Had my car fixed today.......

[TuNeS]

I reversed my car into my go-kart 3 weeks after getting it (murphy's law) and put a little dent in the tail. The dent was on the crease of the boot so it had to be fixed and reprayed. My dad picked it up for me and he seemed a bit upset with the job they had done. I drove to the local pertrol station where there is loads of light tonight and I noticed that the white of the tailgate is a slightly darker tone to the rest of the car.

If you were passing by, I am sure you would not notice, however I am pretty articulate and have a lot of pride in my car and I can notice.

I will reassess in the morning with better light, however should I be upset if it is slightly different, or is colour matching a very difficult art? Can I ask them to redo the job or am I better off just goign elsewhere to get it fixed? Apparently they told my dad it will lighten up a little with some time.....Is this a rubbish statement?

These days, no one seems to respect your stuff as much as yourself Just curious if any car detailers have come across this before and what they have done.

[TuNeS]

BTW, the car is candy white too.

[JustCruisn]

Call them back asap and tell them what you think. No point waiting etc.

When I picked up my car the other week I spotted a bit they missed. I told them straight away. No worries bring it back next week. When they finished again I went over it with the manger, I was not happy, He spent another 20min polishing it up for me until it was 100%.
I always go to these guys because the will take the time to go over the job and make sure its all done correctly. I got a call at 730 one night from them just checking everything was OK, that's customer service.

[gavs]

Keep taking it back untill they get it right. It's your car and you are paying for them to fix it, not to make it worse.

I see that in your sig you have a Skoda Octavia RS, a nice car and not very old I assume. Therefore, they can't claim ignorance and say "...oh, the paint is faded so we can't match it...."

They probably just had an apprentice do it, hoping that you wouldn't notice the difference....

[carcareproducts]

I too doubt that the paint will lighten up. It may over time but we are talking 5-10 years of pure UV!

Every body shop has a different paint system and some will bake the car a little longer which can effect the quality of the finish.

Take it back and talk to the painter. They should have a sun gun or similar tool that will show the true colour of the panel.

[TuNeS]

In the daylight it isnt very bad at all. I am more concerned with the smudge mark near one of the badges, hwoever he told me to bring it back and they will polish it out.

When I told him that the colour is slightly darker, he responded by saying 'depends on whcih way you look at it'. I was a bit taken back by this statement thinking it shouldn't matter! However he said he will discuss in detail when I bring it back to get the 'smudge' out of the paint work. Cant say I would go back to these guys again, but I dont want to be rude to them yet as I want them to fix the smudge.

I think I might go and see a local detailer to see what they think.

[gavs]

In the daylight it isnt very bad at all. I am more concerned with the smudge mark near one of the badges, hwoever he told me to bring it back and they will polish it out.

When I told him that the colour is slightly darker, he responded by saying 'depends on whcih way you look at it'. I was a bit taken back by this statement thinking it shouldn't matter! However he said he will discuss in detail when I bring it back to get the 'smudge' out of the paint work. Cant say I would go back to these guys again, but I dont want to be rude to them yet as I want them to fix the smudge.

I think I might go and see a local detailer to see what they think.

Depends on which way you look at it???!!!!!!!


Mate, that makes me mad just reading that!!!! Clearly this guy has absolutely no idea what he is doing and is blissfully ignorant and an idiot that he lets himself or his incompetant staff put out work of this calibre!!!!

Take it back, get the smudge fixed then take it to someone who knows what they're doing and have them invoice the clowns who screwed your car!!

[JVLR32]

no easy way out of this topic.....U NEED to take it back and tell him very nicely redo the bloody job.....

The Ombudsman is a consumers best friend

[TuNeS]

no easy way out of this topic.....U NEED to take it back and tell him very nicely redo the bloody job.....

The Ombudsman is a consumers best friend

agreed. everytime I think about it, I get upset. My dad organised it and dropped it off and picked it up and did it as a cash job while I was in sydney for work......so I have no legs to stand on when going to the Ombudsman.

I will ask them nicely to fix the job once more. I will not accept any excuses and if they refuse to do it, I will cop it on the chin and take it to someone who WILL fix it properly and I will post the name of the original repairer so people know to avoid them. You live and learn and life is not fair sometimes......

Can anyone recommend a good paint shop in Brisbane?

[JVLR32]

agreed. everytime I think about it, I get upset. My dad organised it and dropped it off and picked it up and did it as a cash job while I was in sydney for work......so I have no legs to stand on when going to the Ombudsman.

I will ask them nicely to fix the job once more. I will not accept any excuses and if they refuse to do it, I will cop it on the chin and take it to someone who WILL fix it properly and I will post the name of the original repairer so people know to avoid them. You live and learn and life is not fair sometimes......

Can anyone recommend a good paint shop in Brisbane?

...oh yes u do...start ringing.

[TuNeS]

it went back to shop this afternoon and they have agreed to fix it. hopefully round 2 will have the desired result.

[TuNeS]

UPDATE:

The repairer refused to fix it. The PPG state rep wrote a letter stating 'the repair work caried out by ****** to be of an industry standard and it is of my opinion that any perceived colour VARIATION is due to the different light reflectance on the curves and flat areas of the repaired area and not to a colour mismatch'

I rang the paint rep asking him if he actually looked at the car. He response was that he couldnt compare the tailgate to any other panels on the car and appeared to be carefully wording his responses to me on the phone with pauses to try and justify his letter.

Anyway, I took it to two other repairer's for a second opinion who instantly looked at it and said it was the wrong colour.

So, its going to be long winded and get messy. I am getting the tailgate re-sprayed the correct colour by a reputable repairer now. They are going to write a letter for me stating they had to re-paint the panel due to a colour mis-match. All I want is my baby back!......in its original condition.

Moral of the story: Make sure you go to someone reputable (even though I thought this guy was!). State clearly before the work is caried out that you want the car repaired to its original conditional. Don't pay unless you are 110% satisfied with the work.

Hope this info helps others out there. I will let yous know how I go with the Office of fair trading.

[TuNeS]

Here are some photos I took before I took it in to be fixed today.

http://www.tagseq.com/wp-content/gallery/skoda/img_9600.jpg

http://www.tagseq.com/wp-content/gallery/skoda/img_9604.jpg

http://www.tagseq.com/wp-content/gallery/skoda/img_9606.jpg

[gregozedobe]

Your tailgate looks darker/dirtier/greyer to me. If you want to be fussy you will probably be able to notice a slight colour variation between the metal and plastic parts (eg rear side window trim, bumpers) as delivered (ie that's how the factory makes them). It seems to be more noticeable on the light colours (white & yellow).

When I had my front mudguard replaced the panel shop went to a lot of trouble to prepare me for the colour not being quite the same (they claimed yellow and white were the hardest colurs to match, but I bet If I had the metallic race blue I would have got a similar story). In the end they did an excellent job on matching the colour, but not so good on various other aspects of the job (blobs of paint in several spots, then scratches from attempting to fix the blobs, orange peel overspray in several places, uneven panel gaps etc).

[TuNeS]

Your tailgate looks darker/dirtier/greyer to me. If you want to be fussy you will probably be able to notice a slight colour variation between the metal and plastic parts (eg rear side window trim, bumpers) as delivered (ie that's how the factory makes them). It seems to be more noticeable on the light colours (white & yellow).

When I had my front mudguard replaced the panel shop went to a lot of trouble to prepare me for the colour not being quite the same (they claimed yellow and white were the hardest colurs to match, but I bet If I had the metallic race blue I would have got a similar story). In the end they did an excellent job on matching the colour, but not so good on various other aspects of the job (blobs of paint in several spots, then scratches from attempting to fix the blobs, orange peel overspray in several places, uneven panel gaps etc).

The picture doesnt quite do it justice. Two other repairers picked it up straight away and agreed that I wasn't being too picky. But yeah, I what what you mean when you really go looking between the plastic and the metal.