Help! Dealership put swirl marks in my paint and has refused to fix them!

[songsj]

I think another good lesson here is NEVER pay the body shop anything until you are satisfied with the finished product. Do not sign over or endorse the insurance companies check until you are satisfied. They get no money until you are happy.

[songsj]

Sorry but a monkey can take out swirls with the right equipment. And pads that are clean along with the right product. It's not rocket science these people just don't know or just don't care about their work. Goes without saying never bring your car back to them.

The monkey would need to be well trained. Not many body shops are. They are taught that most people are not that fussy and swirl marks in clear coat will appear from car washes etc. and most people don't notice it or accept it as long as its fairly even over the entire car. You have to really look to find a used car with NO swirl marks.

[import_killa]

Originally Posted by SSizzle

Clear bras are not a body shops expertise. Anytime you are dealing with aftermarket parts like that, it is best to take directly to a professional that specializes in it. Swirl marks are going to happen no matter what, it is normal for clear coat to swirl after washing and waxing. The paint I'm sure has not yet cured. After the paint cures a professional should be able to wet sand and buff it out. If the swirl marks are just in one small area it was probably where they found a blemish in the paint after painting, and sanded it out. I am not a professional, but have friends in the body industry

your right they arent but they brought a guy in to do the job and that guy is an expert in that area that being said the dealership got the guy, the dealership should and is liable to repiar to satisfaction. If allstate is like most insurance companies like mine repairs are lifetime warranty and 100% satisfaction garunteed. If your still not satisfied Allstate prolly will guide you in the direction of a good paint shop.

[Alarick]

Time for more updates.

I spoke with Allstate more, they sent out an adjuster to look at the horrible job the dealership did.
The adjuster pulled the whole "swirl marks are normal and unavoidable" bit, though he did find some overspray on the ROOF of my Camaro that everyone had missed up to this point.

I had a shop recommended to me by a third party, so I told the adjuster I wanted to take it there, he said ok, and told me to go get an estimate.

Well, while at the shop, they found a whole host of other issues with the paint work the dealership did, including a spot where the fresh clear coat was pealing off.

Let me say that again, they found a spot where the fresh clear coat was pealing off.

Anyway, the adjuster had perfect timing and called me back while I was at the shop, saying that the would replace the whole clear bra, including the part that had damage from the buffer.
But he went on to say that the dealership told him they did not use a buffer on my Camaro at any time.

An out right lie, kinda difficult to get marks from a buffer without using a buffer when they told me they already used one.

I told him what the shop found, he said he would be there in a couple minutes.
Once he got to the new shop, his story changed, he was now saying that the overspray on the roof was normal, that all cars have a gritty texture to the paint.
As well as all of the swirls met "Industry standards" and that he would not be paying for the $600 repair estimate from the paint corrections guy to just fix the swirl marks, not the other issues...

Surprisingly the guys at the new shop actually argued with him for well over an hour to try to get him to agree to pay.
He still was not willing to pay for all the damages that the dealership caused to my Camaro.

He will be getting a fax tomorrow with a full estimate though, and I have a very good feeling I will have to go to his boss, and up on the food chain.

The Chevy 800 has escalated my complaint from the basic call center to a manager, but I missed his call earlier today and have not had a chance to give him all of the updated information about the shop lying about using a buffer on my Camaro.

[PYROLYSIS]

Good luck, hope the people responsible end up doing whats right.

[rjcamaro]

There's a good chance that clay will remove any over spray on the roof.

[panexpoguy]

As others have mentioned, if Allstate referred you to the shop and it is part of their network of pre-approved shops, then they will have some sort of satisfaction guarantee. Continue to press the issue with the Allstate adjuster and his manager. If you get to the manager and still have no agreement on resolution, demand that Allstate put their assessment that the repairs are satisfactory in writing. Once you have that look in your white pages under 'government' and find the number to your state Department of Insurance. Call your DOI and file a complaint and assert that you believe that the shop that Allstate referred you to does substandard work and you have documentation that the car was not restored to the condition that it was in prior to the accident.

You may not get resolution, but DOI's are very focused on pre-approved repair programs from auto insurers and the DOI will investigate and require a written response from Allstate. At least you will have somebody acting on your behalf that you have already paid with your tax dollars. If the DOI agrees with you, they have the authority to direct Allstate to make corrections. Also, tabs are kept on the number of complaints these shops get. If that shop gets too many, they will get booted from the Allstate program. They would lose a lot of $$$ if that happened. At least you would help protect other customers from experiencing the poor results that you have described.

[thedonkeyslayer]

Good luck; seems like now Allstate is f-ing w/you . I really hope I never have to deal w/any straight up BS like this.

[wbt]

This is a hell of a ordeal.

[Alarick]

Here are some of the pictures taken by the paint correction guy..

[JackJ91]

I hit a tire on the highway as well the other week but when I got a new bumper I didn't have this problem, the paint matches like it was brand new with no swirl marks. sorry this happened man. I'd recommend taking it to another place where the people know what they're doing, not necessarily the local dealer

[mulletman]

Looks like the work was done by some kid just out of bodyshop. Talk to the paint correction guy and have the work done by a shop that knows what they're doing.

[songsj]

Like I stated before, as I understand it the problem is that the clear coat needs to go on in an enviornment that is as sterile as possible. Some shop are better suited for this than others. They all will tell you they can fix a clear coat paint because most people don't know the difference. This is why so many shops say swirl marks are normal with clear coat. Some of you have been luckier that others. Some shops are better at it.
The air in the shop may have been cleaner on a given day. These all effect the clearcoat finish. You probably have swirl marks because the clearcoat finish came out a little rough due to impurities in the air etc. They tried to rub them out. Unsuccessfully.

If I were you I would try to screw the clearbra and just try to get the car back to normal. Stay on them what you are going through is BS. I went through it with my 4th gen and ended up rubbing it out twice myself by hand to get the swirl marks out.

[SomeGeoffGuy]

Wow, that looks horrible. That dealership should be embarassed. Make sure you dump Allstate when this is all done too. Any adjuster who tells you that all that stuff is OK doesn't have a clue.

-Geoff