Bmurray350z

iTrader: (34)

damn, i'd be pissed

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

I'm super pissed. I could barely sleep the other night over that crap.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Here is an update.
I dropped my car off this morning and the manager basically said that the radiator support can't really move any direction. Also stating that the bumper cannot be moved and the headlights won't be moved. So now they are trying to sort this out.

About the trim pieces. He stated that the trim pieces are seperate from the bumper and that they are not included. He said he would call the insurance to see if they would pay for them.

We also discussed the hood fitment and I said I have to put a strong amount of force to close it. I never drop my hood to close. Never. Before, it took a firm push to close. Now, I need to use two hands and jam down to close it. The manager decides to drop it. Wtf. Then proceeded to blame the fitment on me saying "pushing down on the hood will bend it". I push down where the latch it.

That's it....for now.

Erik@R/Ttuning

Don't quote me but I believe it is the body shop/insurance companies obligation to repair the car to it's pre-accident condition regardless of if it is a factory paint code or the original bumper cover. They will try to push it through as quickly and easily as possible and unfortunately that is where you need to take some initiative and ride their asses to make sure they are doing what YOU need done.

If you have an aftermarket paint they need to be reminded of that over and over. If you want a specific replacement bumper cover they need to be informed of it. Over and over. It sucks but it is the only way to really be sure that a shop is doing things your way.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

The paint isn't an issue with me. I don't even know it was an aftetmarket paint. I thought it was re-painted factory color.

What you're saying is very reasonable. I appreciate your thoughts. I'll have to do that.

IDrm350

iTrader: (8)

It looks to me like your car is painted PPW. The new bumper just isn't a good match for the paint that was on the car already. What I am saying is, they should be the same color but, like everything else this shop did on the car, they did a shoddy job with the color match IMO.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Ahh, you think so? I honestly haven't seen PPW in person before. In my eyes, the body color is a cream-ish white. I assumed the bumper was PPW since it was brighter. I have no clue. I could mention that to the manager. Hah I'm not sure why someone would be a silver 350z and paint it another factory color instead of buying one that is the color they want.

STL 350Z

iTrader: (3)

PPW is cream with glitter... lol

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Ahhhh ****. Nice. I'll have to mention that then.

If the car is PPW and they painted the bumper a brighter white, will they have to re-paint it since it isn't right the first time?

Hexxus

iTrader: (22)

You do know paint and clear coat fades over time? It could be that it's not that the bumper doesn't match, but it's fresh paint. It will be brighter than the rest of the car considering it's fresh paint and clear coat and the rest of the car's paint and clear coat is aged. It's the same PPW, but it doesn't match because it's new. Granted a good body shop will match the bumper to the rest of the car by adding some color to darken it, but these guys sprayed it with new Nissan pre-mixed PPW and called it a day without custom mixing it to match.

Rad support can move, bumper can be moved, headlights can be adjusted. They are ********ting you.

There are three bolts on the latch, which bolts to the radiator support. They need loosened and the latch adjusted up. I had to do this several times when switching my OEM and carbon fiber hood. It takes 5 minutes. Someone didn't bother to do it right. What you described by using two hands to jam it down is exactly the issue I had when I was first fitting my carbon fiber hood. After I adjusted the latch up, it worked like OEM.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Yeah I know the paint fades and all. I just don't expect it would happen that fast. I also have a 91 sc400 and the paint is still onyx black and holds up quite nicely.

The radiator support is definitely crap. I'm pointing out how it can move and where and he just plays dumb and says no. The hood seems easy enough to fix then. I was almost tempted to take the whole front end off and adjust everything myself. Problem is, I just don't have a lot of time for that.

I'm going to stop there tomorrow and check things out. My car probably will be in the same exact spot too.

IDrm350

iTrader: (8)

I am betting that your car is painted PPW and that it's not an issue with fading.

If you look through any paint manufacturers book there will likely be 5 or 6 different shades of PPW paint. Each batch of paint that Nissan used at the factory was a little bit different so paint companies offer a different shades to match every production run.

PPG had multiple chrome silvers when I got some parts for my car painted. Mine ended up being the one with more red. Who knew, red in silver haha!

Chances are these guys used the wrong PPW and/or didn't care or bother to manually match it. I mean, look at the rest of their work. They clearly didn't care enough about anything they did.

I don't know why someone would paint the car another OEM color unless the car was in an accident or something. Maybe that's why you had an '05 bumper? But the point is, if it was an aftermarket color, that bumper would have been way, way off because the body shop wouldn't have known where to start. Instead, they saw a white 350Z, assumed it was an OEM paint job, looked in their book, realized that 350Zs only come in PPW, and painted your bumper PPW.

As far as fading goes, my '84 E30 is Alpine White. It's been stored outside all of it's life. I gave Tower Paint the paint code and the paint that I received matched 99%, site unseen. No blending required. I think fading arguments, like substrate arguments, are largely just excuses for shoddy paint work.

The body shop is obligated to rework the body lines IMO. But they are also obligated to make the paint match better as well. But, it will never be perfect because PPW is a notoriously hard paint to match.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Sooo what you're saying is that I can take my car back and have them re-paint my front bumper to match closer? Honestly, It's a huge *** difference in shade. Even at night it is clear they don't match.

Little update: they aligned my bumper about 90% good. My hood still towers over my bumper though. It's definitely not flush at all.
They also ordered the trim/grill pieces. I'm not paying for them. I'll most likely spend some time on the hood to get it flush.

I'll post pics tomorrow. I would like some thoughts of the pictures too. It seems a bit sketchy.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

More pics of what my car looks like as of right now. Hopefully someone can help me with the hood or something. Also, if someone does see something that doesn't seem right or looks like it is off center, I would greatly appreciate your help. If you need to see more pics, let me know and I'll snap a few more.

The lines are much better here


The hood is higher than the bumper. This is where I'm asking for some insight on how and what I should adjust to make it flush.


The hood latch.



They removed the snap clips and replaced those with just a push in clip. There's also a small plastic spacer inbetween the support and bumper. I've never seen it done like this before. Maybe it's common. The bottom pic shows the far right push clip is also accompanied by a screw. Also a tad weird.

Z-Driven

Those last two pictures look bad. I'd have them redo that.

If you have further issues with the body shop, call the other insurance companies claim rep. Explain that you will be filing a complaint with your state's insurance commissioner and will be getting in touch with a lawyer. Then, if they still don't do anything, actually do both and I guarantee you they will be doing everything they can to make sure the shop repairs you're vehicle the way you want it to be.

They are REQUIRED to repair it to pre-accident condition. Do not take anything less

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for your help. We are in the process of dealing with a higher management insurance rep. Customer service is terrible at this body shop/dealership. It's unbelievable. Definitely filing complaints.

I'm just a DIY-er so it is somewhat uncomfortable leaving my car with other people not knowing what they are doing to it and how. I might as well be a supervisor and watch their every move on my car.

IDrm350

iTrader: (8)

Well, I must say you are handling this better than I would so props to you.

On the issue of the paint match, you could at least have them blend it into the hood and fenders. It doesn't look like a horrible match so some blending should make it look pretty good.

ThatOtherGuy

iTrader: (2)

Haha thanks. I've really never been this patient with something before. I try my damn hardest not to cuss this guy and do it right. They pretty much just threw it on there, painted it white and called it. I mean, it was $2400 for that. I know I didn't pay a cent of it but damn.
Forgot to mention my fender got jacked up too. Now, an adjuster didn't look at the intial accident. The other persons insurance company is not one of the well known ones that have commercials every two seconds. I explained to the manager that my right fender is damaged. It's all wavy. My fenders were rolled before. The impact was opposite of the fender but an suv practically ran my car over. My car sits pretty low right now. An suv is going to put tons of downforce on my car. The manager refused to believe that would damage my fender. This kid is hilarious. It doesn't just magically appear ahha

LuciaPwNs

iTrader: (2)

When i got my car back I found a **** load wrong with it. Sent it back and it happens that the guy in charge of my car got fired.(worthless pos) I know exactly what you are going through and it makes me cringe every time I see this happen.

nathanwl2004

iTrader: (2)

umm no. thats like saying if I have a car black car that was painted another green, and they decided it would be fine if they just painted the hood the oem color. just because the custom color of the car resembles a oem color doesn't make it okay. I would (and have) force the insurance company to fix it properly. if it cost them more in the long run than tough crap, they shoulda done it right to start with.