A Guide to Good Bodywork

[Stereodude]

So my car got rear ended a few weeks ago. It had about $1500 in damage done to it. I picked it up from the body shop yesterday. Here's what the body shop apparently thought passed for good work. They replaced the rear bumper cover and some stuff under it.

There's a sharp edge at the top of the bumper cover that's hard to see in the picture here:

Damage the new work on the corner:

Note the nice sharp raised edge in the paint:

A gouge / scrape that wasn't in/on the rear of the trunk when they got the car:

Another sharp edge like the first picture (but on the other side):

Another nice sharp raised edge in the paint like the other side:

Another angel of it:

Note the smoothness and consistency of seam:

Note the smoothness and consistency of seam on the other side:

I called my insurance company to complain and they called the body shop and lit a fire under them. They took a look at it, blamed it on the poor quality of the bumper cover, and said they would order a new one from a different source and "make it right". I'll be holding my breath.

 

[MaxBurn]

Sounds like your bumper cover either wasn't original equipment or didn't benefit from decent prep work. Those look like plastic mold seams that were painted right over without any sanding, pretty shitty work if I do say so. Right to complain.

Unfortunately they might have to ditch the cover and start over. The base coat of paint on a bumper cover is a special flex coat so the paint won't crack when it is flexed a little like backing into a trash can or leaning on the car. Too much paint would likely do the same thing I would think.

 

[ddrueding]

Right to complain indeed, that is some crap work. I also agree with all of MaxBurn's other thoughts. I would be tempted to insist to the insurance company that a different shop "make it right".

 

[Bozo]

Just went through the same thing with my daughters car. The body shop did not use 'factory' parts but some off the wall chinese copy.

One call from our lawyer got everything fix right with geuine OEM parts.

I always thought it was cheaper in the long run to do it right the first time. Guess not :roll:

 

[ddrueding]

I've found that most of the time, it is cheaper to do things with a lawyer/accountant/contractor than to do things without. I've even brought in a consultant for buying cars before.