I had decided to get my spoiler removed from my Sti and the boot smoothed over and painted (all a matter of taste i know some think it looks err odd but i love it)

Today was the day I was meant to collect it from the bodyshop. Anyway when I arrive I see one guy with a tub of black touch up paint in his hand going along the side of my boot. immediately I'm thinking why is he using touch up paint and what's the deal?



A closer look at my boot reveals they have done a fantastic job of filling the holes left by the spoiler but a rather suspect job on the paint. the actual colour match looks fine it just had chips in where there seems to be no paint or the lacquer has separated, run on paint and a non smooth line where they seem to have masked. I was under the impression they were taking the poot off and would spray round and slighty onto the underside so as to get a perfect finish. My guess is they masked up to the visible edge sprayed it and then got a pot of paint out to touch up the edges.






it also seems to have a Z shaped scratch which it didn't have before see photos.

So is this acceptable finish?. I think it looks awful, as if I had attacked it with a halfords touch up pack myself. I told them it wasn't good enough and they said that i could take the car without paing and come back in a day or two and they will sort something out or "smooth it out".

What do I do. Let them attempt to fix it? Ask them to do it again properly. Pay up for the smoothing of the boot which looks good and get it painted elsewhere which will of course cost me more ££

 

How much did you pay?

 

i would get them to repaint it again

 

give them another chance at sorting the spray job out, then take it from there. Do not hand over any money at this stage.

 

I was quoted £255 ish pre VAT, so £300 in total. They originally quoted £300 ex vat but I said I didn't want any of the the badges put back on so that would save some time and we agreed on £255 +VAT. Was this too low for a quality job - they never said ok £255 but we'll make a mess.

 

Get them to do it again properly this time. Shocking, IMO.

 

They should have done a better job than that for that sort of money. Take it back and get them to paint it again.

 

WOW thats expensive for that kind of workmanship. I would expect to pay £100 cash for that job. Did they weld the holes, or just fill them.

 

The quote was to weld the holes but I have no way of checking whther they filled or welded

 

Thats a sh1te job if thats supposed to be a professional outfit thats done it. I would be taking it back and telling them to do it properly. I dont mind payin top doller for a top job but i wouldnt be payin for that botch up especially on a nice lookin motor. Best o luck mate...

 

name and shame mate, that kinda money should produce a nice finish.
I had a front bumper, bonnet, 22b grills, large scoop and grill primered and sprayed and fitted for £450 +vat and they smoothed out a dent I'd managed to put in the bonnet.!!!

 

take it back and dont pay a penny yet.

 

You would need your head read taking it back. Fully document the poor work/damage, check the hole areas from inside to inspect how they were filled. Get a put right quote and wait to see it you ever hear anything again. Talk to trading standards about any previous complaints, use google to see if the have any previous on other car forums etc.

As for a recommends in your area , but they are expensive and quite clearly **** !

 

That is shockingly bad! I would have refused to take the car away until they did a proper job.

I paid £200 to have the holes welded, the boot and lip spoiler completely stripped down, prepped and painted. The finish was immaculate and the colour match spot on which is not the easiest with crystal grey.

You've been had mate.

 

for 300 notes i'd want it a lot better than that!!

 

I didn't realise I was paying top dollar for this. Here's some more pics of the inside of the boot. is this a weld or filler job, if it's filler and not welded I'm only going to get more annoyed!!



how many hours would you expect it to take to weld the holes - approx 11 I think and smooth, then paint a boot in paint code 18L the graphite black? What's would be reasonable?

Is welding a lot more work than filling?

Paint around lock makes me think they just masked it off? What you reckon?

 

Ha forgot to mention, to top it off the drivers boot release no longer works, is this related to the spoiler? (possibly a good thing as with no spoiler on the speed it opens is scary) and there is something rattling i think within the boot

 

it looks like they have glued some plates in rather than weld as there is no scortch marks from weld??? could be wrong!! i would of quoted £185+vat to do that and thats a main dealer bodyshop, the fiinish looks like it's been flatted and polished but badly and thats possibly how the Z scratch got there!!!!

 

Didn't know Stevie Wonder now tries his arm as bodywork.

 

Does it get any worse

Not sure about this welding/filling I cant see it makes any difference as long as the finish is spot on, wouldn't you get a better finish if its filled ???

 

Well, the only reason I ask about welding vs filling is that their original verbal quote (should have got it itemised in writing I realise now) was for welding and based upon the time it would take to weld the holes. My impression is that welding the holes is a more thorough/stronger fix. Like you say maybe it doesn't matter really and all that counts is that it looks perfect in finish.

 

It should be welded and then filled.

 

It looks to me like there is a weld mark in the centre of the penny washers which makes me think they have welded it..

As for the paint job looks awful.. sorry to say that..

I would have expected them to remove the barrel from the boot and the cables from the 3rd brake light then remove the boot lid flat it all down then put a skim of filler to get the holes perfect then prime areas that need priming.. then give it the top coat and clear that it needs..

Like you say it looks like that have done a mask and botch it job on the paint side of things, I would take it to a different body shop to get a quote to put it right and then go back to where you had it done and present the quote to them and basically tell them that if they don’t do it properly this time that you will be getting the other body shop to do it and giving them the invoice after going to trading standards. I would think that they will do it properly the second time round and whilst you at it ask for a 50% discount for the hassle you have had to go though...

 

How can I tell if it's been welded and then filled? What does the pic above look like?

 

Don't think you really can tell without stripping it all back. You'll just have to take their word for it. You'll soon know once the weather has been at it a bit as if it is just filled it will likely sink and leave indentations on the surface.

Needs respraying though.

 

with regards the boot release, if you open the boot and look on the right side of the catch you should see a small lever that can be clicked up or down. If it's in one position (can't remember which) it disables the drivers boot release so just flick it the other way. At least that's how it works on my 04 wrx

 

There is no way that it will be completly flat if it had only been welded so they will have had to put atleast a skim of filler over the weld.

The only real way to tell if it has been welded is look closely at the bits underneath the old holes and see if there are any weld marks on them.

if you can get some close up pics of the underneath people will be able to see alot better if its welded or not..

 

if its filled there is a good chance it could crack or pop out especialy on a tailgate when you drop it shut, there will still be filler in it if it was welded just to level it up and to fill the grinding marks but that will be over sloid metal not a hole!!! they might have 2 pack glued those little plates over the holes which is better than just filler but not as good as weld.

 

Looks like 6mm penny washer stuck underneath in the photo, maybe they just welded them on then filled on top

 

Speccy D Have you payed for this already. I would be concerned that they just flatten it and polish the boot up again. As far the washer go, you really need to look closely to see it they have been welded, or not. If you are thinking of getting more work done, ask on here first, there are plenty of people here will put you in contact with quality body shop, mechanics, etc. Good luck mate !