# Am I expecting too much from the bodyshop?



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

I've started tidying up my 5 series, and figured I'd get the bodywork looking good. For a 16 year old car, the bodywork is pretty good.
It had the odd car park ding and scratch, the usual stone chips to the bonnet, and a bit Of rust on the rear of one of the sills.

I eventually found a bodyshop willing to do the work, pretty difficult to find it seems. 

I picked the car up last week, and got to say I'm petty disappointed. The bonnet and front wings look great, but the doors look awful.

When you look down the length of the car I can see what look like vertical ripples in the paint. The reflections on the doors are all over the place.

The guy is saying its a 16 year old car blah blah, not worth the money etc.

What is the cause of this? Fixable? Or am I expecting to much wanting straight bodywork?

Simon 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

What he thinks is worth while on an old car is irrelevant really, your a paying customer and that's all that should matter to him. Not much to ask for the job to be done correctly, just because it's old doesn't mean they can do a half arsed job. Had that issue with a garage before saying some work wasn't worth while on a 20 year old car and he got all ****ty about it, don't see why, I'm willing to pay so what should they care 

Anywya that being said some pictures would help to see exactly what you mean mate, the only thing to day with an old car is it could be hard for a repair not to stand out etc depending on the overall paint condition


----------



## rEvolve (Jul 29, 2016)

Sounds like it's had a ruck of runs in the lacquer which haven't been blocked off flat properly. I've had this before when we used to do paint in house and it looks a right bugger.

To be honest it's a tough one. If it's a fairly knocked up car then yes you can't polish a turd but if it's poor workmanship then it's another question. 



Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


----------



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

The best way I can describe it, is it looks like the panel goes wavy where the original dings were. Not deep or anything, but enough to make the panels look slightly wobbly from a distance/ at a shallow angle.

I'll get some pictures up tomorrow, it'll most likely show what I mean better than my description.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

I know exactly what your talking about, the reflection looks wavy. Poor workman ship is the reason, the repair and filler work has not been block sanded flat or even filled right in the first place. 

I see this alot on cars on the road, you can tell its been painted a mile off.

I dont think your expecting too much at all.


----------



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

Cheers guys

Here's a couple of photos, it's really hard to see it unless you move about the car slightly, or from a distance.

Assuming they didn't block sand it, what's the course of action with getting it looking good?



















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## 4d_dc2 (Mar 28, 2008)

Guess your bodyshop don't flat and Polish afterwards.


----------



## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

That looks terrible

Imo it doesn't matter if you do a 300k Lamborghini or a £100 **** box, you still do the job to the best of your ability


----------



## should_do_more (Apr 30, 2008)

Ive also had a terrible time trying to get a body shop to fix the dings on my cars. Found a good one eventually but they had the approach that it's a bit of metal to be painted and I'm paying for it so best effort.

I had a similar ripple effect when I got my BMW redone after a hit and run and it was lazy finishing. I kicked up a fuss and amazingly it could be done properly. 

He should do it again properly. Good luck!


----------



## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

its lack of blocking , its quiet a bit of work to get doors arrow straight , so if they just gave it a quick block or used a da sander instead


----------



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

Cheers for the replies.

Right, so block sanding it is, or lack thereof.

I'm getting the feeling that the original bodyshop don't normally do that. Would anyone be able to recommend a place that could sort this out, and what ballpark of price is reasonable for four doors.

Or, is this something I could do the prep work on and get the colour done (bearing in mind I've no experience with sanding bodywork)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## fozzy (Oct 22, 2009)

I had the same issue a few years back with poor work from an insurance repair firm, (well documented on here) although it was a lot worse than a few ripples and the whole car was shoddy. a third party was called in to inspect the work and the car was then taken to a bodyshop of my choice.
On return the finish was better then factory, one of the best paint jobs I'd ever seen.
Thats the beauty of paint, everything's fixable.


----------



## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

no idea on who/ where to go , but next time ask to view some fresh jobs that theyve just done and look around , is there cars with doors off and no protection ? parts stacked on the roof etc , or are they kept how you would want to


----------



## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

It's not a great finish admittedly - but there is also the matter of how much it cost.
To make a perfect repair takes time - and time costs money.
If you paid good money then you should have expected them to take the time to make a good repair.
If however the job was cheap - then it may be case of 'you got what you paid for' as far as time spent on the job was concerned. 
Always shop around - ask the bodyshop questions and explain your expectations - take your time deciding who you're going to let loose on your car. Go back, ask more questions and explain your expectations again.
Eventually you and a bodyshop will come to an understanding :thumb:


----------



## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

yeah very fair point...if you want the very best then expect to pay for it


----------



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

That's a fair point.

I paid £1000 for bonnet/wings/doors, and maybe my expectations weren't in line with what I was getting.

What was frustrating was the attitude I encountered, and being told my job wasn't worth their time.

I'm in the process of talking to other places to sort it out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## J306TD (May 19, 2008)

Does sound pricey but should still be right and to a high standard.

Have you taken it back and asked for them to rectify it?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7


----------



## klw7me (Apr 8, 2015)

I think you should definitely go back to them. I think go somewhere else before with a costing to sort it out also, you are paying customer after all regardless of how old your car is


----------



## JCoxy (Dec 21, 2011)

Hmm tough one. It is hard to achieve a straight panel, and while you can check for straightness by spraying panel wipe over the primer, you never know what it'll fully turn out like until it's finished.

Only way is to get the doors laying flat on a trestle with a long block


----------



## fozzy (Oct 22, 2009)

If you where a little closer I have a superb paint guy in sheffield. He painted an RS turbo a couple of years ago for a good friend, we took it straight down to ford fair and won the concourse with no correction work on it! The finish was flawless.


----------



## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

velvetmonkey said:


> That's a fair point.
> 
> I paid £1000 for bonnet/wings/doors, and maybe my expectations weren't in line with what I was getting.
> 
> ...


Obviously regional variations apply - but for around £200 per panel you should get better than that (depending on how much damage there was and how much prep work needed to be done in the first place) 
But you also mentioned rust & sills - so it was more than just 5 panels ..... 
Maybe (hopefully) they put a lot of time in treating the rust.


----------



## velvetmonkey (May 3, 2011)

Cheers for the great advice so far!

To straighten this lot out, would the paint need stripping back to metal? Or is that too severe?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

