993_Pilot

I have been waiting to get my 993 out of the body shop for a few months, but they keep telling me it isn't ready yet without a very good explanation. So today when I got back in town, I went down there to see what the problem was. I skipped going in to the office, and went straight out to the back and saw my car parked up against the fence. To my eyes, it was looking damn near perfect, accept for the rain/dirt spots that it had from sitting outside for a while. When I went in to the office to ask when I could pick it up, they told me it would be a while because there were some problems with the paint. The guy made a quick phone call and the shops QA inspector came up to see me. He took me back to look at the car, and quickly rinsed off the dirt from a small area on the roof to show me the problem. Even with him pointing it out, I had a very difficult time seeing it, but there were a few imperfections in the paint. I guess I should be happy that they are that picky and not willing to let it go out of their shop like that, because most shops would have probably given me the keys and hoped I didn't notice. I have been without my P-car fix for way too long now, and he said it would be a few more weeks. If it wasn't for Rennlist, I would be having total withdrawl symptoms. Sorry for the long rant, but I knew my fellow RL's would understand.

Portugal993

I really think you should be happy that the people painting your car are trying to make it perfect, but it does seem that they're taking WAY too long to finish it:S. How can it take weeks to paint the roof? Or are they planning to re-paint the whole car? And I feel your pain too. Haven't driven my car since august! It's pretty depressing.

Butzi

Jeff,

I feel your pain. I had a similar experience a couple of months ago when my 993 was in the shop for almost 8 weeks! I actually avoided Rennlist because it made me yearn for her, oh so bad... My shop, Cars Dawydiak, are on a level of uber-obsession to perfection; To return the car in a better state than it had arrived, and that made me more comfortable leaving it in their hands...

Sometimes, the best things in life are worth the wait (unless they are just lazy and dicking around...) It is always in your best interest to show up, unannouced, and check the progress; I did, just to make sure.

ste993

That's the sign of a quality body shop and those are really hard to find. It sucks not having your car for any period of time, but hopefully when you get the car back the paint will be perfect and you'll be really happy.

MarkD

Yep, at least they are finding it instead of you. Still, typical of bodyshop experience. It always takes longer than they say.
Unless you are a regular customer and spending $ with them on a consistent basis. Then you get preferred customer treatment because they know you might be back.
Most often it is a one shot deal and they have our car so... we wait. And wait.

Sorry and good luck!

Tom W

I don't care how good the shop is, there is no excuse for it taking MONTHS to get a car painted. Even if they had a problem on the first try, it doesn't take long to repaint.

I had my entire car repainted a few months ago (except for the moveable spoiler and rear deck lid) and it took 2 weeks. This included a few minor repairs to the bodywork and disassembly of multiple parts to do a good clean repaint.

matt777

They must be a good shop. Many would try and pass this job off on you. If the poor paint is limited to the roof it still should be repainted again otherwise they have to try and blend.

993_Pilot

To be fair, some of the delays were because I was going to source a few parts, one was the wrong one, and then I had to start over. We then had a mis-communication about who was sourcing other parts, which took us into the time frame when the body guy was going on vacation. (This shop works in teams from start to finish.) They do quality work, and in fact did a total respray to our local PCA presidents car. He won his class for concourse competition at the Porsche parade this year too, so I guess that says something. It has been the last two weeks were I though they had everything they needed and then found out about this very frustrating problem.

Randy 1

I came in here expecting yet another in the recent rash of "F this shop!" experiences, but am pleasantly surprised to see someone just chomping at the bit to get back under power.

Frustrating, to be sure, but as others have said, I'd rather they take the time to do it correctly than push it out the door hoping you never notice and they never see you again.

When you're rolling down the boulevard with a flawless finish, I'm sure more time in the rental econobox will be worth it.

gordo993

I understand that the shop owned up and realized there was a problem before releasing the car, but why do you have to wait "a few more weeks" for them to correct their f-up? Why can't they get it in and fix it vs parking it out back against the fence while they repair everybody else's car?

Great shop or not, I'd be asking some important people what we are waiting for.

AOW162435

Jeff,
Did you inspect the side closest to the fence......?

Andreas

993_Pilot

I have inspected the entire car, including the side near the fence, and before anything was pointer out to me, it looked flawless. The reason we are waiting is because the owner went on vacation last Wednesday getting back this coming weekend, and he needs to O.K. the redo. They may be able to blend the paint in the affected area, but they will have to clear coat the entire roof and both rear quarters (they can't stop at the gutters, because I had them deleted). I didn't mean to imply that I am upset with them for taking so long, because we have had a few snafu's. It is just that I just miss my car. . . especially now that it looks better than it ever has!
(Plus, I had a few mods sitting in my office waiting to be installed like new wheels, FS supercups, SSK, shift ****, etc.)

H.H.Chinn

Your shop really shouldn't have been storing your car outside especially after being painted. There's a window of opportunity to go back to address paint flaws should they occur after a car has been painted and clear coated before the clear begins to harden. You didn't mention what the flaws were as most flaws are due to an oversight in the preparation before any paint is applied. My avatcar was double cleared and color sanded to remove any signs of the "European roll or peel" before it was machine polished.

Marlon

Just to be sure: If the color coat has orange peel, 'clear' will not cover it - it will merely 'preserve' it. The peel must be sanded out of the color coat before the clear is applied. Better yet, spray the car in a humidity-controlled booth with the correct nozzle, pressure and paint mix to reduce tendency for 'peel'.

Adrienne

You'll forget about the long wait once you get your car back in perfect condition. The waiting sucks, but not as much as a shoddy paint job. Mine took an eternity, but it was well worth the wait.