2013 - Bloody Mechanic's

[Jagger]

Hi all,
Had my 2013 corolla in at an engineer to get some work done on passenger side pedals (driving school car) and they some how managed to damage the drivers side door with two nasty scrapes gouging the metal and removing the paint. They are closed on the weekend so now I have to wait till Monday to get a response hoping they will accept the fact they did it etc. fortunately I have not payed them yet. my car is Tidal Blue just after some general input on the patch and respray that will have to be done what are the issues I have to look out for and hoping the colour match and clear coat will be right and not fade the car lives on street in sunny and wet conditions.
Any one else had a similar situation ?

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

To have the paint match it's best for a professional to do this.

 

[Jagger]

thanks Scott for sure I will have it done buy a professional but I have lost a lot of faith in these so called professional's over the years like the guy above cant even do a simple job without looking after it (and the pedals cables still need adjustments brake is too soft now) I just feel the whole automotive repair industry is full of back yard hacks except when it come time to bill you.

 

[Jon]

I can understand your frustration Jagger. I think we have all been there before.

One of the reason I like these forums is so I can go into mechanic's shop having a little bit of knowledge about what is wrong with my car and what it would cost to fix.

 

[natecade1]

Jagger,
I worked autobody professionally for 8 years, and can give you a few pointers.

If the scratch is within 12 inches of the edge of the door panel toward the fender or the rear door make sure they pay to blend into the adjacent panel. This will dramatically effect the cost (in comparison to the overall job cost) because anytime any paint work is done on a panel the entire panel must be recleared. The industry standard is 6" from an adjacent panel, but that makes it very difficult.

If insurance is used they have the lawful obligation to restore the car to the condition it was in before the damage or better! So if you get the car back and the orange peel does not match the factory texture, do no accept it.
"Orange peel" is a dimple appearance under the clear coat. the panel will of course feel smooth to the touch cause of the clear, however, to save on material costs you can spray the base coat at very low air pressure and use less paint, however, it takes more skill to do this without creating too much orange peel. So look for that when you get it back.

To see if the body work has been done properly stand at an extremely acute angle to the car and look down the side of the panel, waves in the body work will be most apparent this way. ie. stand a few feet in front of the headlight.

hope this helps

 

[Jagger]

thanks guys the repair came out good it was more in middle of the door and the colour looks spot on might have got lucky on this one

 

[stanletmontena]

Ya its really difficult to find the right guys to work these days!