I got my car back from the body shop and it just did not seem to be right. I had my doubts about the color. You see I have never seen the color Chamonix in real life only in photos. When I found my car it was in prime so the car never had any color on it. Seems like the guy in the body shop took it on himself to paint my 1966 2000cs with a 2004 Porsche color. He said he could not get my color so he painted with the Porsche Paint without telling me. Comments ?
I have a problem
- Thread starter CarSnob
- Start date
naccer
Well-Known Member
Well this just happened to me. My e3 was fjord blue but the roof and trunk as well as passengers side were very faded. Original paint in the trunk was still bright. So I decided to have it painted. The match turned out blue and metallic but darker with gray and maybe purple. but it's not fjord.
Why is yours not chamonix and mine not fjord? The paint wasn't mixed to the original code at a vendor like ppg, DuPont or sikkens-all of which are here in ATL. It was mixed in the shop to a color the painter thought would look cool or would be close enough based on a chip. In my case as near as I can tell a 2008 Lexus color.
Before you say get a better painter. I've used the same shop for a decade for 911's a 280se cab, and in fact another e3 this spring. That was an exact match. Now it was Amazon green non metallic. But a match. Always had great work. But shops change and quality changes with the challenges of keeping employees.
So what do you do and or lessons learned. I've really wrestled with this. And once this happens there are a few outcomes:
He's not happy, you're not happy or your both not happy.
1. Have them reshoot it in the right color. Tons of risk here. Lots of drama in my case with the painter. Lost time for you and for him lost money. It's also a risk they shoot it wrong again! Or they put it out back and let it rot. You go get it in a year and you should have just taken it away when you could.
2. Take it as is and decide what to do, either put it back together or take it elsewhere to shoot.
3. Take it with you and ask for some consideration on price. No ones happy.
How to avoid all of this?
1. Let the customer choose the color and buy the paint. I'll do this next time.
2. Ask for a spray out on metal before squirting the car. I'll do this next time.
3. Sign some contract or agreement that outlines the work color description and time line / price. Include descriptions of everything you expect to be painted. Include painted parts removed eg fuel door.
I have used the same shop for years and never had to manage this process this closely. I assumed they were the professionals. But as shops have moved from being enthusiastic partners on project work to insurance guys slapping bumpers on Toyotas and charging 55.00 a day for storage. It's not about enthusiat projects it's about volume and the ways to make money in that structure. Which is much easier than working on 40 year old project cars with all the risk they embody.
I know there are specialty shops for old cars but they are getting very hard to find.
My thoughts only. I just took the car back and am putting the trim back on. But this is a price differential between the e3 and e9. It's a different price point with a lower expectation of restoration accuracy. Plus it's a driver and people seem to like that Lexus blue.
Best, Neal
Why is yours not chamonix and mine not fjord? The paint wasn't mixed to the original code at a vendor like ppg, DuPont or sikkens-all of which are here in ATL. It was mixed in the shop to a color the painter thought would look cool or would be close enough based on a chip. In my case as near as I can tell a 2008 Lexus color.
Before you say get a better painter. I've used the same shop for a decade for 911's a 280se cab, and in fact another e3 this spring. That was an exact match. Now it was Amazon green non metallic. But a match. Always had great work. But shops change and quality changes with the challenges of keeping employees.
So what do you do and or lessons learned. I've really wrestled with this. And once this happens there are a few outcomes:
He's not happy, you're not happy or your both not happy.
1. Have them reshoot it in the right color. Tons of risk here. Lots of drama in my case with the painter. Lost time for you and for him lost money. It's also a risk they shoot it wrong again! Or they put it out back and let it rot. You go get it in a year and you should have just taken it away when you could.
2. Take it as is and decide what to do, either put it back together or take it elsewhere to shoot.
3. Take it with you and ask for some consideration on price. No ones happy.
How to avoid all of this?
1. Let the customer choose the color and buy the paint. I'll do this next time.
2. Ask for a spray out on metal before squirting the car. I'll do this next time.
3. Sign some contract or agreement that outlines the work color description and time line / price. Include descriptions of everything you expect to be painted. Include painted parts removed eg fuel door.
I have used the same shop for years and never had to manage this process this closely. I assumed they were the professionals. But as shops have moved from being enthusiastic partners on project work to insurance guys slapping bumpers on Toyotas and charging 55.00 a day for storage. It's not about enthusiat projects it's about volume and the ways to make money in that structure. Which is much easier than working on 40 year old project cars with all the risk they embody.
I know there are specialty shops for old cars but they are getting very hard to find.
My thoughts only. I just took the car back and am putting the trim back on. But this is a price differential between the e3 and e9. It's a different price point with a lower expectation of restoration accuracy. Plus it's a driver and people seem to like that Lexus blue.
Best, Neal
I got my car at a substantial discount because the pearl white the prior owner used to paint the car was not a BMW color. The paint was well done, and the car was very solid. My main priority was finding a car without rust, but when Peter Coomaraswamy looked at the car (he was local to the seller) the first thing he pointed out as a negative was the paint color. With that, and some other areas that needed attention, he negotiated a $10k price drop before I even began serious discussions with the seller.
In general, the wrong color shrinks the universe of potential buyers for your car in the future, and hence the price.
In general, the wrong color shrinks the universe of potential buyers for your car in the future, and hence the price.
Is the painter the shop owner and/or have you asked him about the color and told him you're not happy? It all depends on the shop and it's owner. The big shops are just like Neal described, but since they basically answer to the insurance companies they'd repaint an insurance job in a heartbeat. I know the owners of a small chain of body shops in my area and if this happened at one of their stores and it was a private individual job, they'd wouldn't be happy but would do the right thing and repaint it. I know I'd be really pissed off if it happened to me...
Dan
Dan
How bad is it?
jmackro
Well-Known Member
I think you have answered your own question. I'm not a big fan of taking people to court, but there seem to be too many problems with this person's work to just let it go.
Depending on how NY operates, perhaps their state department of consumer protection could help. Light years ago, when I lived in WI, they had a small group that would write letters on official state letterhead if you file a complaint. This is often a good idea before hiring a lawyer.
Not sure about the shop but all the shops that I know of do a test spray on a 1 ft. square piece of material and shoot the clear on it as well, they then require me to sign off on the color, Your strength lies in the runs and drips however as if you can show that the work was not done "correctly" regardless of the color you could have them re-spray for the finish blemishes and get you a color sample to sign off on. Also, if you check their contract- their typical boiler-plate work order, there is probably something in there about color match and approval for such. Good luck., just wanted to throw some additional ideas your way. Although the court system seems a necessary evil you may have luck with the shop owner who has more to gain by making a customer happy than by ticking one off-