Painting cars is not easy. Painting cars with existing bad paint is harder. Painting cars with existing bad paint black is even harder. When we picked up the Crown Vic, it was a sunny day, and although it still had some polish stuck in some nooks and crannies, I thought it looked great. I walked around it several times to look for anything glaring, but couldn't see anything too bad. Whoever was polishing got a bit too aggressive and burned through the door molding, but the owner said he could fix that if I brought it back in a week. That was a bit disconcerting, but I was still impressed overall. Over the next few weeks of usage, I started finding a few more defects in the paint; bad masking and overspray, "boogers," swirl-marks in the hood prep that were only visible with direct light. I had also asked them to re-align the hood, which they originally said would be a piece of cake, but they ultimately felt it was too much work, and left it askew. The tail-lights were removed for paint, and when they were refitted, they left the wire grommets dangling meaning water could easily get into the trunk. These issues combined left me with an increasingly sour taste in my mouth. After I noticed that the rear bumper was not painted evenly, I sheepishly persisted that they repaint it. They did not hesitate and felt somewhat reassured that I picked the painter that I did. Still, for the money that we agreed on, I guess I was hoping for more. Not having much experience with a full car paint job, I think we did OK though.
To be fair, the car looks way better than when I first purchased it at auction. It is obvious that lots of prep was done, and the painter was proud of that fact. When I first got the car, it had a bad respray on part of the body, lots of dings and scratches, plus everything else that accrues over time. Now all of that was imperceptible. They were very helpful in working with a glass company and my insurance company to replace the windshield and the seal around it.
At the end of it all, I've learned that for someone like me, who can be quite anal about even some trivial details, with a limited budget, I'm probably going to be disappointed. I've always believed a bit about the mantra, "if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." Maybe in the future I'll have more time, money and patience to try it all myself.
To be fair, the car looks way better than when I first purchased it at auction. It is obvious that lots of prep was done, and the painter was proud of that fact. When I first got the car, it had a bad respray on part of the body, lots of dings and scratches, plus everything else that accrues over time. Now all of that was imperceptible. They were very helpful in working with a glass company and my insurance company to replace the windshield and the seal around it.
At the end of it all, I've learned that for someone like me, who can be quite anal about even some trivial details, with a limited budget, I'm probably going to be disappointed. I've always believed a bit about the mantra, "if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." Maybe in the future I'll have more time, money and patience to try it all myself.
Comments
Post a Comment