Scottwax
11-21-2003, 07:16 PM
My brother`s brand new Dodge Ram was hit by hail in late March and the damage was about $6000, so his insurance company cut him a check for that amount. The damage was on the roof and hood of the cab.
Instead of using the body shop I and my other brother recommended to him, he shopped around for a lower price. :rolleyes: He found a shop that claimed to specialize in show cars and restorations that said they could replace his hood, repair the hail dents in the roof and repaint the entire cab for $3000. He dropped it off in April and it was in the shop for 3 weeks.
After he picked it up, he called me and he sounded very distraught over how his truck looked and asked me to come out and take some pictures.
This is one of the door jams....and remember, when this truck was repainted, it was 4 months old and it is a light blue:
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint6-med.jpg
The orange peel was horrible, plus there were runs, sags and fisheyes and the paint was already peeling where they had taped the door trim. As you can see in this picture, the orange peel was sufficient enough to make a noticable difference in reflection between the cab the shop painted and the factory paint on the bed.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint8.jpg
Here we have not only more orange peel, but also visible sanding marks under the paint.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint9-med.jpg
It`s been 7 month since the repaint and 2 subsequentant ones. Now some areas of the cab have a paint thickness of 41 mils, almost 10 times what it should have. It still has horrible orange peel, his wheels have to be refinished because there is so much overspray on them, he has to replace all his trim and weather stripping for the same reason, and a reputable shop wants $5000 for a proper repaint of the cab...and my brother has no choice because the truck is a lease.
Moral of the story? If it sounds too good to be true (especially pricewise with body shops), it probably is.
Instead of using the body shop I and my other brother recommended to him, he shopped around for a lower price. :rolleyes: He found a shop that claimed to specialize in show cars and restorations that said they could replace his hood, repair the hail dents in the roof and repaint the entire cab for $3000. He dropped it off in April and it was in the shop for 3 weeks.
After he picked it up, he called me and he sounded very distraught over how his truck looked and asked me to come out and take some pictures.
This is one of the door jams....and remember, when this truck was repainted, it was 4 months old and it is a light blue:
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint6-med.jpg
The orange peel was horrible, plus there were runs, sags and fisheyes and the paint was already peeling where they had taped the door trim. As you can see in this picture, the orange peel was sufficient enough to make a noticable difference in reflection between the cab the shop painted and the factory paint on the bed.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint8.jpg
Here we have not only more orange peel, but also visible sanding marks under the paint.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/1099andy_repaint9-med.jpg
It`s been 7 month since the repaint and 2 subsequentant ones. Now some areas of the cab have a paint thickness of 41 mils, almost 10 times what it should have. It still has horrible orange peel, his wheels have to be refinished because there is so much overspray on them, he has to replace all his trim and weather stripping for the same reason, and a reputable shop wants $5000 for a proper repaint of the cab...and my brother has no choice because the truck is a lease.
Moral of the story? If it sounds too good to be true (especially pricewise with body shops), it probably is.