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Bad Body Shop Repair - Advice needed - My other car not my w212
Not my W212, but this is the most knowledgeable forum I am a part of, and I value the advice I receive here.
Had a small fender bender, someone scratched up my bumper.
So I thought I was doing the right thing by taking it to the porsche body shop. Picked it up today, the car was filthy, washed it, brought it back home to check out the paint job... I raced back to the dealership before they closed to show the SA the crappy job they did. He did a lot of mumbling and made up a couple of excuses, I was cordial and he said they would "buff everything out its just clear coat"
Can't take good pics of all of the problems because my camera phone is horrible
1) Dimple that wasn't there dealer is playing dumb - I can live with it
2) On all of the corners "white out" touch up paint
3) I'll ignore the bad gaps he said it fits the way its going to fit after an accident
4) can't take a picture of it but on one side, on the edge by the light it seems like there are bubbles under the clear coat - he says that will buff right out
5) Thread under the clear coat - he said they would buff it out
the SA played it all off like it could be buffed out, I think its a sloppy job that should be redone.
Why would anyone put touch up paint on a new bumper?
What should I do when I drop it back off? Should I demand a redo or allow them to buff it all out?
Last edited by kash2014; Aug 20, 2014 at 01:07 AM.
I'd demand a redo. If you paid for them to to truly repaint the area, then I'd hold them to it. That touch up could have been done by a 5 year old. It looks awful. Not to mention, if there is any flex or contact on the area, it very well may chip. Take it back, tell them to do their job, and get managers or even Corporate Porsche involved.
Was this a new bumper? If not, did they remove the bumper to paint? Basically more specifically, what did you pay for them to do?
If this is an insurance job, the shop should have provided a written estimate showing exactly what would be done to your car, with detail on parts and labor. Your car should be clean when it is returned to you, inside and out. That glob of paint is awful. No professional shop would allow that to pass. I would talk to your insurance company and request another repair at a reputable shop.
Yeah maaco wouldn't do something this bad, and if they did they would warranty it.
Is this an in house body shop at the dealer or did they sublet the work??
I had an experience with my ex a few years back. She had an almost new 3 series BMW at the time, which was rear ended at a red light. She calls me and asks me what to do. We had the tow truck driver deliver the car to the local BMW dealer.
Now the BMW dealer tells us they don't have an in house body shop but that the Porsche dealer down the street which is owned by the same company does all of their body work for them, and as a courtesy, they would transport the vehicle there and arrange for repair. We left the vehicle with BMW.
Two days later the insurance adjuster is planning to go see the vehicle, we advise them that we had taken it to BMW who had moved it to their Porsche facility for repair. Ok no problem.
Late that afternoon we get a call from the insurance adjuster claiming the car was not at Porsche, and that he had to reschedule his appt to see it. - This in turn prompted a call to the Porsche dealer of where is our car.
Turns out Porsche had sent the car to a body shop 20 miles away in the sticks that they "use for overflow"... But assured us that they do work up to Porsche's standards. Basically unless this snafu with the adjuster had not happened we would have never known that they were not going to repair the car - and instead sublet the work to a 3rd party body shop, and were just going to mark up that body shop's rate.
We drove out to that body shop the next day to find the car sitting outside with no rear bumper and plastic covering the trunk area (trunk lid was bent up). The guy explained that Porsche doesn't do frame repairs and that anything that needs a frame pull goes to them. Nice enough guy, but I was NOT happy with the situation. Especially the smoke and mirrors the dealers pulled.
Eventually I decided to let the body shop repair the car bc we were already 1/2 way there, AND the manager of the body shop was friendly and willing to give me consistent updates etc. They did do a good job, but it very well may be that this is what happened in your case and they dont want to admit it.
I'd demand a redo. If you paid for them to to truly repaint the area, then I'd hold them to it. That touch up could have been done by a 5 year old. It looks awful. Not to mention, if there is any flex or contact on the area, it very well may chip. Take it back, tell them to do their job, and get managers or even Corporate Porsche involved.
Was this a new bumper? If not, did they remove the bumper to paint? Basically more specifically, what did you pay for them to do?
No my bumper was repaired, the area that sustained the hit is redone perfectly
the problem is in the corners of the bumper on both sides, and near the gate where the bumper is angled.
I didn't wait until monday, and just dropped it off and demanded a redo
Hopefully they get it right the second time around.
My w212 bumper was redone under warranty and that paint job was flawless, going to find out what indy shop my merc dealership used and stick to them from now on. Lesson Learned
They should have still painted the entire piece - And possibly blended into the quarter panels, although white is a relatively easy match.
Like you said hopefully they do it right this time around. Did they give you any grief regarding the demand for a redo?
Oh and DON'T ignore the panel gaps. Either the mounting points are bent underneath - OR the tech just slapped the bumper on and called it a day. You would be amazed what some shims / washers can do for panel fit. But it's labor intensive. On/off adjust repeat. Not your problem though.
Take care,
The panel gaps should be perfect. If the dealer says "the panel gaps won't be right after a repair" then use the phone on his desk to call Porsche. Make sure that the body shop added a flexing agent to the paint for all the plastic bits otherwise it will crack and flake.
Haven't dealt with body shops and insurance in a long time.
This is an in house body shop porsche/bmw/land rover etc etc all the luxury brands they own.
But dirtyguido you maybe right, they may have subcontracted the work, because I got my car back with a tire cap missing and -8 PSI had to go to the gas station to pump up some air back in the tire, god knows where they took it because their lot is fenced all the way around no one can wander in and out.
They did paint the entire piece, but I suspect when they were done, they found defects they covered up or they scratched the corners when installing the bumper.
There was even clear coat stuck from the bumper to an old panel it was ridiculous.
@CEB thanks I'm going to call him and let him know about the gaps.
The car is barely used, and 8 months old. I should of touched up, buffed out the scratch, would of looked better than the mess I'm in now
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