Need help on getting my money back from paint job

[garofalory]

I have searched a good amount and have found some things about getting my money back from the shitty paint job I paid $950 for. I had a guy paint my car (in a business park with a rented garage.) Cost me $950 for body and paint. Took three weeks to get my car done, and it looks like a $150 TJ paint job.

The old saying, "you get what you paid for," does not apply to this. I paid $950 and got a $150 paint job.



I'm going to list all that's wrong with it (got an actual paint guy to look at it)


*Single Stage* when he said it had two coats of base and three coats of clear(unfortunately did not get it in writing)
Visible dings everywhere
Roof has stripes of where he painted
See the areas where the car was bondo-ed (the area is protruding out)
Underneath both driver and passenger door, you can see where the car was red
Paint easily comes off with finger nail
Insufficient coverage (dry spray everywhere)
Dirt all over the car, mixed in with the paint
Orange Peel everywhere
The rubber trim on both doors were painted
Passenger door still has scratches from sanding that is visible
Crack on the front bumper
Areas where the paint is flaking
Hood has striping on the hood


Needless to say I want my money back and do not want to go back to him to get it fixed. I understand him taking money for the supplies, but not labor since he sat on his ass for three weeks then did it all in two days.

Does anyone have any experience with a paint job gone bad?? I want to file a complaint or go to small claims, but I would like to hear from someone who went through this.

Thanks.

[ixfxi]

sorry, your fucked.

dont worry, i too got fucked by a body shop. lots of people have.


be happy your fucking car got painted. mine sat for 3 years and didnt get paint at all. and they got 2k of my money. and my wheels got stolen. dont believe me? search my old posts.

2 years after my car was painted, i recovered my stolen wheels... imagine that. dont believe me? search my old posts.


you paid for a shitty paint job. lesson learned, move on.

[zooopreme]

I take it that your wet sanding session was a fail lol.

There's absolutely no way you'll get your money back by verbal dispute. If it really matters, take it to court. You'll probably lose because the car was painted & you have no written proof that says "my car will be painted the right way"

[Fearell]

What did you expect for $900? There is a reason paint jobs are expensive. It takes time to do body work correctly and skill to make it look right. Sorry, but unless you can prove that there was a certain level of professionalism to be expected you're probably SOL.

When we paint cars everything comes off. Belt moldings, handles, glass, bumpers, lights. You just can't get that for $900 and expect to have 20 years of dents taken out too.

[S14TEENZ]

Damn this is sad....but there are red flags everywhere in your post that would have stopped someone one from even think about getting a paint job.

[FRpilot]

yep you're pretty much fucked.

unless you had some kind of written proposal of the work to be done, it's basically your words vs his. what is a $150 paint job to you and what were you expecting for how much you paid? he could say his billing rate is $200/hr and say it is a $5000 paint job so you should be glad he gave you a discount and only charged you $950.

i'm not a lawyer, but if you want to take it further you could hire one and bring him to court and it will probably cost you more than $950. just take it as a learning experience and choose a more reputable body shop next time instead of a joe schmoe working out of a rented garage.

look at the bright side, at least your car is one solid color which is more than most people can say about their 240sx on the streets.

[xh3nry]

Take it as a lesson learned, next time set things on paper and go to someone reputable.

[Banana_Cute]

LOL. damn looks like he pulled a fast one on you. Told you he can paint it for $950, turn around and GOT IT paint it elsewhere. one of those 1 day paint job.

Sucks.

[Dany]

like everyone says u cant really do nothing maybe but wat u can do is let ppl know about that guy so he wont get jobs and no money eventually karma will get him for not doing it right but i would just make him look bad.. im 18 and i probably wouldve done a way better paint job them him.. good luck with everything though bro

[Banana_Cute]

Question is, do you know the guy personally? You stated, in your other thread, you went to him instead of a reputable shop.



this was done in the garage by my dad's next door neighbor. for $300. Just because you paid cheap doesnt necessarily mean it'll look cheap.

[ManoNegra]

Lesson learned, hope you learned from your experience

I decided a while ago that I was going to paint my s14 myself
I mean, how hard can it be?
figured it be a few weekends of elbow work to have something that looks better than a Maaco job

well, a few months after and ~$400 in supplies (still need to buy base and clear btw)
I'm still blocking and looking to do some more bodywork
and mind you, I have access at work to paint guns and other tools and our shop gets a discount at the paint store down the street...

[ixfxi]

Originally Posted by ManoNegra

Lesson learned, hope you learned from your experience

I decided a while ago that I was going to paint my s14 myself
I mean, how hard can it be?
figured it be a few weekends of elbow work to have something that looks better than a Maaco job

well, a few months after and ~$400 in supplies (still need to buy base and clear btw)
I'm still blocking and looking to do some more bodywork
and mind you, I have access at work to paint guns and other tools and our shop gets a discount at the paint store down the street...

years ago, i paid around 2k in materials. its all subjective. you dont know what something is worth and how difficult it is, until you buy the materials your self - work with them, and then attempt to DO IT YOURSELF. thats the thing about jobs, everyone gets hung up over money and rarely thing about "the job," let alone doing it properly and following procedures.

Originally Posted by Banana_Cute

this was done in the garage by my dad's next door neighbor. for $300. Just because you paid cheap doesnt necessarily mean it'll look cheap.

i hate when people post a photo of "a painted car"

for one, your photo is low resolution
second, its from a distance
third, its a photo of a painted finish. anyone who paints can tell you that its not just the appearance, but also the prep/adhesion.

thats what your paying for. someone to remove EVERYTHING, prep EVERYTHING, paint SOME OF IT, then put EVERYTHING back together ------ and its supposed to hold up for XX amount of years (hopefully).

[xoxide]

Haha... You got what you payed for man.

My dad is in the buisness... You couldnt even get the front end painted for $950 from a reputable shop using quality materials.

Like ixfxi said, its all in the prep work... Dont expect a $5000 paintjob for what you payed. Your shit out of luck.

Just to put things in perspective, a gallon of good quality paint (ie Nason, BASF, PPM, etc.) will run you anywhere from 6-900 dollars depending on the color. Add in the bondo (quality stuff, not the walmart bondo brand), good tape, sand paper, etc etc. and our materials will run you more than $900 bucks.

[ManoNegra]

Exactly my point
at the end of the day I'll be ~$900 in materials and a fuck load of work
for a decent (I hope) paint job using bargain quality products

reminds me
last week I stopped by a reputable paint shop near my house
to inquire what it'll cost to have one of their painters spray my car in one of their booths
~$450 if I bring my own materials and do my own masking
I asked what the added cost would be if they provided paint and clear as well
~$1500 just in paint and clear since they only use PPG

[trickey1991]

my prep work cost more then $950 lol

[garofalory]

I'd like if people could explain their experiences or how they would think I could get my money back. I already found a bunch of reasons and ways. To those of you who say $950 isn't a lot, it isn't but it is. $950 gets you a 10x better paint job than this.

[2slow2go]

yup 950 is way too cheap.... i think a 400 macco might have more shine then that

[Walperstyle]

Reality is something school didn't teach you
a) zilvia.net/the internet is not a place to ask for help when you want money back
b) you have a problem with the person that painted your car, you need to talk to him and work it out.

$950 paint jobs are opinionated and depend on the bodyman more then anything. A talented individual could hook a guy up for $200 if he didn't want to make any money, or $20,000 if the customer was a stupid Lamborghini owner. Paint codes and prep are similar for many different applications.

Best of luck. You really are on your own.

[hOngsterr]

what is a bitch with painting is blending, sometimes the paint mixer can totally fuck you. thats why you probably see stripes lol

[JasianBlazin]

in for some close up pics.

[zurud]

Looks like $950 paint job to me.

[KiLLeR2001]

I told you there was something wrong with that WV2. Single stage, now it all makes sense.

This is why I have set aside a couple months to prep my entire car for paint. This shit takes time, when you slack out on the prep work, you pay the ultimate price.

[xoxide]

Not using shitty single stage paint helps alot on the outcome to.

[KA-Life86]

I spent 950 on just materials to paint my last car lol. You're not getting your money back, you said yourself you have nothing in writing, so basically you have no case.

[buentellomma]

Originally Posted by garofalory

I have searched a good amount and have found some things about getting my money back from the shitty paint job I paid $950 for. I had a guy paint my car (in a business park with a rented garage.) Cost me $950 for body and paint. Took three weeks to get my car done, and it looks like a $150 TJ paint job.

The old saying, "you get what you paid for," does not apply to this. I paid $950 and got a $150 paint job.



I'm going to list all that's wrong with it (got an actual paint guy to look at it)


*Single Stage* when he said it had two coats of base and three coats of clear(unfortunately did not get it in writing)
Visible dings everywhere
Roof has stripes of where he painted
See the areas where the car was bondo-ed (the area is protruding out)
Underneath both driver and passenger door, you can see where the car was red
Paint easily comes off with finger nail
Insufficient coverage (dry spray everywhere)
Dirt all over the car, mixed in with the paint
Orange Peel everywhere
The rubber trim on both doors were painted
Passenger door still has scratches from sanding that is visible
Crack on the front bumper
Areas where the paint is flaking
Hood has striping on the hood


Needless to say I want my money back and do not want to go back to him to get it fixed. I understand him taking money for the supplies, but not labor since he sat on his ass for three weeks then did it all in two days.

Does anyone have any experience with a paint job gone bad?? ]

First- single stage paint is not a base coat then clear coat process, he lied to you or you got the info mixed up. Single stage is a high gloss solid color and is garbage but cheap- which is probably why he charged you next to nothing. From what issues you stated with the post "paint job" your best bet is to remove all that paint because this guy did not do much prep work. From the butcher body guys I have seen or worked with he either scotch brited it and said F it or threw some comet cleaner and did the ole Maaco special. Either way that crap needs to come off

[Phlip]

I stopped reading here:

Originally Posted by garofalory

*Single Stage* when he said it had two coats of base and three coats of clear(unfortunately did not get it in writing)

Unfortunately, the only value this paint job holds for you is as a learning experience. As far as that $900 bucks? Yeah, I hope you can learn not to think about it soon, because that is gone

[Darren]

Originally Posted by trickey1991

my prep work cost more then $950 lol

If you got it done it in a reputable shop, that's cheap. If that's just quality materials, and you did the work, that's still cheap.

Originally Posted by garofalory

I'd like if people could explain their experiences or how they would think I could get my money back. I already found a bunch of reasons and ways. To those of you who say $950 isn't a lot, it isn't but it is. $950 gets you a 10x better paint job than this.

The paint job is not what you're paying for, and it's not what you're seeing as flaws for the most part, it's the prep work, plain and simple.

Originally Posted by KA-Life86

I spent 950 on just materials to paint my last car lol. You're not getting your money back, you said yourself you have nothing in writing, so basically you have no case.

Exactly, i spent $400 on single stage paint, reducer, catalist, etc. that doesn't mean i did a $400 paint job. I probably spent (didn't keep full totals) near $2500 over 2 years in prep supplys, primer, sanding blocks, welding supplies, metal, tools needed to do the paint job properly, etc. At least $1500 in just direct supplies.

Your car is a single color and will likely last a year or two. Use that time to educate yourself and save some money for a reputable shop to redo the car at that time.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Shit, I paid $500 for this paint job...


And the guy who painted it didnt even prep the car that much but atleast the paint looked good.

[driftthis]

Have you talked to the guy who painted it? Small claims court will require more money and it sounds like you don't have much of an argument/case. Like everyone else said, lesson learned. If you can't work out a deal with the painter, go to a reputable paint shop and see how they can help make your car look the way you want it. Your photo doesn't show too much detail. But prep work is the key to a well done paint job. Good luck.

[jdmspooge]

Geez! for that much I could have gotten you a mediocre paint job. Next time do it right! lesson learned! If you want to get a good paint job, lemme know. I can refer you to MasterCare Body and Paint in San Marcos. Let them know that "J" sent you.

They'll take care of you!