Would you accept this?
Discussion
OK, so the business concerned has passed the deadline to fix the problem they caused, so let the battle commence! (I won't name them yet, just in case they see this and it provokes them into doing what they know they should have done in the first place)
Long story, cut very short: Old dear scraped my parked car and very honourably claimed on her insurance. I refused to send it to a bodyshop of mixed reputation (not Porsche Approved) and insisted it went to a Porsche Approved repairer instead. Eventually the work was done and car was returned (in the rain) looking like this...
Here is the other side of the car, for comparison...
So, not even close when seen in better light, with no rain.
There is a whole chapter of other issues surrounding this repair - that are all disputed by the bodyshop in question, that will end up costing me several £1,000 to put right: Not least of which is the aerodynamic removal of a turbo intercooler scoop the first time I went over 120 mph after the repair (now lying on the autobahn somewhere between Berlin and Hanover!)
Anyway, when you consider the extent of the original damage was this (and the estimators from both the insurance company and the business in question said the wing didn't need painting at all), what can / should I do next?
P.S. The bodyshop in question agreed (twice) to rectify the paint mismatch, both times promising to contact me to arrange it, but failing on both occasions. They initially claimed that they didn't paint the wing at all - just "blew it in" and they are denying all responsibility for the loss of the intercooler scoop, claiming "someone must have tampered with it" and it couldn't possibly have come off due to them removing and re-fitting it (which they are not denying that they actually did).
PPS. This was how the car looked prior to the damage / repair...
Long story, cut very short: Old dear scraped my parked car and very honourably claimed on her insurance. I refused to send it to a bodyshop of mixed reputation (not Porsche Approved) and insisted it went to a Porsche Approved repairer instead. Eventually the work was done and car was returned (in the rain) looking like this...
Here is the other side of the car, for comparison...
So, not even close when seen in better light, with no rain.
There is a whole chapter of other issues surrounding this repair - that are all disputed by the bodyshop in question, that will end up costing me several £1,000 to put right: Not least of which is the aerodynamic removal of a turbo intercooler scoop the first time I went over 120 mph after the repair (now lying on the autobahn somewhere between Berlin and Hanover!)
Anyway, when you consider the extent of the original damage was this (and the estimators from both the insurance company and the business in question said the wing didn't need painting at all), what can / should I do next?
P.S. The bodyshop in question agreed (twice) to rectify the paint mismatch, both times promising to contact me to arrange it, but failing on both occasions. They initially claimed that they didn't paint the wing at all - just "blew it in" and they are denying all responsibility for the loss of the intercooler scoop, claiming "someone must have tampered with it" and it couldn't possibly have come off due to them removing and re-fitting it (which they are not denying that they actually did).
PPS. This was how the car looked prior to the damage / repair...
doneitnow said:
I am amazed that was not noticeable in the rain, it looks horrendous, don't think I would want them to touch it ever again.
TBH, they were very late delivering it back to me - on a Friday afternoon, when I had less than two hours to pack my motorhome and set off for Germany!... and when I say rain, it was torrential and certainly not the sort of conditions when you wanted to give the car a close inspection out in the open! I was also in a hell of a rush, due to their lateness in returning the car
If it's carried out at a Porsche Approved body shop then it's guaranteed for life subject to getting it inspected on an annual basis so as long as you've done that then it'll all be rectified F.O.C. Had a similar experience with the Mrs' Boxster and even after 4 years they repainted the front end where it had gone off colour.
Porsche clearly must have a process for Approving bodyshops in the first place, which would suggest there's some regulation to the quality of work put out under the banner of "Porsche Approved" so if the bodyshop themselves have failed to respond I'd try Porsche GB and ask what the procedure is for complaining. Hopefully that'll be enough to get them to give the bodyshop a kick up the arse to deal with things.
Cheers guys... You know how sometimes you think it must be you? But in this case, it's a bit bloody obvious! (According to them though, it just looks different because "it's been polished recently and the rest of the car hasn't" LOL
I will call them tomorrow and tell them to look at this thread and if they don't respond positively, I will start giving clues
I will also be calling Porsche GB in the morning - I do happen to know one or two people in elevated positions (after 30 years working almost exclusively in the car industry and mostly for prestige marques), so this particular bodyshop may have picked the wrong person to upset.
I will call them tomorrow and tell them to look at this thread and if they don't respond positively, I will start giving clues
I will also be calling Porsche GB in the morning - I do happen to know one or two people in elevated positions (after 30 years working almost exclusively in the car industry and mostly for prestige marques), so this particular bodyshop may have picked the wrong person to upset.
kVA said:
Cheers guys... You know how sometimes you think it must be you? But in this case, it's a bit bloody obvious! (According to them though, it just looks different because "it's been polished recently and the rest of the car hasn't" LOL
I will call them tomorrow and tell them to look at this thread and if they don't respond positively, I will start giving clues
I will also be calling Porsche GB in the morning - I do happen to know one or two people in elevated positions (after 30 years working almost exclusively in the car industry and mostly for prestige marques), so this particular bodyshop may have picked the wrong person to upset.
I wouldn't break out with 'your friends from the internet' just yet. Show them the before and after pics of the car and it should be enough. Tell them you will escalate it to Porsche if they don't agree to rectify.I will call them tomorrow and tell them to look at this thread and if they don't respond positively, I will start giving clues
I will also be calling Porsche GB in the morning - I do happen to know one or two people in elevated positions (after 30 years working almost exclusively in the car industry and mostly for prestige marques), so this particular bodyshop may have picked the wrong person to upset.
I think they matched the wing and presumably the door, possibly also rear quarter? to the front bumper which looks a bit out compared to the bonnet in your "original" photo. Not unusual to have a bit of variance in bumpers as they get painted off the car as a stand alone item. You also get a bit of variance due to the different bonnet / bumper angle.
I can only see a small bit of it but the bumper now looks the same colour as the wing.
You also need to have a look at the back of the car. I suspect they will have blended out the colour in the rear quarter panel. If there is no colour difference on the other end of the repair it would point to a colour mismatch elsewhere pre accident. If there is a similar mismatch then clearly the repair is simply wrong.
You need to establish exactly what's what in order to move forward.
With the exception of the bumpers its generally not good practice to have panel to panel joints of new to old paint. You try to blend on a panel. You can't avoid clear lacquer new to old panel joints but whilst I accept there will be some potential fresh to old difference its minute compared to the actual colour.
I hope that all makes sense and is of use. Ultimately if the bodyshop were concerned about your car having differing colours before they started painting it then it was down to them to mention it prior to starting out on he repair and discussing with either you or the insurers possible additional panels that needed painting to get the right colour.
Good luck
Henry
I can only see a small bit of it but the bumper now looks the same colour as the wing.
You also need to have a look at the back of the car. I suspect they will have blended out the colour in the rear quarter panel. If there is no colour difference on the other end of the repair it would point to a colour mismatch elsewhere pre accident. If there is a similar mismatch then clearly the repair is simply wrong.
You need to establish exactly what's what in order to move forward.
With the exception of the bumpers its generally not good practice to have panel to panel joints of new to old paint. You try to blend on a panel. You can't avoid clear lacquer new to old panel joints but whilst I accept there will be some potential fresh to old difference its minute compared to the actual colour.
I hope that all makes sense and is of use. Ultimately if the bodyshop were concerned about your car having differing colours before they started painting it then it was down to them to mention it prior to starting out on he repair and discussing with either you or the insurers possible additional panels that needed painting to get the right colour.
Good luck
Henry
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff