alfadub
09-22-2016, 02:08 AM
Several weeks ago, my vehicle was hit with some freeway debris, which shattered my windshield, and made a little dent near the top of the hood. I took it to a body shop, where they flattened the dent back into place, re-painted over the area that was worked on, and then re-applied clear coat to the whole hood.
When I picked up my vehicle a few weeks ago, it appeared fine. But today when I inspected the hood in a parking garage with indirect lighting from outside while viewing the reflection of tree leaves and sky light through the leaves, I could see that the area that was worked on was more dull appearing, and had a cracked sand-like texture appearance in the paint, and some parts had kind of a stippled appearance to the clear coat. It was not visible in direct outdoor sunlight (with white paint), but was fairly easily seen with in the indirect lighting of the parking garage.
When I went home, I compounded the paint on the hood. Although it looks improved, there are still areas that appear somewhat dull. I took some pictures in my garage after compounding, and have attached a picture of one of the affected areas, where you can see that the reflection of the light bulb is blurry, and you can see a dull haze/halo around the reflection of the lightbulb. The other picture for comparison shows a reflection of the same lightbulb in a different area of the hood, and you can see that the reflection is much clearer. Unfortunately, I'm not able to capture any shots that illustrate the texture on the clearcoat.
I am wonderiing if I should take it back to the body shop to be re-done. Should I have every expectation that the repair should restore the paint to original condition, or can you always expect the cosmetic result after a body shop repair to be not as good as the original?
The defective areas are not really obvious in most situations. Even in my garage, I don't really notice it unless I look close in the right lighting and the right angle. It would be a hassle for me to bring the vehicle back. Also, I feel like I'm in a dilemma similar to when a car dealer scratches your car with a car wash, and then offers to "fix" it with their in-house detailer. If they didn't do the job right the first time, do they have the eye to even see the defects, and the skill to make it right?
Just wondering what you guys think, and what others' experiences with body shops have been.5243652437
When I picked up my vehicle a few weeks ago, it appeared fine. But today when I inspected the hood in a parking garage with indirect lighting from outside while viewing the reflection of tree leaves and sky light through the leaves, I could see that the area that was worked on was more dull appearing, and had a cracked sand-like texture appearance in the paint, and some parts had kind of a stippled appearance to the clear coat. It was not visible in direct outdoor sunlight (with white paint), but was fairly easily seen with in the indirect lighting of the parking garage.
When I went home, I compounded the paint on the hood. Although it looks improved, there are still areas that appear somewhat dull. I took some pictures in my garage after compounding, and have attached a picture of one of the affected areas, where you can see that the reflection of the light bulb is blurry, and you can see a dull haze/halo around the reflection of the lightbulb. The other picture for comparison shows a reflection of the same lightbulb in a different area of the hood, and you can see that the reflection is much clearer. Unfortunately, I'm not able to capture any shots that illustrate the texture on the clearcoat.
I am wonderiing if I should take it back to the body shop to be re-done. Should I have every expectation that the repair should restore the paint to original condition, or can you always expect the cosmetic result after a body shop repair to be not as good as the original?
The defective areas are not really obvious in most situations. Even in my garage, I don't really notice it unless I look close in the right lighting and the right angle. It would be a hassle for me to bring the vehicle back. Also, I feel like I'm in a dilemma similar to when a car dealer scratches your car with a car wash, and then offers to "fix" it with their in-house detailer. If they didn't do the job right the first time, do they have the eye to even see the defects, and the skill to make it right?
Just wondering what you guys think, and what others' experiences with body shops have been.5243652437