Need advice...body shop problem

[BMW335i]

I made a thread a a month or so back because I had my car at the body shop, and wasn`t happy with the result......I had the rear bumper repainted and the back of the trunk repainted (the side where you see the license plate).



I decided to leave it because I didn`t want them to cause more damage if I asked them to fix it...



The problem is that I got the work done in Mid April `07...its now July 19 `07...and almost every other day I have been this constant nag in the back of my head because of the little sanding scratch they put on my trunk and the "not so great" trunk alignment, which I noticed when I got it back but they basically had no solution to straighten it when I told them.



I am constantly pissed off at the sub par work on almost a daily basis now, it hasn`t subsided in three months...which I find very odd for myself. Whenever I`m driving, I always think (ugh, I have a sanding mark on my trunk, and improper trunk alignment, and not so great paint matching). I know, I`m weird, and maybe slightly, overly, OCD and neurotic?



They had to repaint the bumper and part of the trunk, and left a dense, compact, isolated sanding scratches on a moderately small part of the trunk and it`s only visible in certain lighting (direct sun), while on cloudy days you would never be able to tell it`s there even from 1 inch away.



Should I take it back and demand them to fix it? I know, it`s been so long since I got it done but I thought I would get over it but I haven`t. I already paid and I am not sure if they would fix it free of charge, although their work is guranteed (which probably meant before I paid they would fix things). Should I just man up and forget about all of it?

[NickelPlated.45]

Seems like a lot of time has passed. You should have scrutinized their work when you went to pick the car up, before you paid them. If i were you i would drive down there and talk to who ever is in charge and see what they are willing to do (if anything). Got pics of the trunk misalignment?

[AuAltima3.5]

I would never put up with not matching paint (well, I did on the fifteen year old beater, but it is beater).



Alignment is something I *can* deal with, but it gets on my nerves, and usually won`t just go away with time.



Sounds like you two options: go back to them and get it fixed or find a better place.

[Accumulator]

I have prep marks, imperfect matches, and other repaint-related problems on most of my vehicles, even the S8 I`ve had some of them redone numerous times and often they just replace one problem with another one. While I think I`m as particular as the next (Autopian) guy, I live with the flaws. Maybe someday I`ll get them fixed by my new/better painter, but I`m sure not in any hurry to do so.



So I`d say to work on your mindset and try to live with them...but hey, that`s easy for me to say huh? I`m not you....



The alignment issue I *would* get taken care of. I`d fully expect the shop to take care of it even after all this time. Give `em a call, be *very* nice and polite, and I bet they`ll tell you to bring it by so they can fix it while you wait.



That would be a good opportunity (*after* they`ve fixed the alignment ) to point out the other flaws and ask how big a deal it`d be to fix them. We both know the answer, but let *them* see the problem, hear how it still bugs you, and well....just see what they say.



FWIW, when I pointed out flaws that Stoddard`s guys left in the MPV, they tried to talk me into letting them try again even though it`d been over a *year*. It was *VERY* hard to see the flaws in their shop`s fluorescent lighting and they understood that between the need for special lights and the possibility of paint shrinkage making things more obvious over time, some problems don`t come to light right away. I didn`t take them up on it for fear they`d mess up something else, but they genuinely wanted to try to improve upon their imperfect work. Maybe your shop will be the same way, never know until you try.