posted
I had to have the hood of my SS repainted due to bubbles under the paint. I had 4 large bubbles near the front of the hood for a couple months, and finally had the hood repainted last week. I was told the gel coat on the fiberglass was missing in that section, and that's what made the paint bubble.
I'm now on the quest of finding a good custom body shop to either repaint the hood (if they can match the red), or possibly repaint the whole car. I've seen the work they did on a classic Ford, and it was incredible. The paint looked so deep you felt you could just dive into it.
The Chevy dealer didn't match the red paint to the rest of the car. I've noticed over the summer at car shows that all of the red SS's I see have an orangey tint to them. Mine is a true red that has more of a blue tone to it. The dealer painted the hood with the same orangey hue, so it looks pretty bad. There is also a fair amount of dirt under the paint, and there is a pea-sized indentation in the paint dead-center on the hood scoop.
Just once, I'd like to get good warranty paint service from a dealership. This is the second time I've had to have warranty paint work done on a car (the other was my Cougar), and the quality is terrible.
Since I show my car a lot during the summer, this is a cost I just have to pay to make the car look good again. If I'm going to do the whole car, I may really customize the paint color. Maybe even go with a real red metallic, or just a good bright red enamel. Guess I'll have to compare the costs. I'm going to the body shop with the car this week to discuss my options with them.
Oh well. Not much I can do but cough up several thousand dollars because the dealership couldn't do it right. Sad thing is, this doesn't surprise me at all. I knew they wouldn't do a good job. Pretty sad.
-------------------- 2002 Camaro SS, Bright Rally Red, Ebony leather interior, 345 HP CME/airlid package, chrome 10-spokes, STB, Flowtech cutout w/ Qtec power plate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. custom theme. Posts: 14 | From: Palmerton, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I'm not really giving them the chance. They said they matched the paint, but they obviously didn't. They did a good job repairing the fiberglass, but the paint quality is bad.
I don't really want to give up the car for another week and a half just to get another bad paint job. They told me that they feel they did a "phenomenal" job (their words). I guess their idea of phenomenal is different from mine. They didn't even clean the hood off before I picked it up. It has crusty white powder dried all over it in big hard lumps.
I'd rather spend the money and let a professional custom paint shop make it look good. Then I'll know it's done right.
-------------------- 2002 Camaro SS, Bright Rally Red, Ebony leather interior, 345 HP CME/airlid package, chrome 10-spokes, STB, Flowtech cutout w/ Qtec power plate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. custom theme. Posts: 14 | From: Palmerton, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SS Princess: I'd rather spend the money and let a professional custom paint shop make it look good. Then I'll know it's done right.
I came to the same conclusion when I had the roof on my SS replaced. GM won't cover it under warranty, so I splurged and had a custom shop do the job. The paint job was flawless. In a way, I'm glad GM didn't cover the cost since I was able to choose the shop I wanted, rather than having to have it done by GM. I'm poorer, but totally satisfied with the job.
Posts: 2359 | From: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Boy do I understand your disappointment and frustration. After, 25+ years of suffering and financial loss with GM dealers I personally have given up on them.
It seems that no amount of cohersion by GM will ever bring their dealers up to par with those of other manufacturers. This means its up to us customers....we are on our own. One way to do this is to cost them money out of their pockets for their shoddy work. Enough of us do it, and maybe....just maybe they will change.
Having said that, this is what I would be tempted to do. You can decide if its worth the effort. I agree with you that it would be pointless to have them re-do the work, but why not make them pay for it at the shop of YOUR choice. Here's what I would do.
I would take the car to your shop of choice, and have them document what is wrong with the hood paint (mis-matched color, dirt under paint, dent in the hood, etc) and have them give you an estimate of the cost to fix it.
Then take the car back to the dealer and complain that you are not happy with the paint. Have them open a work order noting your complaints. I would keep this very very low key and polite (we are baiting them here).
If they are true to form, they will say they did a great job and there is nothing that needs to be corrected. You want this noted on the work order that you sign when you pick up the car. If they agree to fix it, great....but note that you are going to be very particular on the result.
Once you have the completed work order in your hands, go back to the shop you want to do the re-work and get it painted.
Then go back to the dealer with the original work order, the estimate detailing the work that needed to be done, the dealer's work order saying they were satisfied with the work they did and the invoice for the re-paint, and insist that you be reimbursed. Point out to them the documentation you have and make note that you gave them every opportunity to make it right but they refused.
They will no doubt refuse to pay. At that point make it clear you will see them in small claims court, and ask if they want to reconsider their position. If your paint guy will act as a witness all the better and let them know that.
If they still refuse, take them to small claims court with your paper work. You have the orignal work order for them to paint, the third party assessment of the result of their work, their claim that the work was done to their satisfaction and the final cost for you to correct the damage they caused to YOUR property. Should be an easy win in small claims court.
Last year, I had a situation with a GM dealer where it cost me $7,500 to repeatedly fix a problem with my rear axle. It got to the point where their shoddy work required that the entire axle assembly (housing and all) needed to be replaced by a third party shop. The dealer settled for $4,000+ (the cost by the third party shop) just before I launched small court proceedings.
Good luck on whatever you plan to do.
Posts: 383 | From: Oakville, Ontario Canada | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Sorry to hear about the crappy job on your hood. I love your Dale Jr. look. I've seen alot of bad NASCAR "replica" paint jobs, but yours is subtle and very well done! Shame they can't make the hood right. Good luck getting it taken care of!
Don't worry.... the 'ol #8 will look better than ever when I'm done. This could be a blessing in disguise. Things always have a way of working out in the end.
I won't be doing any painting until after the winter, though. It's kind of a waste to do it now. I'll have her ready before show season next spring.
-------------------- 2002 Camaro SS, Bright Rally Red, Ebony leather interior, 345 HP CME/airlid package, chrome 10-spokes, STB, Flowtech cutout w/ Qtec power plate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. custom theme. Posts: 14 | From: Palmerton, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I have the same little bubbles on my hood. It's an SLP prep problem. Check your hood people as I'm told by a friendly local dealership it is not all that uncommon on the SS Camaros. I know a good body shop that has close GM friends so i'll talk to them in the spring. No way I'm letting someone I don't trust paint my car and hope for the best.
Posts: 113 | Registered: Nov 2002
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posted
That sux about the hood. SLP (and GM) didn't match the colors that well either all the time (batch mixing is a drawback). I have a small fish-eye that resembles a pinhole right near the scoop inlet. It's very small, though, and it is just a poor prep or paint job in that little section by SLP. It's barely noticable, and the rest of the hood looks so good, I didn't think it was worth it to hassle with that and have GM screw it up worse. I like to give GM a chance to fix their mistakes, but only to a point. I'm lucky that my dealership does a pretty good job, generally.
Bottom line is that YOU are the one that GM, or whoever paints your hood, has to satisfy. If you signed off on it to get the car back, then you accepted it as it is. This could be bad. If they didn't require you to sign anything to get the car back, then you may have them by their proverbial 'nads. However, if they don't do the job up to your reasonable standards, then you have every right to make them fix it.
Any which way you go, best of luck.
Posts: 577 | From: Aiken, SC | Registered: May 2002
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FireChicken
11 Secret Herbs & Spices
Member # 2067
posted
Princess, I had the same problem when I had my hood re-painted this past fall. They had to paint it 3 times to get it righ. The first time they painted it, I noticed the following:
1. Bubbles in clear coat on headlight cover. 2. Rear edge of headlight cover next to hood was not painted. 3. Two places had impurities under the clear coat, but over the paint, so bright white and gray stood out over my NBM color-coat. 4. Six places had obvious impurities under the paint, so that bumps and ripples resulted. 5. Four places where the original material had not been sanded or prepped properly.
That was after they painted it the first time. I saw it, told them it looked like crap, marked all the places on the hood, and sent it back. THey had to paint it 2 more times before it was decent.
Posts: 686 | From: Texas: Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! | Registered: Aug 2003
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I went to visit the shop that was doing the painting for the dealership and spoke to the owner. Lucky for me he had several C5s and F-bodies he was working on so he showed me his work and it was quality. I offered to pay the difference between the warranty job and his best job and in the end he said he would take care of it make sure it was right.
My advice is to always speak personally to the people doing the work and ask to see some of their work.
Best of luck with your paint adventure. Posts: 3403 | From: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA | Registered: Dec 2000
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Damn, that's a shame. The only dealership I have ever sen or heard of getting warranty paint work done right is Classic in Grapevine, TX...I had some done on my 95 Z, and it turned out great. Well, I guess it's all in the effort...Most dealers don't put out the effort neccessary to do a good job. It sucks, but is all too common. Good luck, and I hope thisx shop gets it right and to your satisfaction...
-------------------- 1999 Trans Am - Pewter, A4, 3.23's
Stock for now Posts: 471 | From: Justin, in the Great State, Texas | Registered: Sep 2000
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