New to detailing

[offcenter]

I have gotten some excellent advice here in the past few months. Everything from QD`s to microfiber, charismas, Blitz and Klasse. Now that my car looks great with AIO and 2 coats of SG, here is the bad news. I brought the car in to the dealer yesterday for 5,000 service. I picked up the car, the service was done as requested, the car was washed and I took off. Well, this morning I look at my rear bumper and notice a chip or gouge of silver paint is gone on the lower portion under the license plate area. It looks bad, a black spot on a silver car that is flawless! I went back to the dealer, they agreed to pay for the body shop repair. The chip is about one half the size of a dime but really sticks out. I asked the body shop what they can do and they said they will repaint the rear bumper. I am concerned about overspray, will the paint match, should I tell them I used Klasse acrylic on the bumper? I need your advice, I have an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday, they said I can pick it up Tuesday night. Should I just touch up the chip or have the body shop repaint the entire lower bumper. What are the downsides or things to look out for if I have the bumper repainted. My car is only 6 months old. I am bummed out:( :mad:

[Brad B]

Silver is one of the hardest to match but luckily your lower bumper has an easy edge and area to paint. It`s not like they have to blend in the middle of a door. Even if the paint isn`t "perfect" regarding the match of metallic, it will not be noticable. This sounds worse than it is.



I had the lower bumper on my S4 painted when the car was only a few months old. It turned out great.



Don`t worry about overspray. Just voice your concerns. What kind of sealant you use is unimportant. They will have to sand the surface anyway. You will have to rewax in about 90 days. Until then use a quick detailer to keep it clean through the winter.



It`s a new car (and a cool one at that) I would get it painted. And remember, only accept the car if you are happy with the results. My dealer let me have the car a week so I could be sure I liked the paint in all lighting situations. Then I ok`d payment.

[offcenter]

Thanks Brad. I appreciate your quick and thorough reply. It certainly has eased my mind. I `ll post a reply after next Tuesday. when the deed is done.:)

[Bluedog]

wow this story is kinda similar to what happened to my sisters care last week. my sister just got a new IS300 say 3 weeks ago. i waxed and detailed for her using some basic meguiars stuff and made it real nice. didnt spend as much time as i normally do on my own car but still put some good elbow grease and time into it.



just last week my sister found out there was a big scrape about 1 inch long an .5 in wide on the passenger rear bumper corner. black plastic is showing completely, paint is totally gone. its barely 3 weeks old and already a scratch. bad thing is we dunno how it got there. 100% sure it was from another person, not own mistake.



well anyways to make a long story short, we r just gona have the dealers shop redo the bumper. dunno if they need to jsut repaint it or replace the bumper. in some ways i think its good that we got it early so we dont have to worry about paint fading not matching up with a newly replaced/painted bumper.

[Ron Ketcham]

Believe it or not guys, the products you are using are going to come right off when the shop hits them with the first of the repainting process.



They will wipe the area with a commercial grease/wax remover and take it right off.



As well, due to the part being a TPO, they will use an adhesion promoter before applying the primer. That really strips!



The color, it`s not hard to match. If they have a good PBE that supplies their match paint, they will take the fuel door off and send it down to them.



It goes under a computer scanner that creates the perfect match paint for that car.



Then, with the new high solid material, since the painter can`t play with air pressures anymore, the metallic particles will be laid out correctly in the flow and fill coats.



Piece of cake!



Ketch

:bounce

[offcenter]

Thanks Ketch, you pros are amazing:up :up :up I am going to ask the body shop about all the items you mentioned. Apparently, this shop does work for my VW dealer. They claim alot of vehicles come off the trucks on the way to the dealership with more damage to the bumpers that my nick/chip and they do the repairs for the VW dealer. I hope they don`t get p***d off when I ask them questions about adhesion promoters, primer and computer paint match. :cool:

[Neeraj]

Why not just ask them to remove the bumper and paint it separately?



Brian

[Ron Ketcham]

Since they do that much dealer work, probably won`t even have to take the fuel cover off, have the exact match on the shelf, left over from another vehicle.



They`ll do it right, don`t worry, if you`re not satisfied, they seem to be quality shop and will make it right for you.



Ketch:up

[Bluedog]

haha. umm sure.... yea piece of cake... :rolleyes: :D

[Ron Ketcham]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by Brian 330Cic [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Why not just ask them to remove the bumper and paint it separately?

Brian [/b]</blockquote>
Because that would cost about an additional 1 to 2 hours labor at $60+ per hour minimum. Could require up to 4 hours, would need the Mitchell Flat rate book to know, but it wouldn`t be cheap and not necessary.

Ketch:eek:

[offcenter]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by Brian 330Cic [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Why not just ask them to remove the bumper and paint it separately?

Brian [/b]</blockquote>
Brian, I rather not have them remove the bumper. It just means more can go wrong during removal and replacement. If they "bag" the vehicle, I would prefer that to a removal and reinstall.

[imported_Brad]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by Brian 330Cic [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Why not just ask them to remove the bumper and paint it separately?

Brian [/b]</blockquote>
That`s what the dealer did for me at my request. It made for a much better job. The shop manager agreed. And insurance paid.

[offcenter]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by Brad [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>

That`s what the dealer did for me at my request. It made for a much better job. The shop manager agreed. And insurance paid. [/b]</blockquote>

I have this bad feeling that removing the bumper will lead to other problems like the tailight wiring or trunk lining getting messed up or other parts like hardware not installed correctly. I remember having work done on other cars I owned and there was always something that wasn`t perfect after the body shop reassembled the vehicle. Don`t they have to disassemble the trunk to remove a rear bumper? I believe in minimal intrusion on a 6 month old vehicle. I don`t believe that reassembly will ever match the factory job. Am I being cynical or realistic? I am pretty finicky about my car. I would feel alot better if the vehicle was covered to my satisfaction and bumper masked off.

[Neeraj]

I guess it comes down to the body shop itself.



Before you have work done, make sure you ask them to see examples of the work they have done.



If they are good, they should have completed cars waiting to be picked up. Before they tell you what they did to a car, see if you can spot the repair work. If you can, go elsewhere.



Also, you can call a high end car dealership to find out where they get their cars repaired that are damaged in shipment. Those cars have to be repaired perfectly for them to be sold.



I would still have them remove the bumper so they can paint the bumper fully, if it is still attached to the car, the sprayer may not get into all of the seams.



Brian

[ISLANDSBEST]

I`d take a picture of the bumper before you drop the car off. Just in case its needed.