Some of you who have read my other posts may have heard that my car was damaged by hail recently and I debated how BEST to get it fixed. I was debating PDR (paintless dent repair) and standard repair- which means repainting.

I chose the standard repair. If I had to do it over, I'd try PDR first...without a doubt. Why? Because at least with PDR, if it fails, you can then go to the standard repair.

Whats more is that it is very difficult to find a body shop that is truly qualified to come close to the factory paint job. The place I went to had problems with dust contamination, fisheye, and orange peel. I found no less than 40 specs of dust in the paint! I found numerous low spots or dimples, known as fisheye. And the lower side of the door and along the side looked like the surface of an orange up close.

Not only this, but they also...
scratched the corner of my headlight
forgot to replace some screws in a plastic piece that controls run-off from the convertible top
Did not use adhesive on the foam pieces that connect this plastic piece to the upper panel
didn't properly reseal the rubber seals in the door
lost a plastic rivet out of the seal on the drivers side door
replace the rubber seals on the door close to the mirror/window so its loose and has a gap water can run into
chipped the corner of the bumper that goes around the light
broke off a plastic rivet in the trunk lining, didn't replace it or the others so they are loose now
failed to put adhesive on the rear Honda emblem when reattaching it
left rough clearcoat overspray and a masking tape line inside the door jam
left similar masked line inside the trunk
reinstalled the bumper with a centimeter gap on one side between it and the headlights
reinstalled the black aluminum trim piece alongside the windows so that it is loose and so that the rubber seal towards the front doesn't even touch the surface of the door
put clearcoat over a spot below the passenger door without completely cleaning off some kind of grease from the door that had leaked and left a little mark that could be wiped off- now the mark is a BIG notch
left ripples along the trim around the convertible top

I could go on...but it pains me so... This shop is supposedly reputable and supposedly ICAR Gold and ASE Certified. If I had only tried Paintless Dent Repair first, I could have MAYBE avoided this. I don't quite understand why they had to clearcoat the entire car, except maybe that they had a problem matching the paint. In the end, I know this is my fault. I chose to go to them instead of a shop that was further away that the Honda dealer uses. What was I thinking?

Well, the body shop I used has again taken the car in to try to solve some of these problems for me. I printed out a diagram of the car and went around with a red ink putting dots on the diagram everywhere I saw a spec of dust or fish eye. I circled areas that had ripples or orangle peel appearance. I'm just afraid these people have ruined my car for me and there is little they can do now.

I was told by someone else that since I filed this claim under insurance, this goes into CarFax and the dealership will not give me a good trade-in value either. So I'm screwed there too...all because of some hail damage that PDR might have fixed.

My advice to others who might search the forums for advice on hail damage, PDR, or whatever else: Try PDR first- its probably under $300 and if it doesn't work then you can investigate alternatives. If you *MUST* have your car repaired in the standard fashion, with painting, go to the repair shop your Honda dealer recommends...why? Because often its associated with the dealership, has the service manuals, knows the parts that will need replaces, will use the correct fasteners and adhesives, and probably knows something about making a hail damaged car look like a brand new one...dealerships suffer hail damage too...

What not to do: Don't go to a repair shop who isn't willing to replace any rubber seals that don't look brand new when they are done. Don't go to a shop that doesn't use OEM parts. Don't think a shop is good because they have expensive looking facilities. If they don't have state of the art dustless rooms with proper filters and venilation then they are going to contaminate your cars paint with dust. Don't let them tell you that they don't normally clean up or resurface the door jams when working with an insurance company because thats a load of bullshit...you paid for your full coverage and they must restore your car to original condition- meaning no paint lines in the door jambs.

There are so many mistakes that can be made...and I made them all.

-B

 

Oh I almost forgot- for some reason now, my speakers sound like crap and are distorted at volume levels that previous did not distort. I have no idea why. The doors also sound loose inside now when I close them.

Every little detail and quality about my car that I so loved has been damaged in some way. About the only thing left is the engine and with my luck, I'm sure its going to blow on me now that my warranty is up.

-B

 

byron, sorry to hear about your body shop repair woes. Maybe we should start a list of reputable, grade A, type body shops like the way we do with Honda service depts around the country.

 

Byron, that sucks. I'd take it to another bodyshop to repair and give them the bill. If they screwed up the first time, what's to prevent them from screwing up the second time.

Good luck.

 

Byron, I hope that they can fix it to your satisfaction. This sounds like a big mess.

Sorry to hear this,
Bob

 

Ohhh Goodness, I just ate dinner and now I feel sick.

I know how you feel as I had a similar experience with a body shop and accident damage on my 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, it was never the same. Runs in the paint, orange peel, bondo that you could see in most any light.

This damage will not show up on a carfax report. only a total loss shows up.

I ended up trading in my car and getting a new one(99 Civic Si)...Of course you will lose money. But hey 5-6k to be happy is well worth it in my book.

Get a new s2k and be happy...nothing is worse than a bad repaint

 

UPDATE: I took the car back to the Paint Shop which is in Clarksville, Indiana and uses the word "Clarksville" in their name (the only one) and left it with them for almost 2 weeks. They didn't fix the problems- they just created all new ones. They fixed some specks in the paint while creating brand new ones. The orangle peel on the door just looks worse now. They failed to replace the piece which anchors the rubber into the door...they left various marks all over the car. They repainted the hood and now it may be even worse- it depends on how you look at it. They may have cleared up some of the specks in the hood and doors, but they created some new ones in very visible places.

I'm through dealing with them. They've only proven that they can't repair it to my satisfaction. Its not maliscious, its incompetence. So I'd avoid this repair shop for expensive cars. Maybe someone from this area will do a search here some day and read my warning and avoid this place. I don't know what to say- the guy was right there looking at the car as I pointed out the problems in the paint, shaking his head saying they could fix the orange peel appearance and go around the car body panel by body panel and remove the fisheye and specks of dust....but the only thing they did to my satisfaction was sand the paint line out of the door jamb...but not without leaving marks on the door and the S2000 plaque.

I'm going to take it to another shop and see if they can make it look any better. I don't know if I should file a complaint with the BBB because I just don't want to take it back to this place even if they would take it again. So complaining to the BBB wouldn't help me out and they'd ask if I went back again yet ...

Meanwhile my dealership sent me a letter telling me how valuable my car would be as a tradein now that it is 2 years old. Wait till they see the orange peel doors.

-B

 

I wonder if you can do as MarkS2K suggests and take it to another body shop, get it fixed, and then present the bad bodyshop with the bill. If they're unwilling to pay, take them to small claims court (is the amount small enough to go to small claims?)

I am really sorry to hear about your experience. Hope you get it worked out.

 

you have to complain to the associations with which this shop is "certified". i mean, wtf? if these associations come back saying they didn't certify the shop, then you have a pretty good case for fraud because you reasonably relied on their assertion that they were in fact "certified". if not, contact the BBB about all three parties.

as for your car, i feel your pain. i'd either have a good shop completely remove the paint and start fresh (monte carlo, perhaps) or dump it and get a new one. your baby will never be the same otherwise.

 

Byron, I would do as s2k_redhead suggests. I would also CERTAINLY file a claim with the BBB and I would talk to my insurance agent and get their recommendation. Letting the associations that this shop belongs to, know of this situation, would also not be out of order.

I'm really sorry to hear of this problem. I was thinking of you on the way home when they were talking about 1" hail during the thunderstorm.

Bob