HUGE Panel gaps after a repair

[beasty54]

Hi Guys

So, i had a bit of a bump in my Cupra a couple of weeks back, it wasn't massive but needed a new bonnet, bumper, grill and headlights. I've collected it today and something didn't look quite right as i got closer and i could see there were massive gaps between the wings and the bonnet but also that the bonnet looked to be stuck out over the grill. After mentioning it to the guys on site, all 3 of them were adamant it was supposed to be like that and somehow they managed to almost convince me it was ok.

The Mrs has an older Ibiza so i looked at the front and the bonnet does indeed hang over the grill but i couldn't accept those massive gaps between the wing and the bonnet, simply looking at some photos confirmed i was right.

I have no doubt they'll fix this for me as they've been brilliant so far (apart from this issue) but i'm just concerned now about what would make them think everything was lined up correctly, the car has even been to Seat to have all the sensors and radars calibrated, i would have thought they might have said something?

Thoughts guys?

Before

After

 

[CalJames]

Unfortunately this is a consequence of having a body repairs after a bump. My partner's fiesta has had the same repairs as yours and it has differences in the gaps. One of the worse cars to repair is white due to the contrast with the dark gaps.
The only way to really get it perfect is replacing all the connecting panels, suports and having thr car straightened on a jig, most places won't do this as it costs more than what the insurance company will pay out. Example; on the fiesta the passenger wing was slightly set back resulting in the headlight having a gap and thus the bonnet and bumper had a gap to the headlight.

 

[Mr Pig]

You're right, they've made a bollocks of the alignment. I seriously doubt the underlying structure is wonky, they just haven't lined up the body parts properly. They're saying it's fine because they don't want to have to fix it but it's not fine. If you don't get it fixed it may cause you an issue when you come to sell as anyone who knows about cars will look at that, know it's been bumped and assume it was a bodge job. Was it a dealer?

One of the problems with the Leon is that the lights bolt on first then the bumper fits on top. If the lights are set too low the bumper then can't sit high enough to meet up properly with the bonnet. I think you might lucky and the bonnet is just too high. Looks like it might be. If the bonnet is drooping because the lights are too low it'll much more work to fix.

It can be fixed though, just takes time. You shouldn't have to re-calibrate the sensor as it's not attached to the bumper but a bracket behind it.

 

[MATT RILEY]

Just looks like the bonnet is to high to me from the pictures, if you lift the bonnet at the front there is two black rubbers that move up and down with a Allen key. One each side, wind them in half a turn at a time and then see what the panel gap is like?

 

[beasty54]

Just looks like the bonnet is to high to me from the pictures, if you lift the bonnet at the front there is two black rubbers that move up and down with a Allen key. One each side, wind them in half a turn at a time and then see what the panel gap is like?

I'll have a look tomorrow, if it was as simple as that i'd be very pleased

 

[BigJase88]

Yeah the bonnet is too high

repaired cars are never the same unfortunately no matter how good the paintshop is.

my Audi went in for repair over Christmas and the front nearside wing where they have blended it looks like an orange.

 

[Mr Pig]

repaired cars are never the same unfortunately no matter how good the paintshop is.

They can be pretty good. I've had repairs you couldn't see when looking for them. I agree that this isn't the norm but there are some **** hot painters out there.

 

[cheesecakelover]

They can be pretty good. I've had repairs you couldn't see when looking for them. I agree that this isn't the norm but there are some **** hot painters out there.

Agreed. They can be pretty good. My old Fiesta was crashed into a few years ago and sustained front-end damage which was repaired. The car was seven-years-old at that point and I was nervous how the paint job would look but it was spot-on and you couldn't tell. However, the panel gaps weren't right - I complained to the insurer and they sent someone out to have a look and he agreed that the repairs didn't look right. He took photos, filed a report and followed it up. The insurer complained to the repair centre and the car was booked back in for the work to be rectified. The insurer's representative met me at the repair centre and we went over the car in front of the technicians to point out the flaws. I had the car back a few days later and the panel gaps were spot-on. It's worth complaining if the work isn't right.

 

[Yern]

"An insurer's responsibility is to return the car to the condition it was in before an accident, though this can be costly." (the AA)

 

[andycupra]

looks like a poor job.

 

[Mr Pig]

Years ago I had a Vauxhall Cavalier that needed the driver's door painted. When I got the car back they'd painted the whole side of the car! Guy said they had to do it so that you couldn't see the repair and he was right. The join was almost impossible to find and it was a red car, which is a bad colour.

 

[KXL]

I guess it's the common thing when once you had an accident, the repair can never be 100% perfect as before the accident once again, just as close to 100% as possible, like spraining an ankle. From your pictures, it's quite obvious that the bonnet doesn't seem to close properly, and uneven gaps on the sides, it's not a perfect straight line. Saying that however, on my current car (non Seat) I did notice the bonnet occasionally one side the gap is more, like I didn't close it fully. It has never been in an accident, though it did have a massive stone chip there on the lower bumper, but surely that's not enough to knock it out of allignment. However other different times of the day, I return and didn't notice the gap anymore, maybe it's due to the sun on mine.

 

[beasty54]

I've been in to see them tonight and they're still adamant its ok, however, he's more than happy for me to drop it off and let them have a look at the bonnet to see if they can get it a bit closer.
I agree that it looks fine everywhere else so i just worry that if they do anything to adjust the bonnet, it'll be out of alignment elsewhere.

Having looked at those pictures a bit more though it does look as though the back of the bonnet is maybe a bit too low, i guess lifting that would then allow the front to drop a bit more?

 

[jiraffe]

Id be taking that bad if it was my car.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've been in to see them tonight and they're still adamant its ok,..

Then they're either idiots or liars.

 

[Syphon]

Bonnet looks like it's not shut properly

Hope you get it sorted. Wouldn't accept that personally.

 

[beasty54]

Bonnet looks like it's not shut properly

Hope you get it sorted. Wouldn't accept that personally.

Yeah exactly, it'll get sorted, i'm using some real good examples from pictures on here just so i can send over and then i'll drop it off on Friday morning to have them fix it.

 

[BigJase88]

Then they're either idiots or liars.

Agreed even a 1 eyed man on a galloping horse could spot that’s not correct.

 

[SRGTD]

Panel gap tolerances are in one of the workshop manuals that @paddy6789 posted a link to a while back;

SeatLeonMK3Manuals – Google Drive

drive.google.com

Panel gap info is in the ‘Body_Repairs’ manual - section 18; Bodywork Tolerances, from page 83 in the manual. I’ve taken screen prints of what I think are probably the relevant pages for @beasty54, but if more info required, use the link above and go to the Body_Repairs manual;

t

@beasty54; you can use that information to check your panel gaps to see whether or not they’re within tolerance. If not, then you can tell the repairer what size the panel gaps should be.

 

[beasty54]

Thanks @SRGTD , I've been out and had a quick look and as an example, the gap between the wing and bonnet is about 6mm, the manual says 2.2 with a .5 variance either way so it really isn't good.

It's a shame really because the paint job they've done is real nice, they gave the rest of the car a real good polish too so it's a shame they let themselves down a bit with this. Hopefully this should be a simple fix and they can adjust the bonnet and line it up better, i'd much rather have a slight issue like this than a crappy paint job that i'm complaining about.