Ok so I take my car in to get it repainted 2 weeks ago. The guy tells me it will be a week until I get it back so I say ok cool sounds great. A week goes by and I go to his shop and see that it's not even fully sanded down and my aspec kit is still on so I ask when it will be ready and he says Thursday(this is a Tuesday, I gave him the car the Tuesday before). So I say ok sounds good. I stop by the next day (a Wednesday) to check on what little progress he has made. When I get there I see him drinking beer with his buddies and he tells me I can have it done tomorrow but it will be rushed and look bad so I say ok when will u be able to get it done and do it right and he says "not this weekend because I have a funeral to go to and won't be back until Monday". So frustrated I say ok and leave again. Come back Monday and my car is still in the same place it's been for about a week. Only good thing is that it's sanded down completely and the kit is off. Looks like it should be done soon...not. Joke is on me. I ask him when it should be done and he says oh this Thursday and so I say ok and leave again. Keep in mind I didn't wanna piss this guy off to make him take longer or to do a piss poor paint job. I come back the next day assuming he would paint it that day, let it dry for a day and put it back together Thursday. Not the case, he hasn't done anything to it. It's now Wednesday night and I know it takes longer than a day for paint to dry and to put all the pieces of the car back on!! I'm pissed off and I miss my car. Has anybody had any bad experiences when it came to getting ur car painted? And then does it sound normal to have to come back a month later and get the car color sanded? Let me know what u guys think

 

wow thats terrible... ive had my 240sx painted at maaco and it took 3 days... haha thats including light sanding, base coat, and clear coat also and drying... sorry to hear bout ur car man

 

Contractually...you should have declared certain derliverables...is this the case?

 

BBB...better business burough....contact them..

 

where is his shop and how much? just wondering because im thinking of getting my car painted too but definitely not from your guy.

 

Turn around time once a car is in possession of the painter should not be longer than 1 week (source: worked in several body shops, had several cars painted for me).

You are getting toyed with. Bad choice with the painter (doesn't matter if he is your bro, best friend, or guy down the block - bad choice). However be smart - he has your car. Either secure your car, pay him for his sanding (he will no doubt bitch about it - just pick ok price and cut your losses) and remove it from his shop (do this all at once - do not leave your car after telling him you plan on pulling out - odds are good he will seek some stupid vengeance) or if you still have faith in the guy then just ask him when it will be done for sure (offer incentive of 50 bucks if he can finish it by a set date - stupid that you have to offer this but this is a method that works for these kind of folks). Be clear with him that you still want a quality job and politely tell him its starting to take a while. Personally I would go with second option as the first one burns the bridge and you may need that bridge one day.

Now one thing to think about - if this is someone you had give you a "good deal because we are buds" then I'm sorry but you set yourself up. Unfortunately for some people good deal means "Do it whenever I feel like it maybe two maybe 3 months etc.".

~
irishbloke

 

Instead of going down there all the time, call him. Tell him you want the job done RIGHT by a certain time, to your satisfaction, by XXXXXXXday. If not, you will get a lawyer involved. Simple enough.

 

that should get him moving and hopefully do a good job.

 

I sometimes help my brother at his auto shop on weekends when im bored. Of course your going to have some customers who are impatient [ not saying you are becuase he's giving you the run around ]but, when I hear people threaten that they will call their lawyer I laugh in their face. Apparently no one is aware of the paper work involved the cost and the time it will take for this to be heard in court.
Plus, its a civil matter so no lawyer is really needed. You represent yourself.
Even if the lawyer is your cousin, brother, neighbor. It doesnt matter. By the time the paper work is processed the car would be painted.

If you ever take a car to get painted I would go to a place where I know of no one. That way I wont feel bad being a prick if things arent done the way its agreed to.

Ohh and im actually starting to learn that this saying is so true......
"Nice guys never finish first"

 

How did the paint job come out?
Usually i let the car sit for 2 or 3 days after painting.

 

Wow wtf!! where did you take your car to some hill billy that paints out of his backyard barn? Sitting drinking beer with his buddies??!?!? Seriously im just curious why did you take your car to him? He sounds like a total choad.

 

Maybe I wasn't clear. I didn't mean literally contact a lawyer. I mean this bodyshop seems like the type to shit their pants with the threatening of legal action. If nothing happens, then take the car back and don't pay them.

 

...is that one of the 5 boroughs?

Seriously, the BBB is a joke, don't waste your time with them. Tell the shop owner you're pissed and you want the car done by a certain date or your attorney will be in touch with him.

 

Thanks guys for all the comments and suggestions. He's not a friend nor is he anyone I even know. I was referred to him by a friend who got his car painted by him and he actually did a very good job. The thing with this guy is he owns the shop and he takes in way too many jobs than what he can actually handle. He only has 3 or 4 employees and he has 40 cars sitting in his lot waiting to be worked on. I
am going up there today since it's supposed to be "finished" today. Wish me luck. Never thought I'd miss my car as much as I do geeez

 

Just curious why did you have to get your car painted?

Hopefully its done today and it looks amazing. Let us know.

 

wtf.. I would have just paid him for sanding it and gone to another shop. I hope you get your baby back like new.. any reason for the paint job? What color?

 

i got it painted because (i dont know if any of u ave noticed but the acuras paint is crap) on the bumper and top front of the hood and fenders, te paint was cracking. looked like little "x" marks in the paint. acura paint is infamous for this because the TL that my gf owns has the same thing. its black so i just got it repainted a midnight black.

good news is when i drove by this morning, it was in the painting bay waiting to get painted. how long that will take i have no idea

 

this dude sounds like a bum. Hopefully he has some painting skills. I too want to get my whole car repainted. So many little issues I have but a quality job around here is so expensive.

 

My advice is only go to a reputable body & paint shop that offers a free rental while they're working on your ride.. otherwise make a contract and write out provisions so you're not left hanging again.

 

Good luck man thats a long time to wait for no progress essentially. Try and offer him a few extra bucks to have it done by saturday or something. But yea I wouldnt try and piss him off when he does have your property and can easily fuck the paint job up.

 

Try and be friendly with him, but also be straight up. Just say,

"Look, I don't want to come off as rude or anything, but my car's been sitting on your lot for almost three weeks now, and it hasn't been painted yet. You told me it was going to be done two weeks ago. And you keep giving me different deadlines that you never stick to. I need my car, so unless you can get it done by XXX day, I'm out of here and I can't pay you. Hopefully you can just get it done and we won't have any problems. My buddy got his car painted here and he said you did a great job, hope you can live up to your reputation."

 

Ya I was referred by a friend. He does awesome work. Only catch is the turn around time is forever. Supposed to be done today for sure guys, I will let yall know. He painted it yesterday and let it dry. He's gonna put the aspec kit on today. I will take pics and let yall know how it turned out.

 

its easy to spot the younger members by their thinking that BBB or threatening a shop gets you anywhere but royally screwed

Body shops are busy places with high paying insurance or cash jobs taking priority.

Good employes who stay are few and far between- especially good sanders and paint prep-masking guys/girls
really suck work for low pay--oh yeah! sign me up for a 2nd time!

prep person often finds small dents that send part back to repair guy, and if removing or installing a body kit there is extra work.
Installs require 2 paintings, once to get the edges of parts then then entire part. possibly a 3rd to blend into body
Bondo and sanding take time, each tech is normally working on 4-5 jobs at the same time, waiting for one thing to dry while prepping the next cars parts and apply finish parts to first car

Getting the paint booth time scheduled is the toughest part on many jobs
All this is often figured out on a big wall board- what job needs to be where by what day/week
Its only a few hours to spray and a few to several more to bake, that takes the booth out of action for waiting cars
If the spray guy quits or is sick--everything backs up and can take weeks to recover

bringing the car back in a few weeks, after the paint has cured, to do a super smooth finish sanding/polishing, and apply good wax to protect the new paint is not that unusual.
depends on type of paint used too

offering small amout of cash means nothing- they make 50 bucks before morning break
Smart money notes what brand of beer they like and brings some in on friday as a gesture of thanks in advance
Shop employees often hang out after work and have a beer-- bs for a while before returning to a wife and kids

If I lost a friend- a beer with our buddies is going to happen- and some time to process the event and how to move forward is appropriate- screw work for today- thats how things go..
employees will call in sick and leave you stranded for work that needs to be finished

You should ask where in the system your car will be at any shop- 3-4 weeks is normal for a repair and paint insurance job. a week for small jobs- once put into the schedule-
Sometime less time but sometime longer depending on parts arrival- that throws the schedule whack too

 

alrig ht so i got my car back yesterday. pissed off about the way it turned out but the guy is saying it will look ood once it dries because he can then color sand and buff it. not sure if thats completely true but we will see.

right now the car looks like a giant orange peel and the paint is textured. he said he uses a thick clear coat and it does that and thats when he goes in and sands it down and buffs it out.

anyways just thought id update this

 

go online and find any yahoo- local seach links to his biz, post your final results either happy or not, and if you would send a friend to them for work

Sorry its been such a hassle for you
I was in auto repair a long time, did a short stint managing body shops--worst job ever

 

i took my car to a friends shop and it took almost a month and a half to pain the car.. lol .. oh well it looked good!

 

that sucks. hope everything works out for you. I would be nice and tell him that it's xx days past what you were originally quoted and that you need a realistic time when the car will be ready. Hopefully it'll turn out as good as your friends.

 

Actually, a friend of mine does his paint jobs like that - heavy clear. Then he wet sands the whole thing smooth. He did his Pantera & my friend's 911 like that and those came out awesome.

 

I say hold on and hope for the best.

Did you pay the guy?

 

When I was rear ended it took almost a month to get it back. The guy was on vacation for 2 weeks. He told me about the vacation ahead of time. And he said he wanted to be there while my car was being worked on.

I didn't like not having my car, but the finished product was amazing. So, now that I think about it, it doesn't bother me at all that it took so long.

As to your car looking orange peel, that should have been taken care off before you got the car back. When mine was repainted, he was able to wet sand it before I got it back. Not sure why he would tell you it needed to dry first. Sounds fishy.

 

yeah sounds like he did a shitty job at painting. def fishy! dont let him off easy bro, get it done right.

 

Pics of the orange peel?

And def try to find his company on yahoo or something and rate it poorly.

 

I would also like to see pictures of the orange peel.

I painted my own car last year with a POS paint gun and I had a hardly noticeable amount of orange peel in my entire paint job. A good job just takes time.