I apologize that this is not ITR related, but I have found that the members on this board offer great advice during the short period when I once proudly owned an ITR. And I come back to you, seeking advice once again.

As some of you may or may not know, I've had to part ways with my ITR about a year ago due to some insane insurance premiums. A 1991 240sx took its place and unfortunately it is suffering. I've had my car painted by Auto Body by Duie as recommended by many on this board. I was quoted at $3400 to have the whole car painted along with some minor front end work and massaging out miscelaneous dings.

It remained in the shop for 10 months. Excusable only because the owner promised me that the finish would be top notch. Visiting the shop several times to see the car, I mentioned a few trouble spots to the owner and I was told they would be taken care of. After some time, the owner became frustrated and told me that I was expecting too much from him. Upset, I sought advice/help from a very respectable member on this board. He visited the shop and saw the car for himself. Later, he told me that many would be happy with the outcome of the car. When I look at the car, I see rough spots underneath the clearcoat, chips/flakes, paint not reaching some areas, etc. I have a few examples in the pictures below.







The advice I seek is what I should do. I have considered the following things and perhaps you have something better to offer:
-Speak to the shop again. Although I have been doing this for 10 months, what difference can I make now?
-Contact BBB. What can they really do? Nothing if the shop does not care.
-Chargeback my creditcard and pay another shop fix the problems.
-Seek legal couseling, but I am not a piggy bank. I do not know if I am able to afford an attorney.


CLIFF NOTES: My car was painted and I am not happy with the results. Bodyshop seems to be unwilling to fix problems and throws excuses at me. What course of action would best suit my interests.

 

Maybe you are just too picky.

 

it seems you are seeking a show car quality paint job for a moderate price. While the shop should not have kept a car for 10 months, there's not much to do about that now. If they had my car for more than a month i would have taken it to a different shop.

 

hardly noticeable

 

I don't think asking for a quality paint job is being "too picky". It doesn't look like they did a very good job. I know how hard it is to get that stuff to show up on camera and yours stands out ( that means it must really stand out in person )

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kelvin96GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hardly noticeable </TD></TR></TABLE>

for $3400 they could have tapped up the car a lot better than they did imo.

 

i'd cut my losses and have the work touched up at another shop. you could always take it to small claims court (w/o a lawyer)

 

After spending $3400 on a paint job and them having the car for that long, the paint job should be FLAWLESS.. Picky or not, I don't blame him. It should be PERFECT..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it seems you are seeking a show car quality paint job for a moderate price. </TD></TR></TABLE>It's not that I am asking for show car quality, but I am asking for at least a quality paintjob. The pictures were taken the day I took the car home. It's not like a large amount of time has passed where normal wear and tare become a factor.

If you think I'm being picky, I can show you about 30-40 other pictures of problems on the car. But I'll choose to respect your bandwidth.

 

Bottom line is, I don't think you got what you paid for.

 

You should've spent all that money on an sr20det swap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Eluder200K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't think asking for a quality paint job is being "too picky". It doesn't look like they did a very good job. I know how hard it is to get that stuff to show up on camera and yours stands out ( that means it must really stand out in person )</TD></TR></TABLE>

Word.

 

Do you know anyone with lots of experience with cars in general, say 25+ years experience in the auto industry? You might want to show it to them in person and ask what they think of your paintjob and the price you paid. Most responses you are going to get here will be from people who have never worked with paint themselves.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by natadekoko &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you know anyone with lots of experience with cars in general, say 25+ years experience in the auto industry? You might want to show it to them in person and ask what they think of your paintjob and the price you paid. Most responses you are going to get here will be from people who have never worked with paint themselves.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have. And they could have easily taped that off better. Do you really think that's a $3400 paint job? Ok, maybe at some places were a "good" paint job will run $10,000, but elsewhere.. no.

 

I would`nt be too satisfied with that job. Then th guy tells you you are expecting too much from him??? What kind of **** is that? You paid a loot for that finish(and waited too long), the least he could do is make it presentable...
Good luck...

 

I'm assuming you paid him already? Did you use a credit card?? Cancel payment until he fixes the spots needed...

Edit: By the way...I wouldnt be happy with that paint job after paying someone $3,400...I would expect my car to have a show-car paint job for that amount.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dawhiteboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have. And they could have easily taped that off better. Do you really think that's a $3400 paint job? Ok, maybe at some places were a "good" paint job will run $10,000, but elsewhere.. no.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Dave, that $3,400 included some body work, too. That tends to add up pretty fast. It`s probably a 2k paintjob, which really isn`t that much.

Pics don`t really do any justice here, either. If you say it`s that bad, it probably is, I dunno..

 

I had some work done at Autobody by Duie as well. My experience was similar to yours. I'd gotten quotes from a few other local shops and Duie came in well below in terms of price. I guess the question here is: do you get what you pay for?

I'm not trying to bash the shop... in the end, I didn't take my car back and just lived with the results. I just chalked it up to the $$$ savings and went on with enjoying the car.

IMO, if you feel you can't live with the results, I'd go elsewhere to have it fixed. 10 months got you where you are now... how much longer do you want to be without a car?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITRJunkie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I guess the question here is: do you get what you pay for?
I'm not trying to bash the shop... in the end, I didn't take my car back and just lived with the results. I just chalked it up to the $$$ savings and went on with enjoying the car.</TD></TR></TABLE>$3400 is by no means cheap. I could have taken it to other shops for much cheaper, but I went with them based on some of the work I have seen them do as well as the opinions of others on this board. This will just happen to other potential customers if nobody says anything.

I am considering doing a chargeback on my creditcard. Although somebody warned me that the shop can put a mechanic's lien against my car. But he wasn't sure if its possible in this situation.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecvoodoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Dave, that $3,400 included some body work, too. That tends to add up pretty fast. It`s probably a 2k paintjob, which really isn`t that much.

Pics don`t really do any justice here, either. If you say it`s that bad, it probably is, I dunno..</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nice.. I must have missed the body work part in his posts...

2k really isn't that much for a paint job.

Ryan: My only issue with it really is the tape-off job. That's something easy enough to do that spending the extra hour doing it right so you actually cover all the metal with paint is worth it. For 2k I would not expect a perfect paint job (or anything near a show kaaa one), but would still expect all the visible metal/existing paint to be covered.


Modified by dawhiteboy at 10:21 PM 6/19/2003

 

I would be dissappointed - I agree that the tape job was crappy, even Maaco tapes off the car better for a $500 paint job - I would go back to the owner and have him fix it - if he refuses, threaten to call your local BBB, and make sure you let him know that he will get bad press on the net (H-Tech - yO )

Good Luck....

 

I to believe, that you did not get what you paid for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YellowKahuna &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I to believe, that you did not get what you paid for. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Revenge!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dawhiteboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

for $3400 they could have tapped up the car a lot better than they did imo.</TD></TR></TABLE>

3400.00 is a lot IMO for a job that has some blemishes. My bro paid 3000.00 for canary yellow on his 95 Talon and it was perfect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecvoodoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe you are just too picky.</TD></TR></TABLE>

no such thing as to picky, i think if your paying the ******* to do the work perfect, then it should be done perfect, i fking sucked it up when myc ar was rearend, i basicallyf ixed all my problems myself..

i still have a damn small gap between bumper