Faulty Total car body respray
Discussion
Got the car back after nearly 2 1/2 months in the body shop, picked it up a couple of weeks ago took it home and there were a few issues regarding wiper blades fitted incorrectly cracked side screen, cracked headlamp cover missed polishing various parts of the bodywork after painting, not repairing around the front clip hinge painted over it so cracks now showing through and various pin pricks the size of a biro point around the body work where its either dust or from heating the fiberglass in the oven and air bubbles coming out ? and a crack which hasnt been repaired and just painted over near the rear clip fastner this is a fiber glass car and i was assured they could do the job having repaired and painted fiber glass cars previously. I have taken the car back a couple of days later 2 weeks later they fixed the wipers and purchased the side screen and headlamp cover but i have to get them fitted due to the company not wanting to drill the holes for the fixing points, but are not prepared to polish out or correct the damaged front hinge point the pin holes or the damage on the side fixing point there is also the question of paint runs on the wheels and a damaged rear wheel rim looks like it was dropped onto tarmac due to the little marks all around the rim they are also supposed to be alloy wheel referb specialists. I have the original estimate and a detailed list of the work to be carried out and the price so have threatened them with legal action the reply today is "I wish you well and good luck" can somebody suggest where I go from here
I have had somebody else look at the poor job and they have agreed with me.
I have had somebody else look at the poor job and they have agreed with me.
I think they've already told you what to do next..... small claims court, assuming it is within the limit and it's an avenue you want to go down.
I'd suggest getting reports and quotes from a few reputable bodyshops. If you can get some statements that agree that a poor job has been done, along with quotes for what it will cost to rectify, then that would be a good start.
I'd suggest getting reports and quotes from a few reputable bodyshops. If you can get some statements that agree that a poor job has been done, along with quotes for what it will cost to rectify, then that would be a good start.
A couple of quotes to rectify the issues should be enough, make sure they're not ridiculous as you'll need to justify. Send a letter to the company by recorded giving them the chance to fix the issues or pay for someone else to do so. Give it 7 days, send a pre action letter via recorded then after 7 days file the claim. Keep it simple, keep the emotion out of it and keep the pressure on. I'm not sure if it's a limited company but I've named the directors on my last couple, you're not supposed too but it rattles them 
Spray painting fibreglass cars is not exactly a specialist job, but there are two extra stages.
The car must be pre baked. Any air bubbles in the gel coat expand and burst the gel open, creating little craters about the size of a ball point pen tip.
The car is then removed from the oven, the craters are filled and sanded.
Then it's back to the oven for paint.
If you miss these steps and just spray then bake, the bubbles will burst through the paint.
If a garage regularly sprays new fibre glass cars, they should know this. If they only do the occasional respray of a fibreglass car, they probably won't (respray implies the car has already been baked.)
Look for sprayers who specialise in the kit car market.
The car must be pre baked. Any air bubbles in the gel coat expand and burst the gel open, creating little craters about the size of a ball point pen tip.
The car is then removed from the oven, the craters are filled and sanded.
Then it's back to the oven for paint.
If you miss these steps and just spray then bake, the bubbles will burst through the paint.
If a garage regularly sprays new fibre glass cars, they should know this. If they only do the occasional respray of a fibreglass car, they probably won't (respray implies the car has already been baked.)
Look for sprayers who specialise in the kit car market.
Thank you for the reply's I have a couple of body shops lined up for Tuesday/Wednesday will get the quotes in to rectify the poor work and then lodge a small claims court judgement, is the max £250 or is that the minimum never had to do this before, there attitude sucks so I am determined to follow this through.
totalwipeout said:
Thank you for the reply's I have a couple of body shops lined up for Tuesday/Wednesday will get the quotes in to rectify the poor work and then lodge a small claims court judgement, is the max £250 or is that the minimum never had to do this before, there attitude sucks so I am determined to follow this through.
The maximum you can claim through the online claim is £100k, but the max for the simpler small claim track is £10k.https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
Pack of these
Two tins of this
Simply say ""The silicone inside theae cans is projected out at over 1000 mph. If I squeeze these, a jet of supersonic silicone will squirt out. It could go your way; could go mine. Either way, one of us is going down!"
Or alternatively just take them to court like they have suggested, and everyone else has.
(Don't ever spray silicone in a paint shop, you may be pleasing yourself with such revengeful antics but it's other people's cars you'll f
k up)
Two tins of this
Simply say ""The silicone inside theae cans is projected out at over 1000 mph. If I squeeze these, a jet of supersonic silicone will squirt out. It could go your way; could go mine. Either way, one of us is going down!"
Or alternatively just take them to court like they have suggested, and everyone else has.
(Don't ever spray silicone in a paint shop, you may be pleasing yourself with such revengeful antics but it's other people's cars you'll f
k up)paintman said:
All I can see with his post is a couple of identical icons.
It might make sense if the pics of whatever he's talking about were visible.
They're both links to the same item on Amazon, rather than images. The Amazon item is...It might make sense if the pics of whatever he's talking about were visible.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerosol-Can-Straw-Tube-Lu...
Yep, those annoying straws that come sellotaped to WD40 and immediately get lost. You can buy 'em separately. Who knew?
Took the car to a Lotus/TVR body shop specialist yesterday and they are in agreement regarding the faults in the paint job, unfortunately they also suggested it would probably take a full respray to rectify, so next step is an independent engineers report then onward to small claims,
I feel for you. Was it through insurance or your own money?
I had a very similar issue with my TVR and a supposedly large and reputable TVR/Lotus bodyshop that did a full respray on mine after a small accident a few years back.
The respray was shocking, overspray everywhere, thin paint, thick paint, runs and peeling paint at the edges. They had it back to rectify, came back worse.
They then had the cheek to say the paint was already like that as they'd only re-sprayed the front and rear quarters not the whole car. When I showed them a photo of the car in their bodyshop sitting fully stripped in primer instead of saying sorry they went defensive and demanded to know where I got the pictures from - the fact I'd taken them when they let me see how my car was coming along a couple of months prior was besides the point.
They then stated they couldn't see anything wrong with the paint work, despite an independent engineer standing next to me alongside a representative of my insurer.
In the end I was lucky and my insurers allowed me to take the car to another bodyshop for a full strip and respray. This is an example of the number of layers they uncovered just from this repair, each layer getting progressively softer where they hadn't even allowed each bodge to cure;
I really hope you get this sorted OP as I know just how stressful it can be.
I had a very similar issue with my TVR and a supposedly large and reputable TVR/Lotus bodyshop that did a full respray on mine after a small accident a few years back.
The respray was shocking, overspray everywhere, thin paint, thick paint, runs and peeling paint at the edges. They had it back to rectify, came back worse.
They then had the cheek to say the paint was already like that as they'd only re-sprayed the front and rear quarters not the whole car. When I showed them a photo of the car in their bodyshop sitting fully stripped in primer instead of saying sorry they went defensive and demanded to know where I got the pictures from - the fact I'd taken them when they let me see how my car was coming along a couple of months prior was besides the point.
They then stated they couldn't see anything wrong with the paint work, despite an independent engineer standing next to me alongside a representative of my insurer.
In the end I was lucky and my insurers allowed me to take the car to another bodyshop for a full strip and respray. This is an example of the number of layers they uncovered just from this repair, each layer getting progressively softer where they hadn't even allowed each bodge to cure;
I really hope you get this sorted OP as I know just how stressful it can be.
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