Car goes into body shop, comes out worse

So a couple months ago some lady hit and run my 08 Impreza. The damage was very minor, just some paint on the rear bumper. I Finally got it into the body shop to have the bumper repainted and picked it up today. Now there is a door ding on the drivers passenger door with paint transfer and the car is swirlled to hell.

 

It has never been to a car wash, I hand wash it every time and I am very anal as many of you know. Use two bucket method with grit guards, wash top to bottom rinsing after each panel. I wash in forward to back and top to bottom motions. I only blot dry with mf. I never use quick detailer unless it is to clean up bird droppings. I even use the autogeek deluxe water filter. Now I know no matter how careful you are, minor marring is a fact of washing and that is why I have already polished the car twice in the 6 months I have owned it, but my "swirls" are always straight lines, never a circular swirl as caused by bad washing habits.

 

The car is swirled really bad now, and the question is, do I let them pick it up and detail the car, or eat it and do it myself.

When I had mine in for a hit and run it was minor also... come to find out they buffed the entire car and sucked horribly at it. Took it to a buddy of mine who did what he could with some swirl stuff. Not sure what it is but he basically used the buffer and removed most of the swirls. I was always anal too and it all gets shot to hell when a jackass messes with your ride.

Yeah, I've got a polisher and can do the work myself. The swirls on the door are very deep though and at the speed I work will take 20+ hours to clay, clean, polish 2x and seal 2x.

 

What sucks is, I washed the car the night before I took it in, so it was clean. I was going to tell them not to wash it, but I forgot.

Yeah, I've got a polisher and can do the work myself. The swirls on the door are very deep though and at the speed I work will take 20+ hours to clay, clean, polish 2x and seal 2x.

 

What sucks is, I washed the car the night before I took it in, so it was clean. I was going to tell them not to wash it, but I forgot.

 

Have them foot the bill for a REAL detailer to clean up their idiots' work. That would be the only plausible solution.

Have them ship it down to me. I'll fix it for you.

Have them foot the bill for a REAL detailer to clean up their idiots' work. That would be the only plausible solution.

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't want to labor over it right now, and I really don't want them touching it again. Since it was an insurance job, I paid nothing so I can't get money back to hire another detailer or pay me to do it myself. But if I could get them to foot the bill to have another detailer do it then that would be ideal. Problem is, it took me 4 months to finally get the bumper repaired, imagine how long it will take me to find a detailer and take the car to them.

 

Sorry OCD, but i think they would have a problem shipping it that far, lol. I would love a OC detail on it however.

was it a reputable body shop? i have to have some key scratches removed and want to avoid going through the same thing...

was it a reputable body shop? i have to have some key scratches removed and want to avoid going through the same thing...

It was Nu-Way on Grant across the street from Wentworth Subaru & Chevytown. Not sure how reputable they are other than they were recommended to me by a domestic car guy and I would bet at least 80% of their work comes from local BMW and Mercedes dealers. All three times I've been there the shop was filled with BMW's. Mini's and Porsches. However, just because they work for higher end dealers doesn't mean they can wash a car. Walk on to any BMW or Mercedes dealer in town and and they will all have nasty swirls, my friends new 07 M Coupe was very bad. Most people buying those cars don't know how to look at the paint, and could care less. I worked at lexus and I sure as hell know what went on in that wash bay.

 

They work looks fine from what I can tell, it was just a small scuff on the rear bumper. So the car definitely came out worse than it went in. Here is what I had fixed:

 

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Same thing happened to me last month after I had some frame work done. Shop did me a "favor" by washing it at the car wash down the road. Looked like they dried the car with gravel in their towels.

 

I polished most of the scratches / swirls out but it took me a good 8 hours.

 

Lesson learned.

Call the insurance company you are dealing with and explain to them what happened and why you don't trust the shop to fix it. Ask them if you can get a professional detailer to fix the shops mistake and make everything right.

 

If the insurance company isn't willing to do that I would calmly explain to the shop that you aren't pleased with how your car was treated and would like to bringing another professional to correct the paint.

 

When my last car went in for some insurance body work because a guy hit me the first shop sucked. I brought the car back 2 or 3 times and it still wasn't right. I called the insurance company and they had no problem with another shop fixing the first shops issues.

Call the insurance company you are dealing with and explain to them what happened and why you don't trust the shop to fix it. Ask them if you can get a professional detailer to fix the shops mistake and make everything right.

 

If the insurance company isn't willing to do that I would calmly explain to the shop that you aren't pleased with how your car was treated and would like to bringing another professional to correct the paint.

 

When my last car went in for some insurance body work because a guy hit me the first shop sucked. I brought the car back 2 or 3 times and it still wasn't right. I called the insurance company and they had no problem with another shop fixing the first shops issues.

Sound pretty logical, good tip.

One thing you could do is get their insurance to cut you a check for the detail and then use that money to get the tools to do it yourself. Most body shops have deals with detailers who could resolve the problem, but with the amount of attention to detail they seem to have, I wouldn't trust their detailers either. They are probably just hacks who are good at covering up damage that the shop creates. Tell them that you want to pick the detailer and you want the check made out to you. I know a lot of people who have had this problem and that has seemed to work for them.

One thing you could do is get their insurance to cut you a check for the detail and then use that money to get the tools to do it yourself. Most body shops have deals with detailers who could resolve the problem, but with the amount of attention to detail they seem to have, I wouldn't trust their detailers either. They are probably just hacks who are good at covering up damage that the shop creates. Tell them that you want to pick the detailer and you want the check made out to you. I know a lot of people who have had this problem and that has seemed to work for them.

I've got all the equipment already, just got some new lc pads, mf's and the whole optimum package that I'm dying to try out. I left the insurance adjusters number at home when I went to the office so I didn't call today, but when they did the estimate they wrote the check out to me, which I signed over to the body shop, and they also wrote a check in my name for loss of use for the time it is in the shop. I'm sure a detail check would be in my name as well, which I would be happy to cash and try my new products. Just not to excited to invest the time after having just done a full detail not long ago. I am way to slow.

 

I will call the insurance in the morning, If I can get a check from them for an exterior detail, then I can choose to either do it myself or hire a detailer (maybe learn a thing or two from them). My neighbor is a "professional" detailer, but he dries cars with a california water blade and chamois, and tries to wax cars outside in the rain. I don't think I would let him do it Maybe Brian or Tito still work at Lexus.

Well, I'm throwing in the towel. Detailing is just too expensive and time consuming for the results I get. After spending $1200+ and 100+ hours in the last year I come to find out the pc is nothing more than a electric wax spreader. Spent 16 hours working on the car this weekend just to find out that the microscopic scratches are in fact scratches that no amount of polishing or compounding with a pc will fix.

 

I'll continue washing each week and sealing on a regular basis. Probably do a light polishing once a year myself, but going to just have the car professionally detailed with a rotary every year. It will turn out being less expensive and save me the time and frustration of being ocd. No point in having cars if I am afraid to even leave the house in them because they might get dirty or I might get a rock chip or door ding.