Had the hood repainted: Am I too picky? (pics inside)

[Celtic]

Hi All,
I have been lurking here for a while and I must say I'm glad I found this community. Loads of useful information indeed.

I would need your opinion on a paint job done by a local body shop.
I had the hood of my black S4 re-painted a couple of months ago. When I took the car home the sun came out and I saw that there where heavy swirl marks, even scratches and overspray on the paint. Called the body shop and they promised to take care of it, but recommended to wait for some 30 days to let the paint dry. So I did. Last weekend I brought it in and an hour later the job was done. It rained that day so it was difficult to judge the quality of their work. Today though the sun is out and I am able to see what they have done. Here are some examples. I have some more, but I think they get the point across.



Am I too picky? Is this acceptable? I personally don't think so, but I really would like to hear your opinions on this before I go back to the place. Any thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Thank you for your time.


P.S.: When I went to pick up the car, the detailer was wiping off the hood in a circular motion with what appeared to be a dirty looking piece of cloth, perhaps microfiber, without using any QD. Made me cringe, but what do I know.

[lookaught]

Id be upset if they "detailed" my hood and it turned out like that b/c of the swirls; however, in my experience the more you complain, the worse they make it when it comes to fixing problems. If the paintwork is up to par, meaning the orange peel, color, etc matches and there is no dust, etc, I would not bother with them, b/c they could easily make it worse.

I nit picked over the tiniest flaw when I had bodywork done on my old S4, and they said "don't worry we'll fix that, no problem." Three times they tried, three times they failed to match the color of the door strip to the car. I honestly ended up giving up and sold the car the following year (for other reasons as well). Be careful how picky you are.

Most bodyshops produce absolute shit quality work, even the expensive, "reputable" places. The high end repair shop in Pittsburgh just did the whole front end of my friend STi (minor, minor bump buckled the aluminum hood) and they installed THE WRONG HOOD. The curves dont match at all, yet they deny and deny and claim they are all perfect. Its incredibly hard to find a good shop, and frankly, no paint is perfect that isnt done by a robot(if even then), you have to choose your battles and move on.

[EuroA4]

Its just basic swirl marks from the looks of it, you can get that out with a quality machine polishing.

[3.0 Rider]

Its just basic swirl marks from the looks of it, you can get that out with a quality machine polishing.

That's called holograms. Can be caused by a dirty pad or unproper techniques. This is very annoying, and so unprofessional.

If I were you.. I'll be afraid to go back.. I rather pay a real detailer to get the car top notch.. however is frustrating to know that you paid for a job that was not delivered properly.

[Celtic]

Thank you for advise.

Id be upset if they "detailed" my hood and it turned out like that b/c of the swirls; however, in my experience the more you complain, the worse they make it when it comes to fixing problems. If the paintwork is up to par, meaning the orange peel, color, etc matches and there is no dust, etc, I would not bother with them, b/c they could easily make it worse..

The actual paint job is pretty good. Color matches (well the car is black), no dust either. But I tend to agree with you that bringing it back will only make it worse.

Its just basic swirl marks from the looks of it, you can get that out with a quality machine polishing.

Unfortunately that is beyond my capabilities. So I would need a pro to do it (which is fine, but then see below).

That's called holograms. Can be caused by a dirty pad or unproper techniques. This is very annoying, and so unprofessional.
If I were you.. I'll be afraid to go back.. I rather pay a real detailer to get the car top notch.. however is frustrating to know that you paid for a job that was not delivered properly.

I hear you. I had a professional detailer working on my car earlier to get a scratch out of the door. He got the scratch out all right, but take a look how it came out:


It seems like every time I let someone who's supposed to be an expert touch the car I end up new problems. Is it because the car is black and it's next to impossible to do it properly? Or is it "only" a matter of doing it right using proper techniques? At this point I am willing to spend some more money to get it done correctly, but truth be told, I don't know who I can trust as both places, the body shop and the detailer, have a good reputation. When I saw the detailer using the orbital buffer on the door without even cleaning the area first I wanted to stop him and say something, but I thought they're supposed to be the experts.

[Celtic]

[...] When I saw the detailer using the orbital buffer on the door without even cleaning the area first [...]

Scratch that orbital buffer. It was a rotary buffer.

[reggaemylitis]

I think that after seeing the work of guys like Phil and 3.0, who have done some miracles with paint correction, you just haven't found the right guy yet. Hopefully someone can give you an idea of someone that can help you in your area. I think you could even do a better job yourself if you did a little research and gave it a shot.

[Mike @ einszett]

The bottom line is that this job is completely unacceptable. Yes, those are called holograms and they are essentially burned paint. It can be fixed by a professional detailer but it will obviously cost you dollars.

What propagates the issue is that consumers either a) don't know what quality work is, or 2) know what it is but don't commit to seeing the resolution met. It's guaranteed this shop has done this type of shoddy work numerous times and keeps getting away with it.

It's a hassle and nerve wracking but you have to get this situation resolved. The shop has to understand that you are not ignorant and that your dollars matter - especially these days in this economy. Money isn't exactly falling from the sky.

If your issue isn't resolved, I would go further and complain to the Better Business Bureau and word of mouth is always a strength.

I have seen shops that are highly regarded and hyped do terrible jobs and when a customer complains, that person is seen as a whiner when in fact they are justified for their unhappiness. Of course I have also seen customers complain about issues that are trivial. But yours is clearly an issue that should be fixed. At best, they should compensate you for a detailer to fix it.

Just my thoughts...

[Celtic]

Thanks for all the advice. It's been really helpful. At least now I know that I'm not asking for too much here and that indeed I should be complaining.

@Mike:
I have already called them and told them I was going to be back as soon as the sun is out (which is a 50/50 thing in the FL summer) - so they can inspect their work. I'll try to work with the guys in a friendly way for now and hope they'll get it done correctly.

More2follow.

[Mike @ einszett]

Yes, friendly but firm Friendly so they know you're not trying to be a jerk and firm so they know you expect what you paid for and you're not ignorant. Hopefully they will be willing to work with you. These days shops are realizing that they have to offer good service and results or else they will be out of business.

[Celtic]

Yes, very firm. And if that does not help I will start with my German accent:
"Siss is your last vorning!!! Eiser you vill get it done or else!! Ja!"

Comes quite naturally to me actually being a German. Probably don't have to work very hard to scare them sh!less.

[Mike @ einszett]

HA!

[Celtic]

The sun played hide and seek for quite some time here in FL, so it took a while longer than anticipated to get this resolved. I finally went back to the shop and here's how it came out:


I think this is decent. I'm happy.


Thank you for your help and advice.

[reggaemylitis]

Definitely better. You can now get it perfect on your own time!

[Mike @ einszett]

Now that's the way it should be. Persistence paid off.

[Celtic]

Yes, I agree, Mike. And I didn't even have to threaten (pronounced 'sreaten') them. Bummer since I had practiced a lot.

@reggaemylitis:
Oh time isn't the issue. My skills are. While I really would like to get more involved with detailing, I only have one car right now and I really cannot use that as a guinea pig because I WILL mess up a few times for sure.

[reggaemylitis]

If I ever get over this pinched nerve in my neck, I'll be glad to show you how it's done. Ain't rocket science! No offense professional detailers!!

[DetailDan]

Did you wash it and wipe it down with alcohol?

If I ever get over this pinched nerve in my neck, I'll be glad to show you how it's done. Ain't rocket science! No offense professional detailers!!

Nope, its not rocket science. But a lot of people who "detail" dont do a very good job.

[Celtic]

Did you wash it and wipe it down with alcohol

No, I didn't. If the shop only 'masked' the damage instead of properly repairing it, would wiping it down with alcohol uncover the trickery? Could you elaborate?

[tamadrumr88]

Correct, isopropyl alcohol would take it back down in case they layered and layered and layered some more just to cover up their mistakes

[pyro]

hmm...why haven't i seen you 'round these parts?

looks a lot better now. i am actually contemplating getting some parts of my car resprayed too.