Alright, so I had a dent on my rear pass. 1/4 panel, deep scratch on the other one, more deep scatches on roof, tons of deep dents on front hood and fenders, etc plus I needed to have an INGS LX kit put on, so we decided (the shop kinda pushed for it) to paint the whole car.

Well, they painted the body last night in the booth (don't know if they baked it or not), and are supposed to paint the front and rear bumpers separately tonight and put them on. I dropped by after work to check out how the body turned out, and um... well, I'll just describe what I saw and let you tell me what it means. The car was sitting outside, with everything still off - headlights, plastic trims, both bumpers, etc. And:

- the paint feels soft to the touch - if I were to press it with my nail, it would surely leave a permanent mark without me even having to press down hard.
- on the roof, there are dozens of little dust marks - probably a good 2-4 dozen in all. We're not talking a few here and there - they're really all over the place. This is much more noticable on the roof than in other areas, likely because it was painted separately since the roof is black now and the car is red.
- there are huge, and I mean HUGE paint runs all over the place - there's one on the passenger door that's probably about 2 ft long. I'm not exaggerating. And it's fairly long going down too - not something you can only see close by, but something you could see from feet away. There's an even worse one on the hood - it's about a foot long, but very thick (few mm at least) and you could probably see it from 10-12 feet away. There are probably paint runs of various sizes in 4-5 areas in all.
- the whole car is um.. well, it looks like frosted glass - everything reflected in the paint doesn't appear to be even, but greatly distorted. Its much worse in some areas than others - the driver door is so rough that you could probably notice this frosty / bumpy texture from feet away.

So um.. what the hell's going on here folks? They told me that they're going to buff the big paint runs out tonight and I'll be able to pick the car up tomorrow. When I asked what they're going to do about the fact that the paint is all bumpy and looks like frosted glass, they said that I should bring it back in 1/2 a week to a week and have it buffed, at which point it'll be "like glass."

Now, I don't know much about painting cars, but all this looks fishy to say the least. I'm heading over there tomorrow with a guy from another body shop to have a look. Somehow, I don't think I'll be picking it up tomorrow morning. Or am I just being paranoid?

Update: Just called the shop for an update - it should have been ready for pick up right now. Turns out they've sanded everything down and are re-painting it all over again tonight.

 

i would get it out now if you can, and contact a lawyer if they dont fix it to perfect OEM spec paint.

 

Seriously? Is it that bad? Because they told me that all this is normal and the car will look perfect once they water sand it.

 

wet sanding will only help the paint clarity i think in not 100% positive.

 

if you touched the paint right after they painted the whole car its soft because its still "wet" it needs to sit for about a day to fully dry to be safe. and as far as the paint runs and dust set on the paint either during or after they painted the car most of it is usually buffable. but then again im not looking at the car first hand like you are. before you take the car home make them sign some type of legal document stating they will not only buff the **** out of the whole car to remove paint runs and dust but also repaint the whole thing if they arent able to or dont do a good job.

 

find a new bodyshop

 

Yeah its normal, dont worry. Bring it back in a week have them wet sand, buff, and polish and it will be like glass. Just look over everything and point out what you want fixed, be nice and cordial about it and they will take care of you.

I was a painter for BMW and I know **** happens when you first paint the car dust and what not will get in the paint, you cant help it. But it can all be easily fixed. If after a week they cant fix it, let them know that you are unhappy with the work, if you are polite about it they will take care of me. The amount of people that I have hooked up because they were really nice is crazy.

 

THe paint feels soft bc the paint is still curing, it should be hardened overnight, you DO NOT need to bake the bake the paint in order for it to be fully cured. The baking process is just to speed up the paint.

and now, for the dusk and trash in the paint, if they are a good shop they will wet sand the whole car and buff it out.

For the paint runs, they will also wet sand those down and buff those out.

Just wait for the final product, THEN say something if it is still that bad.

If they are a reputable shop, they might even repaint the panels with the runs on it, if they are not sandable.


In my body shop we paint cars, and even though I get my cars painted perfect we wet sand and buff everything that I have painted, it makes the paint that much better. And for the dust being on the car, that is normal in the paint process.

Like I said, just wait and see the final product.

 

But, yea the painter def. sounds kinda noobish if hes got that many runs.

Hopefully the detailer who wetsands and buffs your car is good.

 

Why can't I edit my posts anymore?

 

So um.. is the paint supposed to look 'frosted,' with the reflections distorted? Will that go away, or will the reflections remain distorted, with the paint just becoming shinier / smoother?

 

Update: Just called the shop for an update - it should have been ready for pick up right now. Turns out they've sanded everything down and are re-painting it all over again tonight.

 

Hey... where in Toronto are you?

If you need another set of eyes I can go with you and check it out?

 

Yea, that'd be awesome dude. The car's at Weston & 401. Wanna drop by Tue?

 

Usually, they sand it down to get the fisheye and drips out, and then buff it to a smooth finish.

 

A good painter won't have runs, and the paint should need minimal wet sanding if any. Sounds like a real amateur job. If the car was prepped properly and sprayed in a booth then dust in the paint should be very minor to non existant.

 

GOod point.

I'd look for a shop with a vented paint booth with the correct airflow, etc. The one I'll be bringing my car to has a environmentally controlled booth with down draft, etc. I've seen their work before, and it's better than most OEM paint I see.

 

You would be shocked what a razor blade will do to a run. Its like a pencil eraser. Im not gonna lie I have ran the **** out of some stuff in my day....everyone does here and there. Sounds like you see normal stuff and prob havent seen a lot of fresh paint before. Let them wet sand and buff it. Dont get pissed until you see the final product.

 

how much was the job?

 

Unfortunately I have to work Tuesday and then I'm out of town for a few days. I know it's a holiday on Monday but I'm available then if the shop is open.

PM me.