car re-spray trouble

Little Miss Cutie

Hi
Left car in to have the side sprayed on Monday, was told I could collect it Wednesday evening. Anyway Wednesday comes and I am told that the paint has reacted to the original paint/lacquer so needs to stripped and done again - not pleased but fine! Will be ready Friday night![/FONT][/COLOR]

So you guessed it, it is now Friday and I'm told it bubbled again so had to be stripped again and a sealant used?? Might be ready tomorrow evening.

The mechanic doing the work said it is because the car had been re-sprayed in that area before - car is 9 yrs old and I have had it for 2 yrs so I don't know if it was fixed before. I purchased it off a woman who had it from new and she said she never had an accident in it.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is it normal for this to happen?

beam99

Yes it is very possible for that to happen, if the primer or paint that was used before was a bad quality, or if it was a cellulose paint that was used last time to paint it, it is very possible for the paint to blister. the sealer should sort it this time, that will act like a wall between the old paint and new paint. .

Little Miss Cutie

should i expect an additional charge as it seems to me more work than he first thought?

EPM

Most definitely not!




PS - Where's IK09 when you need him. He'll advise;)

Little Miss Cutie

Thanks for your advice - I am a bit lost when it comes to cars

EPM

You agreed on a price for a job to be done. If a hash was made of it in the process thats not your problem. you were presumably quoted for a job to be done

Little Miss Cutie

yeah we agreed a fee to have the scratch taken out

AmyG

Cutie_pc wrote: »

yeah we agreed a fee to have the scratch taken out

well then he has to stay to that fee, as its not your fault the paint didnt work, he should have had a rough idea from the paint work on the car itself

Little Miss Cutie

Sorry to drag this thread up, need more advice.

Was due to collect car yesterday, called the panel beater / mechanic 5 times yesterday and left a voicemail. He never returned my call, by the time I could get a lift to the mechanics, he was closed.

So I have no car still! Was looking at my eflow account and there is a transaction at 2am on Tuesday over the westlink. He has had the car since Monday - so he must have driven it across.

The whole thing is getting more annoying my the minute. Is it normal to use a car in for repair for personal use? Do many mechanics just not return your call when they have your car?

Thanks for any advice anyone can give me.

TomMc

OP, maybe it is just your terminology, but is this person a mechanic, a panel beater/spray painter or just a handyman. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if they are a jack of all trades master of none, doing work in a field they don't know all that well. And as I'm assuming your female, maybe messing you about.

OK, if money is tight and you want to get a job done as reasonably as possible, on an older car, I can perfectly understand. But leave paint repairs to people who do it full time and nothing else, not as a sideline to mechanical repairs. There is no excuse for shoddy workmanship or defense for paint reacting because of inadequate prep work. If they give a price, they should stick to it and the bad results are down to their failings not yours. Don't be taken for a ride. Get your car back and refuse to pay if they cannot deliver.

junkyard

From the sounds of it this job should have been done in two to three days max, even allowing for paint reaction problems, it's guys like this give us panel-beaters a bad name. He should have two pack primered the original paint if he thought he had a problem in the first place and it sound like a bit of a mess now, especially if he's ducking and diving and now returning your calls.

Little Miss Cutie

Sorry I am obviously confused by the terms. I gave the car to a mechanic to have serviced and sprayed, I have being using this mechanic for years and never had any trouble. He uses a "professional" panel beater, I have never met this guy but he came highly recommended which was why I am so suprised and annoyed.

Yes I am female, this may well be why he doesnt seem to car.

I left the car in with a full tank of petrol if it comes back empty can I deduct it from what I owe him?

cantdecide

Cutie_pc wrote: »

...I left the car in with a full tank of petrol if it comes back empty can I deduct it from what I owe him?...

It won't happen. There might be a few miles on it but it isn't the crime of the century. There's every chance that it might have been shunted back and forth between your mechanic and his panel beater but that falls under the heading of get over it. He won't get it towed to save a tenners worth of juice. Panel beating isn't the same as assembling meccano. Sometimes there are complications and it takes a couple of attempts. Not ideal but not unusual.

If you don't get it back soon tell your mechanic that he can keep it for as long as he likes as long as he arranges a courtesy car. The lesson to be learned is to never give you car to someone for paintwork that you don't know or isn't recommended highly from unattached customers. Ask on boards in future. Mechanics have buddies and if they know your not a car person, they won't care if it's a less than adequate job. Bring a car nut friend to come and inspect the work or bring it to another panel beater. If there's going to be a poor colour match or a funny texture, then it will mean consequences when you go to sell the car.

EPM

To be honest, if the car isn't ready by monday i'd be taking it away to somewhere else. They sound like jokers to be perfectly honest and i wouldn't have much faith in the final finish given whats happened. Your car will be driven to a from the bodyshop. The fact that its at 2am is a bit strange

IK09

Nice one EPM, make me out to be an expert!!!

Ya cellulose paint will do that. Its always safer to strip to bare metal so the know exactly what their dealing with. A spray job takes a day. They have no excuse, it shudnt be taking this long. My advice wud be to get your car, get your money and find another panel beater to do it. Them guys are probably great metal workers but maybe they get someone else to do their paint for them.

Junkyard has it spot on. There wudnt have been that prob if he had used two pak primer.