Am I being unreasonable? Shoddy smart repair by BMW
Discussion
To be serious, I've noticed very many cars up to and including top model Mercedes & Bentleys where a door, wing, bonnet is just a slightly different shade, accentuated by the angle of view, especially on a sunny day. I think silver is possibly one of the most difficult colours to get right ?
Squiggs said:
Unfortunately (most) Smart repairers that do trade work cut corners.
The traders nail them down on price and the repairer has to work double quick to make money, which results in 'not so good' repairs.
In the main it's not usually problem as the buyer didn't know it was damaged in the first place and the work done is enough that the buyer wouldn't notice the repair.
Would you have noticed the 'poor' repairs if you didn't know it had been repaired????? Even if you had noticed the dealer could have said it was nothing to do with them and the previous owner must have got it repaired.
Obviously there are smart repairers out there that can perform seamless repairs - and ideally that is the standard you would like the repairs to be carried out to.
What you have to ask yourself is - is it worth asking the dealer to get the repairs done to a better standard when the chances are they'll tell the same repairer to do the repairs again?
Obviously the repairer didn't get paid enough/have the time or simply doesn't have that much pride in his work the first time round and the chances are if the dealer does take up your case he'll demand the same repairer re-works the repairs - but this time without payment!
I could be completely wrong but I can't imagine the repairs being greatly improved under those circumstances.
Understand your point here, and agree to an extent - I do wonder what price they managed to negotiate! I may not have noticed the front to start with due it being lower down but the repair on the rear is evident even from a metre away due to the fact that the lack of blending falls over the top edge of the bumper and the colour match is nowhere near. What tools does a smart repairer generally use? if localised spraying then surely they can blend it? Or is it a case of chucking some masking tape over an area and using a brush? It just doesn't strike me as very smart!The traders nail them down on price and the repairer has to work double quick to make money, which results in 'not so good' repairs.
In the main it's not usually problem as the buyer didn't know it was damaged in the first place and the work done is enough that the buyer wouldn't notice the repair.
Would you have noticed the 'poor' repairs if you didn't know it had been repaired????? Even if you had noticed the dealer could have said it was nothing to do with them and the previous owner must have got it repaired.
Obviously there are smart repairers out there that can perform seamless repairs - and ideally that is the standard you would like the repairs to be carried out to.
What you have to ask yourself is - is it worth asking the dealer to get the repairs done to a better standard when the chances are they'll tell the same repairer to do the repairs again?
Obviously the repairer didn't get paid enough/have the time or simply doesn't have that much pride in his work the first time round and the chances are if the dealer does take up your case he'll demand the same repairer re-works the repairs - but this time without payment!
I could be completely wrong but I can't imagine the repairs being greatly improved under those circumstances.
Doodlebug87 said:
Understand your point here, and agree to an extent - I do wonder what price they managed to negotiate! I may not have noticed the front to start with due it being lower down but the repair on the rear is evident even from a metre away due to the fact that the lack of blending falls over the top edge of the bumper and the colour match is nowhere near. What tools does a smart repairer generally use? if localised spraying then surely they can blend it? Or is it a case of chucking some masking tape over an area and using a brush? It just doesn't strike me as very smart!
Most (decent) Smart repairers use the same materials and techniques as a bodyshop - but whereas a bodyshop uses large guns and therefore blend into the next panel a smart repair uses much smaller guns and can therefore blend a much smaller area.Obviously there are good and bad in any trade - but the lack of blending and use of masking tape would lead me to believe the repairer of your vehicle must arrive at the dealership on horseback and wear a Stetson.
Silver is a notorious difficult shade to match. You'll notice mismatched panels on silver cars much more than you would any other finish. This is due to there being so many different variables in silver other than just the 'colour'. Size of metallic particle, thickness of paint, thickness of lacquer all effect the resulting 'colour' as will as the paint pigment itself.
Doodlebug87 said:
Haha I'm not upset, more confused as to how you cant see the issues!
If you look at the bumper on my 328 in my profile you might understand hahaSeriously though, I would never have noticed anything wrong on yours. That's either a good or a bad thing depending how you look at it.
Smart repairs can be good, but really they are more for doing work to a vehicle PRIOR to it being sold.
As pointed out earlier by someone else if these repairs had been done prior to purchase you probably would never have noticed.
Fact is they are not up to standard for a new owner, get the dealer to have it painted properly.
My comments are based on my 40 years experience as a fully qualified panel beater/sprayer... you get what you pay for with car repairs.
As pointed out earlier by someone else if these repairs had been done prior to purchase you probably would never have noticed.
Fact is they are not up to standard for a new owner, get the dealer to have it painted properly.
My comments are based on my 40 years experience as a fully qualified panel beater/sprayer... you get what you pay for with car repairs.
17k is not a small amount of money to pay for a car, more than I've ever paid anyway.
I'd want it perfect, and that's not perfect is it.
Also, if it had been done prior to sale, and assuming you were going to hand wash it at some point then you would have spotted all these spots as you went round it. I always find paintwork blemishes I didn’t spot when buying a car the first time I wash it. That’s one of the reasons I never wash my cars anymore.
I'd want it perfect, and that's not perfect is it.
Also, if it had been done prior to sale, and assuming you were going to hand wash it at some point then you would have spotted all these spots as you went round it. I always find paintwork blemishes I didn’t spot when buying a car the first time I wash it. That’s one of the reasons I never wash my cars anymore.
Robb F said:
If you look at the bumper on my 328 in my profile you might understand haha
Seriously though, I would never have noticed anything wrong on yours. That's either a good or a bad thing depending how you look at it.
Haha ok if we are comparing apples with apples then the issues on my bumpers are but a drop in the ocean! That said, I haven't bought the 335 as a track or drift monster, you can get away with a lot more on those!Seriously though, I would never have noticed anything wrong on yours. That's either a good or a bad thing depending how you look at it.
dave_s13 said:
17k is not a small amount of money to pay for a car, more than I've ever paid anyway.
I'd want it perfect, and that's not perfect is it.
Also, if it had been done prior to sale, and assuming you were going to hand wash it at some point then you would have spotted all these spots as you went round it. I always find paintwork blemishes I didn’t spot when buying a car the first time I wash it. That’s one of the reasons I never wash my cars anymore.
I agree, age is irrelevant when you are taking that sort of money - your expectations adjust somewhat between a £17k car and a £1,700 car. You bought from BMW as you expected BMW levels of care & attention to detail, this has not been the case. That line worked for me when I had a similar issue.I'd want it perfect, and that's not perfect is it.
Also, if it had been done prior to sale, and assuming you were going to hand wash it at some point then you would have spotted all these spots as you went round it. I always find paintwork blemishes I didn’t spot when buying a car the first time I wash it. That’s one of the reasons I never wash my cars anymore.
I have had a look at the high res pictures in thumbsnap and I can only assume your issue is with the colour match between the repair and the original paint work?
You say you saw the damage before buying the car. In which case, yes, I believe you are being unreasonable.
It is a 6 year old car, of the type which gets used everyday. It is going to pick up the odd mark in that time. The only way to eliminate your issue would be to respray the whole bumper, but then there is a risk the bumper won't match the rest of the car, which would be far worse than the current 'problem'.
Personally I wouldn't have bought a car with those marks on, that's the marks you can see, what else is there? It also doesn't point to a car that has been well looked after.
You say you saw the damage before buying the car. In which case, yes, I believe you are being unreasonable.
It is a 6 year old car, of the type which gets used everyday. It is going to pick up the odd mark in that time. The only way to eliminate your issue would be to respray the whole bumper, but then there is a risk the bumper won't match the rest of the car, which would be far worse than the current 'problem'.
Personally I wouldn't have bought a car with those marks on, that's the marks you can see, what else is there? It also doesn't point to a car that has been well looked after.
Megaflow said:
I have had a look at the high res pictures in thumbsnap and I can only assume your issue is with the colour match between the repair and the original paint work?
You say you saw the damage before buying the car. In which case, yes, I believe you are being unreasonable.
It is a 6 year old car, of the type which gets used everyday. It is going to pick up the odd mark in that time. The only way to eliminate your issue would be to respray the whole bumper, but then there is a risk the bumper won't match the rest of the car, which would be far worse than the current 'problem'.
Personally I wouldn't have bought a car with those marks on, that's the marks you can see, what else is there? It also doesn't point to a car that has been well looked after.
The colour match wouldn't even necessarily be an issue if it had been blended but it hasn't. As mentioned earlier in the thread it looks as though they have masked an area and just sprayed up to the line. They were a couple of scuffs, no dents and no panel gaps - the rest of the car is in decent condition and it has only done 33k, it points to the old boy just not being too careful when parking, rather than somebody who has abused it. There are not many derv 335's about at that age with that kind of mileage at that kind of price. It's the LCI saloon, so has the nicer rear lights, xenons up front, sunroof, overall fairly nicely spec'ed up and the only negative was the scuff's which I was told would be fixed prior to me purchasing.You say you saw the damage before buying the car. In which case, yes, I believe you are being unreasonable.
It is a 6 year old car, of the type which gets used everyday. It is going to pick up the odd mark in that time. The only way to eliminate your issue would be to respray the whole bumper, but then there is a risk the bumper won't match the rest of the car, which would be far worse than the current 'problem'.
Personally I wouldn't have bought a car with those marks on, that's the marks you can see, what else is there? It also doesn't point to a car that has been well looked after.
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