Need Painter's Expert Opinion: What went wrong w Paint Application?

[Canuck in MI]

Gang: I am over the top in shock over my son's Maverick Hybrid Body Shop Experience. He was rear ended on the freeway 5 months ago June 9th. His truck sat at a Ford dealer body shop this whole time, mostly due to body panel parts shortages. The tailgate took over 6 weeks to arrive.

We really started to dig in with the body shop manager at the end of July when he told us that the tailgate finally arrived but there was another part now on backorder with no ETA.

We then asked for a face to face meeting to go over what was ordered, when it was ordered, ETA, and also wanted to see the truck. He had been without a vehicle for 2 months.

Funny, the day before our meeting, he noticed through the Pass app that the truck was started and moved. We went in and his truck was torn apart, bumper, tailgate, right rear fender removed. All of the new unpainted pieces were with the truck along with a single mangled support brace.

So it seems that the "part w no ETA" was a small fender support brace. He was chasing it down with Ford. Shocked to understand that they had the truck for 2 months but he never discovered the damaged brace until they took it apart!?!?

PS: If you look at a disasembled Maverick - you can understand how they got to a $20K price point -really not much to it. How is it that when they went to order parts, they couldn't crawl underneath to inspect the damage to make sure they ordered every part?

So... FFWD to 2 weeks ago - my son escalates with Ford as it seems that since Aug - the body shop manager claims Ford was delayed in sending the part out. We are still untangling what really happened here - was it Ford or the body shop's fault - magically, the part was going to arrive within 6 days.

We arrrive today for him to finally pick-up his truck and find the following defficiencies. First thing I asked the Body shop manager was "How would you rate this job? An "A", "B", "C"?? D?? " What do you think? He replies "Oh it's perfect - it turned out great!" Really???

PAINT EXPERT PLEASE WEIGH IN:

We found contimination in the paint that resulted in either a small pit or specks on 36+ spots between the right rear fender and the tailgate. I am sure a trained eye -body shop expert would probably find more.

Some of these spots, were chips in the paint. The rear passenger door frame shows rough overspray from where they masked it. The paint finish is much different from the factory paint with way more "orange peel".

To add, there is a huge gap between the new fender and tailgate. Wonder if a tonneau cover will even fit properly with the gap? There is also a larger gap towards the front of the fender where it meets the rear window and passenger door. Quite a bit of difference compared to the other side. The plastic trim on top of the fender even seems off as it doesn't properly cap the top of the fender at the tailgate.

The fender does not sit flush at either the tailgate or the passenger door section of the cab. It's definitely noticeable relative to the other side.

I told the manager that the fender was not properly aligned -in fact, looking at the fender bolt inside the door frame, you can see that it sits about an inch lower than the original fender. I know they can be adjusted for sure to account for manufacturing deviations but all of this seems ridiculously poor and shoddy workmanship.

I told him they need to re-spray the fender and tailgate. He said "oh - we won't have to do that -we can just wet sand and buff to contaminants and re-spray those areas". Really? It is literally one end of the fender to the other - same with the tailgate.

In terms of the panel gaps I mentioned that it should be within a few MM - he said "well spec is up to 1/4"" but the gap at the front of the fender where it lines up with the cab is only about a 1/4" to begin with... No way the tolerance can be up to 2x the original space...

So - I am working with the insurance company to escalate this. I am not convinced that a "spot" spray fix will adress this and leave the fender and tailgate with a consistent finish.

One other Q: How do I know if they've applied enough clear coat? Can I even tell? From my finger feel running across the panel, it doesn't quite seem as smooth at the original paint.

I also noticed a ton of very light scratches in the new paint. Could it be that they didn't properly buff the clear coat or they used too abrasive of a buffing wheel?

We took delivery of a Musting Mach-E that sustained some in transit damage to the hood back in May. The Ford dealer (a different one) apologized for the defect (not their fault) and promptly brought it in -re-sprayed the entire hood.

I was not sure what to expect but I can tell you -it's was a phenomonal job -I cannot tell the difference between the rest of the car and the hood. If this Ford dealer could deliver this result - then I would expect this other Ford dealer to deliver a similar result.

Please LMK your thoughts. I told the insurance company if it's not "perfect" I want them to find me another body shop that can correct the difficiencies and being a 5 month old truck back to close to original condition prior to the accident.

I don't think I've ever seen such a poor job outside of a DYI Sunday afternoon spray can job in the garage!?! Arghhh. Feel free to dig into the attached PDF for the before/after pics and more details.

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[RR - All the way]

Sad. Unacceptable. How about some Ford Motor Company quality control in relation to dealerships????

 

[Wilbur]

That doesn't meet minimum expectations.

 

[OrCoaster]

That story and pics remind me of a Hyundai we had painted at a shop two hours from us. They painted it and moved it outside before it really dried at all. It was in a very dusty, windy industrial part of town.

I took one look at it from about 50 feet away and told the guy escorting me they will need to do that all over again. He said he would be giving it a good washing and it would be looking great. I told him that won't help but if he wanted to try it have a good time. The mitt he was using literally stuck to the car when he put it down and tried to swipe it off.

I said save yourself the embarassment and go call the manager. He was not in any frame of mind to do that but I was sort of insistant.

It took two more weeks to get the car redone and to their credit they got it right for us. Hope they can do the same for you.

 

[MaveLick]

A good technician can buff the paint. I have seen the work performing in front of me. The technician use sand and some kind of compound. For your case, there are so many too buff. Unfortunately, repaint may not work if the same technician will be performing the job using the same paint and equipment.

 

[OrCoaster]

A good technician can buff the paint. I have seen the work performing in front of me. The technician use sand and some kind of compound. For your case, there are so many too buff. Unfortunately, repaint may not work if the same technician will be performing the job using the same paint and equipment.

Yeah, once a poor paint job is done it is tough to make it "all better" I didn't think about the person on the other side of the fan spray. Maybe take it across town to the one that did you right.

 

[Rockingchair]

Any chance you could argue "defective repair" with the insurance company? It may force them to lean on the body shop to correct the errors. If the paint is that poor then how poor are the rest of the repairs or what damage did the shop miss?

 

[notorious beebs]

Really hard to tell from your pictures, but the first picture looks like a "fish eye". It's caused by water or oil, likely from the air compressor powering the paint gun, contaminating the paint. Not an uncommon issue and can sometimes be an easy fix. Given the high number of defects you're noticing, I'd guess either dirt nibs or more fish eyes. They're usually items that can be taken care of with a good wetland and buff. The auto body industry is an extremely imperfect industry, but some shops are better than others.

 

[All4spl]

As a former finish detailer and now avid at home detailer I would not stand for this one bit. If the insurance company agrees and wants it fixed but the dealer refuses, I would take it to a professional body shop, get an estimate and then get the insurance to approve it. Once approved have it done right and let the insurance company worry about who pays for it, they will go after the dealer.

 

[NJBob]

I know a guy that does bodywork out of his garage. No paint booth and his work is way better than that! Wow.

 

[B2000]

Last time I got hit I met with the tech who was going to be in charge of my repair and told him to do it like it was his car. OEM wherever possible and metal work instead of bondo. I told him I would deal with the other guys insurance company. It took about 6 weeks and the other guy's insurance company did bitch about the time but he did a great job. When they "threatened" to cancel the rent a car I said go right ahead and then I call an attorney which stopped that nonsense. It was a pretty good hit and I doubt most people could see where it was and that was 12 years ago. Rear hit and it looks good inside the trunk also.

The body shop did say they could not locate a replacement tire. I had just bought them recently so I went back to the same place and got one more and they adjusted the price.

 

[Axlesup]

I would definitely take that to the body shop that did your other car and have them look at it. Then send their estimate for repair to the insurance company. I definitely wouldn't expect or trust the current body shop to repair these errors.

It's really hard to tell with pictures but I would say their filtration system for their air compressor and spray equipment is either missing or just sucks as is the air filtration in their paint booth assuming they even use a paint booth. You might actually be surprised at what they can clean up with some wet sanding and polishing.

It certainly looks like you're passenger bedside isn't square and that plastic bed cap is certainly not installed correctly.

Every state has different laws and every insurance company has different rules but I would do my best to ensure that body shop doesn't touch the truck again. Definitely start by getting a quote from a different body shop maybe two or three if you can. your insurance company might also have an adjuster come out and look at it too.

The good news is you're not crazy. that's totally unacceptable work and all that can be fixed.

 

[ValenciaOrange]

Sorry to see this. Hope you can get some resolutions to your problems. After seeing the truck, I would sell it.

 

[LSchicago]

This is why I insist on using the shop that I use. Consistently good quality.

 

[Timothyd]

Gang: I am over the top in shock over my son's Maverick Hybrid Body Shop Experience. He was rear ended on the freeway 5 months ago June 9th. His truck sat at a Ford dealer body shop this whole time, mostly due to body panel parts shortages. The tailgate took over 6 weeks to arrive.

We really started to dig in with the body shop manager at the end of July when he told us that the tailgate finally arrived but there was another part now on backorder with no ETA.

We then asked for a face to face meeting to go over what was ordered, when it was ordered, ETA, and also wanted to see the truck. He had been without a vehicle for 2 months.

Funny, the day before our meeting, he noticed through the Pass app that the truck was started and moved. We went in and his truck was torn apart, bumper, tailgate, right rear fender removed. All of the new unpainted pieces were with the truck along with a single mangled support brace.

So it seems that the "part w no ETA" was a small fender support brace. He was chasing it down with Ford. Shocked to understand that they had the truck for 2 months but he never discovered the damaged brace until they took it apart!?!?

PS: If you look at a disasembled Maverick - you can understand how they got to a $20K price point -really not much to it. How is it that when they went to order parts, they couldn't crawl underneath to inspect the damage to make sure they ordered every part?

So... FFWD to 2 weeks ago - my son escalates with Ford as it seems that since Aug - the body shop manager claims Ford was delayed in sending the part out. We are still untangling what really happened here - was it Ford or the body shop's fault - magically, the part was going to arrive within 6 days.

We arrrive today for him to finally pick-up his truck and find the following defficiencies. First thing I asked the Body shop manager was "How would you rate this job? An "A", "B", "C"?? D?? " What do you think? He replies "Oh it's perfect - it turned out great!" Really???

PAINT EXPERT PLEASE WEIGH IN:

We found contimination in the paint that resulted in either a small pit or specks on 36+ spots between the right rear fender and the tailgate. I am sure a trained eye -body shop expert would probably find more.

Some of these spots, were chips in the paint. The rear passenger door frame shows rough overspray from where they masked it. The paint finish is much different from the factory paint with way more "orange peel".

To add, there is a huge gap between the new fender and tailgate. Wonder if a tonneau cover will even fit properly with the gap? There is also a larger gap towards the front of the fender where it meets the rear window and passenger door. Quite a bit of difference compared to the other side. The plastic trim on top of the fender even seems off as it doesn't properly cap the top of the fender at the tailgate.

The fender does not sit flush at either the tailgate or the passenger door section of the cab. It's definitely noticeable relative to the other side.

I told the manager that the fender was not properly aligned -in fact, looking at the fender bolt inside the door frame, you can see that it sits about an inch lower than the original fender. I know they can be adjusted for sure to account for manufacturing deviations but all of this seems ridiculously poor and shoddy workmanship.

I told him they need to re-spray the fender and tailgate. He said "oh - we won't have to do that -we can just wet sand and buff to contaminants and re-spray those areas". Really? It is literally one end of the fender to the other - same with the tailgate.

In terms of the panel gaps I mentioned that it should be within a few MM - he said "well spec is up to 1/4"" but the gap at the front of the fender where it lines up with the cab is only about a 1/4" to begin with... No way the tolerance can be up to 2x the original space...

So - I am working with the insurance company to escalate this. I am not convinced that a "spot" spray fix will adress this and leave the fender and tailgate with a consistent finish.

One other Q: How do I know if they've applied enough clear coat? Can I even tell? From my finger feel running across the panel, it doesn't quite seem as smooth at the original paint.

I also noticed a ton of very light scratches in the new paint. Could it be that they didn't properly buff the clear coat or they used too abrasive of a buffing wheel?

We took delivery of a Musting Mach-E that sustained some in transit damage to the hood back in May. The Ford dealer (a different one) apologized for the defect (not their fault) and promptly brought it in -re-sprayed the entire hood.

I was not sure what to expect but I can tell you -it's was a phenomonal job -I cannot tell the difference between the rest of the car and the hood. If this Ford dealer could deliver this result - then I would expect this other Ford dealer to deliver a similar result.

Please LMK your thoughts. I told the insurance company if it's not "perfect" I want them to find me another body shop that can correct the difficiencies and being a 5 month old truck back to close to original condition prior to the accident.

I don't think I've ever seen such a poor job outside of a DYI Sunday afternoon spray can job in the garage!?! Arghhh. Feel free to dig into the attached PDF for the before/after pics and more details.

A paint job is all about preparation. That includes cleanliness, masking, clean equipment, surface preparation, proper materials, and so on. Looks like this shop did it in a hurry or with raw personal. For the price: inexcusable.

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