mvp81

I had dropped my car off at my local benz dealer for servicing and upon my return I noticed that a new scratch (deep) had emerged on my hood. I complained and suprisingly they acknowledged it and sent the car in to the paint shop for repair. However, when I went the next day to pick it up I was presented with a half *** touch up job, so I complained again. They said I had no other options other than to repaint the entire hood, they claim that since the scratch was relatively minor it would be advisable not to re-paint the whole hood as the factory paint was baked at a higher temperature thereby creating a stronger surface, whereas the paint shop would be baked at a much lower temperature thereby making the hood more susceptible to chips from stones and other debris kicked up from the road.

Does anyone buy this claim?

Kar don

True claim. no body shop can replicate the conditions of the factory paint shop. They carefully control the temperature of the panel, dust, spray pattern, time, etc. Also they start with a clean slate body in white, while the body shop will just scuff it up a little and respray making the paint thick in that spot. And if you car is metallic, forget about ever getting a good match. The factory uses electrostatically charged paint guns so the metallic flakes "stand up" and thats how you get that glitter effect.

mvp81

thanks for your feedback, makes sense. and you confirmed my concerns with the metallic aspect of the paint. Guess I have to be content with the touch up.