Paint Repair Horror Story

[jhorton]

I have a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe.

I had taken it to the dealership this week so they could send it to their body shop for repair. There was some paint bubbling on the roof.

Well I got it back today from the body shop and was shocked by what they had done. They fixed the paint mark but when they applied the final layer of clear coat they sprayed it right over part of the black molding/trim that runs along the top of the roof and right around the bottom rubber of the roof rack.

When I brought it to there attention they had a guy come out and start pulling the molding up so the paint wasn`t holding it down. Needless to say things look a lot worse then before.

There are clear coat bumps all along the one edge of the roof and a couple spots now where the paint has come off to show the primer.



I immediatlely called the dealer when I got home. He said they will want the vehicle back so they can have it fixed properly this time, unfortunately with the same shop.



Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? I am so angry to say the least.

[PRB]

Not uncommon for the body shops, whether at a dealership or one they sub-contract with



Nonetheless, sorry it happened to you



Since they damaged and started pulling the moldings, this would most likely lead to a repaint without moldings. It will leave you with a better looking finish since you won`t have tape lines and a much better chance of them getting the finish to adhere to the surface.



Angry and frustrated: hope you let the dealership know exactly how you`re feeling. When you drop the car off to have it re-repaired, emphasize that in no way will you accept less than 100% top notch work this time. You`ve wasted time and been out of a car once and now going on twice.



Usually, when you go to a shop with some sort of "special" situation and make them aware of it, they`ll pay more attention to how the car gets repaired.

[Scottwax]

Dealerships are absolutely the wrong place to take a car for body/paint work. Dealerships do one thing well, sell cars. Everything else is an afterthought and it shows.



You should let them know that if they cannot repair your vehicle to your satisfaction, you expect them to foot the bill at the body shop of your choice.

[David Fermani]

Dealerships are absolutely the wrong place to take a car for body/paint work. Dealerships do one thing well, sell cars. Everything else is an afterthought and it shows.





Yes, alot of dealership body shops turn em and burn em, but not all. Some of the best work I`ve ever seen was done by the Audi & Mercedes dealers down here. I wouldn`t hesitate to have them repair my car for a minute.

[jhorton]

I am hoping they are going to replace the molding and the bottom parts of the roof rack as they have clear coat all over them. I can`t believe they gave it back to me like this and thought I would be happy.

[GTFreddy]

I`d say that a good portion of the people that come on this website pay attention to (excuse the pun) "detail." Most other people don`t and it is very rare that a job is done to perfection or very close to it, not that it`s justified in anyway. I am a perfectionist myself and when I got my car back from the Lexus dealership that repaired it I found flaws in the work within a few minutes to what they thought was the perfect paintjob; I ended up taking the car back twice. I`m sure you`re like that too, so tell them about how unhappy you and what it is that you`re unhappy with so that they can emphasize their work on that portion.

[jhorton]

Thanks. Yes I would consider myself a perfectionist too. I took another look at it today in different lighting and the clear coat has a lot of little bumps all over it.

It looks like they did it in such a rush they didn`t pay attention to anything.

I have had body work done before on my old GM car at a GM dealer and it had nothing close to this being wrong.

[94BlkStang]

Dealerships are absolutely the wrong place to take a car for body/paint work. Dealerships do one thing well, sell cars. Everything else is an afterthought and it shows.



You should let them know that if they cannot repair your vehicle to your satisfaction, you expect them to foot the bill at the body shop of your choice.



That`s kind of a blanket statement scott as there are several good service facilities and paint and body people in some dealerships. My dad worked for 20+ years in a dealership and his integrity made sure the job was done right. He later went on to open his own shop, but to categorically claim that dealerships aren`t good on the service end isn`t fair to those that pride themselves in that area. Just like in any business there are good ones and bad ones.

[Scottwax]

That`s kind of a blanket statement scott as there are several good service facilities and paint and body people in some dealerships. My dad worked for 20+ years in a dealership and his integrity made sure the job was done right. He later went on to open his own shop, but to categorically claim that dealerships aren`t good on the service end isn`t fair to those that pride themselves in that area. Just like in any business there are good ones and bad ones.



There is 1 (ONE) dealership in the entire Dallas area that consistantly does good work and that is Sewell. That is out of a lot of dealerships in this area.



An independent body shop that specializes in high end cars is probably going to be your best bet but even then you should inspect some cars they have just finished in the full sun.