Insurer's 'Guarantee of Workmanship' for smash repairs - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

back2thefutura · 04-14-2004, 01:27

Has anyone ever had to take their car back after having it repaired?

Ive got no complaints with the repair job on mine after it was pretty well totalled at the front by a 4WD, bar one thing. The colour matching job looks like a blind man has done it - quite literally the front half of the car is a different tone of white to the rear (cos the front is all sprayed new), and it shows up terribly at night (see attachment).

I've only just really noticed it because that picture was taken last night, and its been about 3 months since the job was done, so I'm trying to work out what my options are. Seeing as I wont change the overall colour of the car, it should be simple enough to blend it a bit better shouldnt it? And if the repairs are guaranteed by my insurer (which they are, they told me so when it was all being done), can I ask them to get the problem solved at no cost to me?

Sorry for all the questions, Im just trying to get some info on it all before I go kicking up a stink.

tickford2001 · 04-14-2004, 01:54

yeh youre right that is a very ordinary colour match!

im not really sure what you do in this situation, it will be a fair task just getting them to redo it, let alone them doing a better job the second time round...

does it stand out during the day at all?

galaxy xr8 · 04-14-2004, 02:34

That's shocking mate, but I do believe white is one of the worst colour's to match,with my insurerer I have the choice of repairer, and a very good mate of mine work's at one of the better if not the best panel shop in town, so hopefully I'll never have to go through this,hopefully you can get it sorted out without you being out of pocket.

Thunder Kiss · 04-14-2004, 03:46

That's a very ordinary job. I would definitely get that redone and I wouldn't be paying for it. Some variation can be expected any time a panel or two are painted but there is way too much variation in your case.
Good luck with the insurance company Back2thefutura, don't take "no" for an answer!

back2thefutura · 04-14-2004, 04:50

yeah, if it was one panel i'd be ok with it, but the entire front end of the car?! sorry, not going to just ignore it!

To be honest Ive never really noticed it that much during the day, the only time I've really been p!ssed off about it is after seeing how it came out in that photo!

NRMA have been really really good to me, so hopefully they'll be able to resolve it. Failing that, I'm thinking I might just ask around and see what the best quote I can get for spraying the rear is, even if it does end up costing me I'd like to get it fixed cos its very embarrassing!

Btw, I did have the choice of repairer, and he is an 'associate repairer' which means the insurer's guarantee of workmanship does apply to him. So here's hoping they're half decent about it.

davway · 04-14-2004, 04:53

damn i could do better with 'export' quality paint from the $2 shop.

Aussie Pete · 04-15-2004, 20:01

I sympathise mate - although my similar issue was partly a factory inclusion.....

back2thefutura · 04-15-2004, 21:20

Ok, well after talking to NRMA about this, it seems I have 2 options:

1st one, which I have done, is take the car back to the repairer and allow him to do his own inspection of it. Did this yesterday, and he agrees that theres definately a big screwup in the match (how could you not, youd have to be blind to miss it!), BUT, he takes no responsibility as it seems the rear of the car has been resprayed for some reason prior to my ownership of it. Ive checked all the panels and they're original, so I dont know why it would have been done, but it seems its just a backyard job, and thus this has caused the problem.

2nd option I now have is to have it assessed by an NRMA rep, who will then decide whether it should be done again or not. I would like to do this, but the only trouble is that if the repairer is right and this has been caused by something other than the accident, they probably wont payout to get it done.

So I guess now my options are to have it assessed and then ask for another panelbeater to do the job (not the guy who repaired it), or live with it for a while and just keep searching for someone who does a good job but doesnt charge the $3K pricetag a panelbeater would!

Discovery · 04-15-2004, 21:50

I'll add my 2c to this... Your panel beater is trying to scam you!! Any panel beater/painter worth half their wage would never simply take the original factory paint colour and whack it on a car.. every car suffers paint colour changes due to sunlight fade etc over time, even relatively new ones. This panel beater should have colour matched the paint TO YOUR CAR before any paint even hit the panels, no matter what colour the rear end was!

To put this into perspective, imagine your factory white car had been totally resprayed blue. In the instance your panel beater is using, he would have painted the front of your blue car white?? I don't think so. I'd go back to either the panel beater, your insurance company, or both and work it out nicely with them. If the repairer is an approved repairer of the insurance company, they also have a right to know the repairer is completing sub standard work.

/end of rant. (I'm sick of legally blind panel beaters)

Hope this helps.

Discovery · 04-15-2004, 21:56

Oh... and any panel beater who knows what they were doing would also blend the paint into the next panel rather than stopping it dead on the edge of a panel like they have done to yours. This helps blend the colour and helps disguise the fact the paint is new in one area. There will always be a difference in application (ie/ orange peel or lack of in the paint will change as this is a combined effect of the painters style, type of gun and nozzle they are using, or factory application equipment) but it should never be glaringly noticeable.

/definately the end of rant ... maybe he he