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Old 09-01-2011, 11:12 PM   #1
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Car back from body shop....Dust in the paint?

Hello everyone!

I need a little help here, especially opinions from experts (or at least, people who are really knowledgeable). I took my Yaris in to a body shop last month to get some panels resprayed. The car had been keyed by my oh-so-lovely former neighbors last year, so I finally decided to get it fixed. When I got the Yaris back from the body shop, well, let's just say it was incomplete. There were dozens of nibs on the lower portions of the panels. It was as if the person doing the wet-sanding was too lazy to bend down and do the lower parts of the car. Anyway, the owner fixed it, and the refinished panels are completely smooth to the touch. However, there is still visible dust particles under the clearcoat. The owner said that it's impossible for a respray to be entirely dust-free.

My question is, is this true? Is it true that dust under the clearcoat is inevitable? If it's unavoidable, how many particles per panel is acceptable? Or is the owner just BS'ing me because he doesn't want to re-do the work? I didn't go out and get a count, but it's got to be at the very least between two to four dozen or so bits of dirt/dust in each panel. If dust under the clearcoat is not acceptable under any circumstances, then this is a very frustrating situation. I took it to a bodyshop that's probably the most expensive in the state that I live in. It is a family-owned facility that mainly works on high-end European cars. Mainly BMW, but also Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, etc., but they'll work on any car. They are supposed to be the best body shop in the state, but I'm trying to figure out if they screwed me over with sub-par work, or if it's just a matter of me not knowing what to expect. I would like to note that the other aspects of the work is excellent....no swirl marks, no sanding marks or runs, perfect color match, perfect orange peel match, and so forth. However, I think that the amount of dust is excessive, but I'm no expert.

If you guys think that the imperfections as I'm describing is unacceptable, how do you suggest I handle it? If there should be no dust whatsover, then I'm going to want them to re-do it, so I want to know how to handle it tactfully.
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Old 09-02-2011, 03:31 AM   #2
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Pictures Please
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Old 09-02-2011, 11:28 AM   #3
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Sorry, not possible in this case....my camera doesn't have enough zoom. The dust is something you can only see up close. I'm hoping someone familiar with painting/body work can make a determination based on my description. I know that dust getting on the paint during a respray is a common problem. I just don't know what amount of debris, if any, is acceptable in a new clearcoat.
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Old 09-02-2011, 12:10 PM   #4
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ur digicam should have macro shot option try that.
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Old 09-02-2011, 12:33 PM   #5
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Nope, once again, not possible. I've got a really simple, old digital camera. And by old, I mean I bought it seven or eight years ago. It doesn't have newfangled technology like macro shot options. Dang, I really need to get a new camera.

Anyway, I called the body shop today, and the owner told me that one (visible) dust particle per square foot is allowable. For anyone here familiar with auto paint, is this true? EDIT: In my original description, I wrote that there were 2-4 dozen particles per panel, but I may have exaggerated that. That was the case before the care was re-wet sanded, so there's not as much as before. I don't know, I have to run out and take a careful count. I'm trying to determine if it's true that one visible dust particle per square foot is allowed. Since there are a number of people on this forum knowledgeable about paint, and there are quite a few members who have been in accidents and got their cars at least partially re-painted, I'd like to know if it's unrealistic to expect an 100 percent flawless refinishing job.

Last edited by Hamster; 09-02-2011 at 12:40 PM. Reason: Adding information
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Old 09-03-2011, 03:37 PM   #6
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Quote:
The owner said that it's impossible for a respray to be entirely dust-free.
Wrong. I don't accept ANY dust when I get cars painted. You're paying for a dust-free, enclosed "clean room" in part..

Did you look at other cars they have painted? Same or different? I would never drop a car off at a bodyshop without looking at several examples of their work.

Quote:
I'd like to know if it's unrealistic to expect an 100 percent flawless refinishing job.
It's realistic, for a price. You did not say how much you paid for this paint job. Mind sharing?
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Old 09-04-2011, 01:17 PM   #7
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It is impossible to have a perfect, dust-free paint job. There are always contaminants in any paint job. There is, however, a way to have a dust-free paint job. There is a small dremel-like tool that most auto body shops have that they use to spot out dust, dirt and runs in the paint finish. Without pictures, it's impossible to tell how bad it is, but I would take it back and see what can be done. Just remember, if you got the $299 special, they aren't going to help you out one bit!
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Old 09-04-2011, 11:55 PM   #8
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Easy .... Get a rubbing compound and some water .... rub the area with.both compound and water , and finally wax the polished area ...
This happens sometimes but the bodyshop is the one who's suppposed to do that b4 delivering ur car not you ....
Good luck
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Old 09-05-2011, 12:26 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddy Fan View Post
It is impossible to have a perfect, dust-free paint job. There are always contaminants in any paint job.
wrong wrong wrong

ever hear of a downdraft paint booth w/filters, and painters who wear breathing suits and aren't slobs ?
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Old 09-05-2011, 08:39 PM   #10
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Thanks for all your help, everyone. Your answers have been great. Looking at my car again, it appears that there is about one piece or less of dust in the paint per square foot. The thing is that the dust I'm talking about sits between the base and the clearcoat. Therefore, you can't use rubbing and compound or wetsanding to get to it, since you'd burn right through the clearcoat. I'm sorry that I can't provide pictures, but the paint job is absolutely perfect except for the specks of dust here and there.

CaliYaris and BuddyFan, if you think the job was the $299 special, you must be kidding me. This place is the most expensive body shop in Ohio, and they don't do cheap jobs. They charge around $500 per panel for paint alone. The cost of getting the four keyed panels refinished was around $2,200. No joke. I was a fool and did not look at other complete paintjobs when I went to get estimates. I just figured that anyone who works on BMW's and Porsches would do a perfect job, since owners of such high-end cars wouldn't settle for less than good work. I did see their paint booth, though, and it is enclosed, and it has an air filtration system attached. In fact, the paint booth was imported from Germany.

Anyway, in the aforementioned phone conversation that I had with the owner, he told me that I paid for a "factory finish", and one dust particle per square foot is to be expected, since cars generally have imperfections in the paint jobs when they come out of the factory. He said that a absolutely, 100 percent, dust-free "showroom finish" completely free of imperfections costs around $1,000 per square foot. He's absolutely refusing to re-do the work, since he says there's nothing wrong with it. He says some imperfections (i.e. dust) is unavoidable. The owner said that he took a very careful look at the car when he re-wet sanded it after I found the nibs, and said that he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. So, it looks like I'm screwed. Since this body shop is outside of the direct repair network of my insurance company, my insurance company said there's nothing they can do.

I hate body shops. Given how expensive this place was and how the paint job isn't the 100percent flawless work that I expected it to be, I'm wishing that I just left my Yaris keyed.
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Old 09-05-2011, 10:31 PM   #11
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that guy you went to is nuts...he just hasn't invested in the right equipment.

go to someone who paints properly for a living and has the correct booths and
you can get flawless paint.
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Old 09-06-2011, 11:37 AM   #12
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I wasn't implying that you got the Blue Light Special. All I was typing was that your level of expectations is/should be in line with what you paid. You clearly paid more than enough to have high expectations. The body shop guy sounds like a real Delta Bravo. I think it's not at all funny that he mentioned you paid for a "Factory finish" with its imperfections when you clearly paid for a perfect finish. Anyway, good luck with it. Don't let up on him and let everyone you know how disappointed you are with the shop's work.
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Old 09-06-2011, 12:00 PM   #13
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Thanks Buddy Fan And A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby (ha, hah, I love that username!). I can't put in words how depressed I am right now. I paid a small fortune to get the paint fixed and it seems I just traded one problem for another. Since the owner's refusing to fix it, I bet that the only option would be to go to court. However, the cost of a lawyer, paying experts to testify, etc. would far exceed to cost to getting the work re-done. Looks like I'm just have to suck it up, save up some cash, and pay for someone else to fix it maybe a couple years down the road. I feel like I was really taken advantage of. Given that this place is supposed to be the best body shop in Ohio, I'm really shocked that the job is less than perfect. Maybe they were good in the past, but perhaps they're rushing jobs through or something. After spending all that money (which is probably more than one should spend on an entry-level car like a Yaris), and they had my car for nearly three weeks, there shouldn't be any obvious defects.

Last edited by Hamster; 09-06-2011 at 06:20 PM.
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Old 09-06-2011, 12:18 PM   #14
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Holy shit, $2,200 to re-spray a few panels half ass? :-/


Make sure you leave shitty review on Yelp(etc).
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Old 09-06-2011, 01:03 PM   #15
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So, I am confused.....was there not a contract or agreement signed before said work was performed AND in that agreement there should be satisfaction/guarantee information as to the quality of the work performed?

What's the phone number there?
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Old 09-06-2011, 01:04 PM   #16
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Old 09-06-2011, 01:10 PM   #17
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Yeah, I plan on leaving negative reviews on various sites, so that no one has to go through the emotional roller coaster than I'm going through right now.

I am madly in love with my car, and this whole situation just makes me want to break out into tears. I was so looking forward to getting the key scratches fixed. I wish I had just kept the insurance company's check and my deductible and gone on a cruise or something, rather than spending it on half-assed paintwork. My car's color is meteorite metallic, which as you guys know, is a light color. So the dust sticks out like sore thumb. And the car has just under 10,000 miles on the clock, so it's still basically brand new. Gee whiz, is there any decent body shop out there? The place I took my car to has a excellent reputation, which is why I took it there. I don't understand why this happened, or why the owner is handling it so poorly.
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Old 09-06-2011, 01:18 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KCALB SIRAY View Post
So, I am confused.....was there not a contract or agreement signed before said work was performed AND in that agreement there should be satisfaction/guarantee information as to the quality of the work performed?

What's the phone number there?
Yep, that's the correct phone number. I signed a contract, but it just said that I agreed to pay the work at the agreed-upon price. Nothing about the quality of the work that is to be expected. This is the first car I've ever owned (I'm 26 years old), and the first time I've ever brought a car to a body shop, so maybe I'm young and naive. I just didn't know what to expect. EDIT: I just wanted to add that this wasn't done under the table or anything like that. I was just a typical customer.

Last edited by Hamster; 09-06-2011 at 01:25 PM. Reason: Addint information
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