gurot1

Hey guys..I'm in a bit of a bind.I took in my car last week to have a huge ass dent fixed and two rear panels repainted (one because of the dent, the other side b/c someone keyed it). So I take it into the shop last tuesday.There were some probs w/ insurance so we didn't get started until last Wednesday. It's Wednesday today(ie 1 week later) and the shop still hasn't gotten around to painting it...they've fixed the dent, but the painting still has to be done. I called the guy at the shop and he said the guys are gonna paint it tomorrow and it will be ready on Friday aft/evening but he can't give me any guarantees.I'm starting to get sick of driving my rental around (a grand Prix). I had to pay extra to upgrade to it and insurance doesnt cover the cost of it, so the longer it takes to get the car back, the more i have to pay! And it's not like my lease payments for the CL-S stop b/c the car is in the shop! . Now I really wanted my car back today as the shop had originally said it would be ready, but i know that's not possible, i want them to hurry up, but I don't want them to mess up the paint job...Would it be possible to paint the car, complete with clear coats in a couple of days? (well, more like a day and a half?)
I haven't paid the guy yet and I wish I had taken it to another shop! Any advice as to what I should do...I want the car back, but I don't want them to mess it up!

charlesgage

Well i am a first genner but the shop had my car for a week beause someone backed into it in valet and they came back and they hung the skin wrong, so after the third time i brought it back i talked with one of the owners and he put the shop manager on it, they reskinned the door and painted the door in a day including baking, so yes i think it's possible.

ccannizz11

I had a problem similar to this one a with my old TA a while back. Someone switched lanes in an intersection, I had to serve to miss them, but ended up hitting the stop light pole. I had the car in for work for about a week they had the front end replaced and were working on the fender piece. Long story short, they were taking too damn long, and I wanted to take my car elsewhere. I had a buddy who worked at a shop that could do the work fairly easily (but not covered under insurance, but by that time I did not care).

Here's the advice that I got from numerous people on the issue: I was told by the body shop that I would have to pay the full price to get my car. I didn't want to do that, and then pay my buddy's shop to finish the job. However, if I took it somewhere else to have it finished, the work at either place would no longer be under warranty. Basically, having one side start the job and another side finish it voids both warranties. Neither is willing to cover the other's work or any possible connection between the two. I ended up paying for their services, and taking my car to my buddy's shop anyway because I was sick of dealing with them. But there's a (possible) catch!

Luckily I lived in Oklahoma at the time, and according to the laws there, the timeframe that I was originally quoted has some legal binding. So I eventually took the body shop to court. The judge said that the delay I was forced to experience by the body shop was "was not within the reasonably expected time of delay". She suspected that the body shop was putting my car on hold in order to get other cars done that were coming in, and they had promised an earlier timeline in order to get more business. Anyway, the body was ordered to refund the amount that I paid for the work that was actually done at my buddy's shop. And they had to pay a certain percentage of the amount for the car rental.

So.... my point is, you might want to check your local laws and see if there is anything about a reasonable expected service delay. I see you're from Ontario and I'm not sure how thing work up there. So it might be risky if you decide to take your car to another place.

Edit: also my buddy said that it is dedfinitely possible to do paint and clear coat within a day-and-a-half, but it depends on the kind of paint being used and the chemical make-up. However, in his opinion, any reputable body shop should have a wide range of stuff on hand.

JakeCL

their paint booth must be backed up or something, steps involved from start to finish getting approval, ordering parts, taking car apart, completing body repairs, primer, block sanding, refinishing, color sanding or buffing if needed to get rid of orange peel, putting car back together, send out to alignment shop if needed and then detailing car for you. there is a lot of stuff they have to do and if they find hidden damage or somthing it can take even longer due to reinspection of by the insurance company

JakeCL

check this for details on the repair process
http://www.certifiedfirst.com/when/phase_all.asp

ccannizz11

We don't take too kindly to your avatar around here, Jake! hehe

gurot1

Gonna drop by the shop this afternoon. Even though it's Canada Day, they're open today. I miss driving MY car!

YuppieCL

um.. how bout u hold onto your panties...

body work/paint can take a while. u never wanna rush a body shop.

paulff3

I would be patient. I just got my other car back from having the left quarter fixed (take out rust and repaint). I was told it would take two business days - ended up taking six. I think it's just the way body shops are. Things always take longer than they say. But they did a nice job.

EricL

You can always bring out some large howitzers or a nuke to blast away at your problem. You might end up with a Pyrrhic victory.

However, if you want the job done right, give them the time. If you rush them, you are now part of the problem.

CLpower

Never Rush A Body Shop

rmstoico

2 dents and a respray on a quarter panel = 1 day, 2 max. pull, putty, mask, prep, paint, detail.

listen to me on this one. body shops are different than custom shops in EVERY aspect. they want the shit in and out. theres a good reason that car isnt out by now, and i wont tell you what i think it is cuz i could be wrong. but they want it out as much as you.

someone said about wetsanding and buffing. body shops buff paint to make it look pretty, but they dont wetsand insurance jobs, at least good shops that do alot of business, im talking DRP's. paint techs are trained to match factory orange peel, not make clear flat. clear being flat on insurance work is a no no. to us its a must.

ghander said dont rush a body shop. thats rule number 1. rule number 2.... never pick your car up from a body shop at night.

EricL

Boy, you got that one right.

In fact, it helps to look at in good daylight and to also look at it in florescent lighting.

Someone once tried that with my wife's car and I asked to look at the car in florescent lights. Something was funny, and I told them I'd be back during the day. The match wasn't even close. Not only that, they put a small ding in one of the doors and tried to blob on some touch up paint.

Finally, that orange peel thing is really a bitch. The Silver has a bit of a "grain" to it *and* unless the whole car was wet sanded, it could get "interesting."

One of the lights that is relatively close to daylight is the Verilux bulb. It's approved by the FAA for color vision testing of pilots. You won't find them everywhere...

evilone

i used to work for a company painting cars for dealerships. lest say you took your acura to the dealer and you had a keyed door or some how you have scrapped paint off of your bumper we would sub contract the work from them and do it in there parking lot and it reall would only take at most 4 hours to do that. that sanding preping mixing color matching color primering painting and clearing. now with paint u use a reducer we would use fast or medium witch is dry to the touch within 5 min. but for clear you use a clear oat hardner and an acelerator. that take up to and hour to be dry to the touch depending on how much you put in, the temp,and other factors. but most body shops do take a while because there is usally only one booth and the cars bake in them and prep work takes the most time. so i would see if there is any paintless dent removers and moble paint guys in your area. just so you know the work done out side can stil be high grade as we worked at ferrari,audi,bmw,acura,jag,landrover,toyota,subaru ,dodge dealerships.... so a body shop is not always the best answer and we were alot cheaper then a body shop.


sorry for sloppy spelling im typing fast

EricL

Yep, there are cheaper solutions. And, if it isn't too bad, it can always be redone. For example, a small mess on a bumper, provided it isn't deformed, can be fixed pretty quickly for much less than one would expect.

I talked to one of the bumper repair guys and talked to some folks that had repairs done. They had nothing but praise for this one guy.... I need to look up his name again. He works around Los Angeles.

I suppose with anything, it depends on who's doing the work.

As for the single paint booth, the place I had the rear done -- and it got some lot damage that caused the quarter to be "handled", they had three spray booths, but they are generally PACKED!!! They even have their own machine shop, can make custom parts, and have 20 frame machines

And, I also know your right since we had some scratches in the front bumper fixed, at a local shop, and it was done within 2-hours. It isn't show quality -- I can see some minor stuff if I look at just the right angles with the right lighting, but for $50 and a quick walk, they sure did nice work.

The bumper guys also extolled the wonders of fast cure UV paint.

One of the things the bumper guy told me -- and he was recommended by the Dent Wizard guys (and they have never let me or my friends down) -- was they tried to stay away from work higher up the body. At lower angles, its hard to see tiny imperfections.

IOW, don't expect to put the car up in the air at a SEMA show and expect it too look like a show car finish. If the works happens to be great -- then be happy!