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

[Alarick]

That may in fact contribute to swirls in new paint, but the swirls where put into both the new and original paint.

I'm not exactly a paint guru, but I'm pretty sure that you don't need a sterile environment to wash/detail a car to prevent swirl marks.

Their attempt at fixing the swirl marks they caused made them much worse.

Originally Posted by 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.

[djsnoflake]

Just an FYI. I was told by my clear bra guy (He might be right, he might be wrong. Just telling you what he told me) that you shouldn't put clear bra over top of fresh paint for at least a month, but preferably 3. He says that the paint releases gases as it cures and that it isn't good for them to get 'caught' under the clear bra. Your paint won't cure correctly.

[Alarick]

I had heard that as well, but was also told that if you bake the painted surface at 149 degrees for half an hour it cures it enough.

But that brings up another issue, is it safe to bake a plastic bumper at 149 degrees?

[Tee304]

Originally Posted by Alarick

Recently I had a little run in with a tire tread in the middle of the freeway that resulted in needing a new bumper, replacement clear bra, and to have the front driver side quarter panel repainted on my Camaro.

When I went to pick it up on Tuesday...
The paint work that the shop did (Allstate approved dealership body shop) was great, you could not tell from looking that the bumper and panel had been replaced/repainted.

However, the clear bra work was crap, there where large amounts of dirt/sand under the bar, and some black hair too.
On top of that under closer inspection I saw paint swirls under the new clear bra, and the after looking over the rest of my Camaro they where all over the whole car.

I talked to the body shop manager about this, he said he would get the guy they used for their clear bra to come back out, re do it, take care of the paint swirls and put me in a rental for the day it would take to get this done.

They called the guy while I was standing there, he said he could make it out on Thursday, and arrangements where made to drop my Camaro back off Thursday morning.

Thursday afternoon rolls around, no contact from the shop.
When I call them up the rep I had been dealing with could not answer as to how far along they where in the repairs and said it would be done Friday.

Every time I called on Friday, the rep was either in the shop, at lunch, at the front office at the dealership or for some reason unavailable.

So, I drive over there.
When I get there the body shop manager comes out, tells me that they removed the clear bra and that "there is nothing we can do here to make you happy, clear bras on Camaros are just too difficult, it would be better if you took your car elsewhere for the clear bra"

All this after being paid by my Insurance, he did offer to have Allstate reimburse me, and that he "had already spoken to someone at Allstate about bring reimbursed and it would not be an issue" but did not offer any details.

Then said "we are finished with all repairs on your vehicle"

I asked him if he had taken care of the swirl marks and his response was on the lines of "we applied a compound to take care of them that did not have any abrasive in it" I smelled the BS so I pressed him for details by saying "so, you just waxed it?" his reply was alot of ums and errs saying that he would have to be a chemist to tell exactly what the compound was, and that "you can't just go buffing out all the swirl marks because soon you would not have any clear coat let"

And again said that "nothing we can do here will make you happy, we think it's best if you take your vehicle elsewhere"


*Highlights for the lazy*
Body shop cashed check from insurance company, fixes damage, detailers at body shop put swirl marks in paint, clear bra guy sucks, body shop offers to fix swirl marks and clear bra, says car will be done end of day Thursday if it's dropped off in the morning, Friday afternoon body shop removes crappy clear bra, waxes car, tells me to pound sand.


I already have a call into Allstate about this, and to the GM at the dealership.
Being that this happened on Friday afternoon I'm not expecting to hear from anyone until Monday.

Is there anything else I should be doing in this situation?

1. Commit arson to the dealership LOL
2. Do a Toyota recall mistake and ram your car into the dealership claiming pedal / brake issues.
3. Find the manager and his car and perform the same services to his car then ask him if HE'S happy.

[67 Convertible]

Originally Posted by Alarick

Now that sounds like a great idea.
And it does have a facebook page.

Looks like I won't be holding out till Monday to out them after all.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/...?v=wall&ref=ts

*Edit*
Comment posted on their facebook site if anyone wants to reply or like.

Looks like they've "removed" your comments on their FB page......BTW the damage to your car in your pictures (buffer scrapes and swirl marks) is horrible. A 10 year old kid could recognize this damage....these adult "professionals" say this is normal? Wow, keep pushing this....this is totaly unacceptable. Good Luck.

[Alarick]

Yep, they have removed two of my comments now.

I have been debating making a webpage, and a facebook page devoted to getting the word out about their body shop to as many people as possible if things don't get resolved.

Even thought about having someone put vinyl letters on the rear window of my Camaro saying something like "Phill Smith Chevy's body shop did $600 in damage to my paint and did not fix it"

Originally Posted by 67 Convertible

Looks like they've "removed" your comments on their FB page......BTW the damage to your car in your pictures (buffer scrapes and swirl marks) is horrible. A 10 year old kid could recognize this damage....these adult "professionals" say this is normal? Wow, keep pushing this....this is totaly unacceptable. Good Luck.

[MacTruck]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

No one is going to like this response but here it is:

The dealer is not the one who damaged the car in the first place. You went there for their help and the repair was sufficient other than the swirls.

Swirl marks can be easily removed by the right professional using the right materials.

My suggestion is to go to your own guy and get the swirls removed and ask the dealer to foot the bill. Should be no more than $200 to do it the right way.

Stop the witch hunt to find out the name of the dealership when all that is necessary is a little elbow grease and the right tools.

Flame suit on!

Yeah!




PS: The dealer was Paul Conte Chevrolet.










PSS: JK.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Alarick

Since he takes care of swirl marks and scratches in the paint of cars like this, I tend to trust the mans judgment.


That car belongs to one of his customers.

A baby blue GT??!!

[Alarick]

Small update, took a bit to get the estimate from the new shop, got it Monday afternoon.
The manager there came in on Saturday to do my estimate, but got side tracked working on his own truck and admitted that he forget, apologized, and got me the estimate a few minutes later.

Allstate has had the estimate since 10:46am Tuesday.
When I called to ask about a rate question I was told that the adjuster had added a note to my file this afternoon, thinking it was about the estimate I asked the rep on the phone what it was...

Boy was I surprised.
The adjuster entered the note on Tuesday afternoon, but dated it for Monday the 19th, and in the note he said that we had agreed upon the needed repairs, and that he could not see any swirl/buffing marks on the paint at all, and was waiting for the estimate on the agreed upon repairs.

Wow, I don't remember coming to an agreement on the repairs.
I did agree that the work on the bumper and fender needed to be redone, and that replacing the entire clearbra was acceptable, but that the "good faith money" that would only cover a fraction of the bill for the paint correction was not acceptable.

So, after calling his boss who also insists that you can not wash a vehicle without putting swirl marks in the paint, and did not want to comprehend what buffer marks where, I'm still in the exact same boat.

Boss said he would talk to the adjuster in the morning.....

[CaMeRoN187]

small claims court here camaro5 comes!

[louperrault]

I am soooooo glad I live in San Antonio!! I am sorry to hear about your problem. Here, before the body shop gets thier check the insurance company rep is right there when you pick up your vehicle and if your not happy it is fixed before the vehicle is turned back to you. My local Chevy dealer has been great to me for years. If they don't have the time to work the vehicle themselves they send it out to another company I trust. Body shops in this area are a dime a dozen and compete for your business. There are only a few fly-by-night types in the area. My dealership has a manager that oversees all operations and other managers, and if all else fails you can call the owner himself (he will call you back with in a day!) Also, one of the reasons I left allstate was thier adjusters suck lol. I have geico and they have been great for years, also USAA is great and very tuff on bodyshops (people that hit you as well lol) You can also chastize them thru local news (here it is called the troubleshooters)...they usually bend after that because they hate bad publicity.
I forgot to add something, I was a pro detailer 17 yrs ago and never left swirl marks on a car after it went thru the body shop. Attention to detail is what is right and they should fix it...period!

[themossman]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

No one is going to like this response but here it is:

The dealer is not the one who damaged the car in the first place. You went there for their help and the repair was sufficient other than the swirls.

Swirl marks can be easily removed by the right professional using the right materials.

My suggestion is to go to your own guy and get the swirls removed and ask the dealer to foot the bill. Should be no more than $200 to do it the right way.

Stop the witch hunt to find out the name of the dealership when all that is necessary is a little elbow grease and the right tools.

Flame suit on!

really bad advise 'pay for it and the ask the dealer to pay for it'...yeah...RIGHT. Based on your post I can guess exactly what your response would be to one of your customers.

[Alarick]

Had another meeting with the Allstate damage evaluator.

Just going to give the highlights.
Apparently by telling him that I was not going to pay for any differences in the estimate out of my own pocket because it was their shop that did a bad job to begin with intimidated him so much over the phone that he felt the need to raise his voice at me to say that he would not be intimidated by me...

A little confused there, never thought expecting someone to take responsibility for bad workmanship was intimidating.

He got very flustered at me when asking what would be a good time to meet him at the body shop, or at least that was the show he tried to put on over the phone.
Again, my saying something simple like "I'm available now" and "well since you're not available now, when is a good time for you?" is irritating to some people.

Once we both got to the body shop, he spent a good amount of time arguing with one of the body shop advisers, until the body shop manager came out.

And at that point both the body shop guys where pointing out overspray on the whole car, and I had the paint correction guy on the phone telling him that there was overspray on the car, and any person could easily feel the roughness of the overspray.

The adjuster said flat out "I just don't see it, there is nothing there"

I now have two calls into the adjusters bosses boss, as well as two into the regional complaint department with the same person who was handling the policy issues (that's another fun story in it's self) and she has two different e-mails into the manager of the claims department...

Good times, good times...

[chain1]

Originally Posted by JB @ C and L Machine

If thats how you operate... You should be ashamed to post the dealer you work for. Your showing your true colors. Camaro Scotty here I come

What are you five years old?