Friend had a very poor repaint, what to do now?

**BluBrett** · 12-13-2010, 11:45 AM

I have a friend that had his car repainted and initially he said it just looked like it wasn`t sanded and buffed correctly. I drove over to his house to give it a perfect finish and find out there are heavy runs all over, sanding marks that I later found out were low grit, underneath and on top of the clear coat, to the very edge of every panel. To top it off, there were what looked like "fisheyes" all over the car, it was like a base coat bubble that revealed the primer, overspray everywhere, and the paint was already peeling off in some areas. The painter says he has a 5 year warranty on all his paint, but as I was posing as a "professional detailer attempting to correct the paint", he was on the phone trying to find out why there were sanding scratches under the paint and why the supposedly clear coated hood was turning my pads green. He is looking at the paint on Tuesday, but what can my friend do to attempt to have this guy either refund the money, or give him a chance do a much better job?

**08xB** · 12-13-2010, 11:54 AM

Was it an insurance job...? I hope not... but if so, there is likely a warranty of some sort... or contact the insurance company. I would take A LOT of pictures showing all the defects to show it was not performed to industry standards.

-josh

**Dan** · 12-13-2010, 01:10 PM

Sounds like one of those typical <$500 paint jobs people get. You can make the paint smooth with careful wet-sanding but the other defects are gonna bet there until its re-sprayed.

**Accumulator** · 12-13-2010, 02:14 PM

BluBrett- Some sorta-random things for your friend to consider and/or discuss with the painter:

- Should the hood have been cleared?

- Sanding scratches under the paint *do* happen (places rely too much on primer-surfacers IMO) but good shops stand behind their work and redo things that, well...need redone.

- Speaking of needing redone, peeling paint?!?

Guess your friend is about to find out whether the painter is reputable or not. And no, I can`t see it being remotely worth taking the guy to court, even if your pal could ding him for the legal expenses...spending thousands to recoup hundreds doesn`t make sense to me even though I do appreciate the desire to spank the guilty.

**Scottwax** · 12-13-2010, 04:17 PM

Sounds like there are too many issues for a detailing solution. Should be repainted.

If your friend paid less than $2000-2500, he isn`t going to get a good paint job from this shop.

My brother successfully sued the bodyshop that ruined his Dodge Ram. Ended up getting $10k in the judgement and after paying the lawyer had $6000 on top of the trade in on his truck.

**Accumulator** · 12-14-2010, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Scottwax

My brother successfully sued the bodyshop that ruined his Dodge Ram. Ended up getting $10k in the judgement and after paying the lawyer had $6000 on top of the trade in on his truck.

Ah, that`s interesting (and good news). How was the judgment structured money-wise? What I mean is, were your brother`s legal fees considered when determining the amount?