Paint Shop N. Virginia
04-03-2012, 08:45 PM
#1
Track Day
Thread Starter
Paint Shop N. Virginia
I picked up a dime-sized chip in the hood of my 2010 997. Can anyone recommend a good paint shop in northern Virginia/east side of D.C.
Thanks!
Thanks!
01-16-2014, 04:26 PM
#7
Three Wheelin'
Let me tell you a funny story about First Choice. This is not meant to be a criticism although it may sound like it. There are lots of good paint shops in NoVa and First Choice may be one of them, it's just that that wasn't my experience.
So . . . It's 1990 and I have a red BMW 325i. Someone gouges the paint on the trunk when it's 6 months old and I get a recommendation from the dealer for a paint works shop. They send me to First Choice. They fix it (fill in the gouge and spray the trunk) and to my eye it looks fine. Within about 18 months the paint on the trunk is oxidizing like crazy. Every time I wax the car I used an abrasive, the trunk color comes back and within three days it has the white haze all over it again. You live with things but by 1996 I get sick of this and decide to get the trunk lid fixed/painted again. I go to First Choice for an estimate and tell them that it was painted in 1990 and has been oxidizing for several years. Their guy comes out and he's looking and measuring and doing all sorts of stuff. Then he proceeds to go on for five minutes about all that was wrong with the original work. Finally he asks in a condescending tone, "Who did this work?" I said, "You guys did." He didn't know what to say, for a good 20 seconds dead silence. Then he said that the lid would have to be stripped and reprinted. I asked him for a discount since, according to him they did such a crappy job in the first place and he said he might be able to get the owner to give me 10 percent off - if I could prove they did the original repair (which I could). Being a poor Grad Student at the time I couldn't afford the repair work so I passed.
So . . . It's 1990 and I have a red BMW 325i. Someone gouges the paint on the trunk when it's 6 months old and I get a recommendation from the dealer for a paint works shop. They send me to First Choice. They fix it (fill in the gouge and spray the trunk) and to my eye it looks fine. Within about 18 months the paint on the trunk is oxidizing like crazy. Every time I wax the car I used an abrasive, the trunk color comes back and within three days it has the white haze all over it again. You live with things but by 1996 I get sick of this and decide to get the trunk lid fixed/painted again. I go to First Choice for an estimate and tell them that it was painted in 1990 and has been oxidizing for several years. Their guy comes out and he's looking and measuring and doing all sorts of stuff. Then he proceeds to go on for five minutes about all that was wrong with the original work. Finally he asks in a condescending tone, "Who did this work?" I said, "You guys did." He didn't know what to say, for a good 20 seconds dead silence. Then he said that the lid would have to be stripped and reprinted. I asked him for a discount since, according to him they did such a crappy job in the first place and he said he might be able to get the owner to give me 10 percent off - if I could prove they did the original repair (which I could). Being a poor Grad Student at the time I couldn't afford the repair work so I passed.
