The title pretty much says it all.. I dropped my car off around 4 weeks ago (next Tuesday will make 4 weeks) and was told I would have the car back before z nationals. Well, z nationals came and no car. I figured it was okay, I would rather him take his time and make it perfect than rush and mess up. So the guy texts me and tells me the car is ready to be picked up this past Thursday. I go over to the shop and it is pulled around front shining like a beauty, but when I walk up, I start noticing runs and orange peel. When I opened the door, I noticed the sideskirts were NOT painted off the car, he installed them then painted them. So the part that the door covers isn't painted. This is NOT what I expect from a $2100.00 paint job. Now, I have not paid for the paint job yet. But what exactly do I need to do? I'm going to discuss the issue with him Monday, so I will get pics then.

 

Not that it matters, but I'm having shine nismo rep sideskirts and a aerosync bumper put on.

 

Have them fix it and do not give them a cent.

 

Does it work like that? I know I hold the money so I decide when it's good enough. But it doesn't seem legal to not pay at all. I don't know that's why I'm asking.

 

yes it does. There is a standard quality. They do a chitty job they get chitty pay.

 

What was written in on the work order you signed

 

Is he painting the whole car for $2100? Or just the bumper and side skirts?

 

IMO I'd advise calling him and discussing your thoughts about it. Depending on what he was doing and how bad it looks is depending on the next step. If it's bad I wouldn't give him the opportunity to fix it as you'll more then likely be looking at something worse next time, or you'll notice it down the road. If nothing is resolved call the better business bureau see if they can help.

 

The Better Business Bureau won't do anything. They just take reports and file them.

This is really a question of expectations. If this was a total repaint, $2100 is awfully cheap. What were your expectations? Did the body shop understand what kind of job you were expecting? Most body shops work to the level of "commercially acceptable". That is generally pretty mediocre. If that is the kind of job they expected to perform, then you probably got a commercially acceptable paint job. You need to look at your contract and see what they promised to do.

 

No contract was signed. It's a privately owned business, and the first time I've repainted a car. The guy buys salvaged cars and gets them back on the road. And I've seen a lot of cars that they has painted. The shop does good work. And they have even put a couple kits on 350's. It wasn't until after I was told my car was ready that I found out that the head painter recently quit. Like I say, I'm meeting with him Monday so I will post a few pictures then, but I made it clear to the shop owner before handing the keys over that I wanted as near perfect as possible. A friend of mine just took his 300zx to a spray glow(I'm not sure if that's what it's called) shop, one of the shops that spray 100 cars a week, and it looked better than my car. And he paid 900 bucks. I guess.. How deep of a hole have I dug myself into?

 

Maybe it depends whether or not they are a member or something. The one time I called they helped

 

Think the best thing right now is to have good communication with the owner and try to keep the discussions positive. That would hopefully end in the best possible outcome.

Would give him one last opportunity to make it right. Would have a work-out contract that specifically lists every detail they will do and list the level of quality it will be finished to, and the date of completion with penalties if not completed by certain dates. Would require his A team do the work (if he has one). Would even have a third party, agreeable to both parties, to inspect the finished job and advise the parties if, in his opinion, all contract details were completed on his inspection. All this is just pro-active positive problem solving.

Now if the guy is not positive and resist the work-out I would advise him of this: The car will be taken to another body shop of your choosing and every detail needing done will be done to the expected level of quality. The cost of this will be deducted from his fee and he will be paid the difference immediately and further released of any responsibility or liability connected to the car. He will sign a release stating he is accepting this fee arrangement and that he considers his contract with you to be fulfilled and that he will not bring any legal action against you nor will you bring any legal action against him.

With custom work always have a detailed contract listing specifics and expected level of quality, and work-outs if not completed.

My 2 cents.

 

This is good advice. Thanks. He hasn't been very polite since I told him I wasn't pleased with it. He hung up on me once when we were on the phone an then text me and told me he was going out of town for the remainder of the week and I could come by Monday. So option 2 sounds like the best way to handle this situation. Thank you. I'll post pics tomorrow and let you know a final decision.

 

One of the messages he sent me was:

The car needs a lot of things, but it looks good for a 12 year old car. Anyway I'll fix a few things that you find but it won't be perfect.*

So.. He is offering to fix "a few things". We will see how it goes.

 

$2,100 is cheap. I paid $1,000 to get my front and rear bumpers repainted. You get what you paid for.

I cheaped out on my old car when I got the front bumper painted and the only person I could blame was myself. The bumper had stress cracks on the clear coat a few months after the cheap repair I paid for. Instead of going back and complaining, I took it like a man since I was the one that cheaped out.

IMO something like a body shop, if you don't know somebody in the business, I would do tons of research before handing my car over to a shop that can potentially destroy your car.

 

The going rate for a full paint job around here is 1.2-1.5k. And you can get a nice paint job for that. I know 2100 is not the most expensive paint I could have gotten, but I expect quality work nonetheless. And it's raining today, I'll try to go tomorrow and get some pics.

 

Amazing news. He took it upon himself to fix it. Pics up tomorrow. Felt good to drive a real car tonight.

 

You picked up the car at night? If so not good

 

No. I picked it up in day light and spent about 45 minutes looking for flaws then stood there talking to him about a 67 Chevy he got from my uncle. I know better than that.

 

So where are the pics then?