it just has sanding marks / buffer trails that can be removed.
4. You won't easily get them to re-clear everything.
5. Next time, request to go through Porsche approved. They might not be better but at least you can keep complaining until it's right.

I'd be worried that they have taken too much clear coat off with wetsanding + aggressive polishing. So definitely go to a detailer and if there's enough clear coat left (he should be able to tell you this) then get it fixed there and attempt to recoup some of the costs. Sooner you get it away from these people the better. If the paint is sub-par / damage then you can argue for another re-spray.

Below is a link to a picture I took when I was doing an inspection on an SQ5 after a respray from an Audi approved garage. The customer managed to get some money towards a detail (me! ) If you have results like this it's relatively easy to fix:
https://imgur.com/a/ST1oZ

billwot

cairo94507

Greg Wormald's advise is right on. You need to go to your insurance company. I am hoping you used a shop they referred you to. Tell them your concerns, let them inspect the car and then tell them you want your car repaired correctly. I know my insurance, if I use a referred/approved shop, guarantees the work for as long as I own the car. I would let them solve this problem for you. The minute you intervene and start telling the bodyshop what to do, you have made a mistake that could derail the repair. Good luck.

Feld

Advice from someone with many years in the collision business, ask the insurance company to pay for corrective repairs at another shop of your choice. They already acknowledged the problem and also want a resolution, what will happen is the insurance company will pay for the corrective repairs and then bill the original shop. After several tries the original shop either lacks knowledge or will to take care of this and insisting on clear coating the rest of the car you may end up with a bigger mess and definitely more millage of material on the rest of the car.. A competent shop will make an assessment of what needs to be done, trust them. Hope this helps.

backeddy

Ahhhhhh the "rejected repair", my dream words at a high end insurance auction. My advice....total the car nothing less.

Feld

Totaling a car for rock chips??? No insurance company will agree to that.

Mrg02D