bad paint job

[Jibit]

A while back I put my car in the shop to get a dent fixed on the door jam, get the passenger door handle removed (shaved), and get ground effects put on. The total came out to $2K (even though I removed the handle, mirror, all interior parts so they could do the body work).

I get the car back after a week and there is blemishes in the paint, like hatch marks and places were it looks like touch up paint was used but it was under the clear coat. Also the ground effects were not secured properly in some places. To top it off it looked like they took a buffer to the car and put swirls in the paint and the trunk lid looked like something had been laying on it and scraped off.

I complain and the shop takes the car back for two weeks! I pick it up in the dark and notice my neon tail light is not working. Next day I look it over. Ground effects are fixed but the paint job is still screwed. Now my headlight lenses are all clouded like it was next to someone painting and my grill doesn't look original. The grill looks like it has a film on it, it doesn't match the gloss of the rest of the paint on the front clip. They buffed the hood because I could see swirl marks and you could tell on the edge of the hood were the residue was left. They want to charge me more because it took extra time to fix the ground effects (if they would've done it right the first time we wouldn't have this problem now would we!).

I took the car back to complain and they want to take the car back to fix it again. I told the shop that I can't at the moment because I have to do some mechanical repairs to pass emissions. I haven't paid them yet but based on the story what can I do legally? I have enough problems going on in my life that I'm not looking to drag them through a small claims court. Any opinions, realistic ones!

 

[CaptainZilog]

Tell them you aren't paying until A) it's done properly or B) they take it to a better shop and get it done right.

Again, this is why I do all my own work... sigh

Contact a civil lawyer and see what your choices are. I think you've got quite a bit of leeway with what you can do.

 

[Katshot]

Can't say I'm surprised. I've seen this kind of thing MANY times unfortunately. Be persistent about getting car fixed. Ask to go over the car with the owner/manager so you can be sure ALL your issues are pointed out. Be careful about withholding payment. In some areas of the country, the shop can put a mechanic's lien on the car until you pay them. Ask a local lawyer to be sure. The "film" you spoke of is most likely over-spray which can easily be removed with a clay bar. Polishing the car is not abnormal, many places will do that to help "blend" the new area into the old to minimize the way the new paint will stand out at times. As for the stuf that looks like touch-up paint under the clear, that's most likely a "spit" from the paint gun, again not abnormal butdepending on the job it should've been taken care of prior to clear coating. It really depends on how much you were paying for the job. To be honest, it sounds like you were getting a pretty cheap job based on the price so I'm not betting you'll have much luck pushing them TOO much.
Good-luck.

 

[Jibit]

To be honest, it sounds like you were getting a pretty cheap job based on the price so I'm not betting you'll have much luck pushing them TOO much.

The whole car wasn't painted only the passenger door and the rear quarter where I had the dent removed.

The owner is the one I've been dealing with. He did a great job shaving the handle but the rest of the job was done by his crew and I think they could care less what kind of job they did. The funny thing is that I've been talking to this guy for the past year on what I want to do with the car to get it ready for a shows and competition so he knows I have a lot of work still to go. The only reason I had only the door and quarter done is because I wanted the dent removed before the winter so it was a place to start. The paint wasn't matched since the rest of the car will painted later.

 

[Jibit]

Again, this is why I do all my own work... sigh.

I feel the same way, if I knew how to do body work and had the tools I'd do it. Unfortunately I don't have the means to do it all myself.

 

[Katshot]

I guess I misunderstood. I thought you meant shave the door handle(s) and install a ground effects package (on the whole car) as well as doing the dent. Much different. Yeah, I must agree that it sounds like you're getting hosed.