Paintwork.. not a happy chappy!

[RobM]

Some might remember a post I made a while ago about the fading paint work on my Ovni LCR. Basically, when I went to buy it I noticed some bad fading on the passenger side wings (front and rear) and asked the dealer, Inchcape Renault in Southampton, to get it repaired and put back to the correct colour before I bought it. They said they would, I have it detailed on the sales invoice, but when I went to pick it up it was the same!

They told me to leave it for a week to see if the paint settles, as it had only just come back from the bodyshop they use. Fair enough I thought, so having logged my complaint off I went. Sure enough, a week later it's still the same, so I call Inchcape to say I would like this sorted please, only to be told the guy who sold it to me is on holiday. Fine, I'll call back later. To cut a long story short, it's taken nearly three months to get them to look at it again. They said to take it to their body shop today who were expecting me and knew the situation.

So off I go, and surprise surprise the body shop knew nothing about me coming! They knew the car though and knew exactly what I was going to say as Inchcpae had took it to them prior to me buying it, got a quote for the work and never returned!

So I've been lied to. I was told it was going to cost them £500 to have repaired and that is why I couldn't haggle any more money off the price when I bought it (I drive a hard bargain!). And, after three months, I still have a patchwork car!

Needless to say the manager of the body shop wasn't impressed, as as far as he is concerned his reputation has been dragged through the mud by Inchcape letting me believe it was their sloppy workmanship! The manager will be talking to them today or tomorrow and taking a quote for having all the necessary work done. I'm then calling tomorrow to get this sorted and to let them know what I think.

Now, I have a question for the experts on this forum... what are the typical signs of crash damage resulting in two wings needing to be sprayed? There has obviously been a respray at some point, as there is a distinct line where the colour changes. Also the front wing doesn't line up properly, but to be honest I never gave that much thought as it's only slightly out. The body shop said it's entirely possible that this has had a shunt at some point, and I'd like to know if there is anything I can look for to prove this theory. It drives fine, it doesn't pull in any direction when driving or hard braking. But is there anything else I can look at to see if it's been involved in an accident?

Apologies for the long post and thanks if you're still reading. As you can tell I'm not best pleased right now as I've been lied to from day one.

Rob

 

[paullec]

Well you can peel back the rubber to see if there any over spray if you look carefully you should see the blend line if there is, Again panels gaps etc look under the sill for the tell tale lines of any welding.
You can check the paint depth if you know of anyone with a reader, anything under 100 is original over is resprayed.

 

[ChrisUK]

pics would be good....

 

[RobM]

I'll try and get some pics, but it might be tricky considering it's seriously foggy outside so not ideal at getting detailed shots. Will give it a go though....

 

[Reg]

Blimey Rob, thats pretty darn poor for a main dealer. For checking for accident damage, as said, check behind rubber and plastic seals for any sign of overspray. Look under the bonnet and where you can in the boot under carpet, even under the car for any non-standard welding. I know that sounds funny, but a non-factory weld will 99.9% stand out as different, even though it should be neat and tidy. On the front wing, have a look at any bolts or screws that secure the wing - do they look like they have ever moved? Sometimes they can act like a wax seal on an envelope, its obvious if they have ever been moved after they were originally fitted.

I'd suggest getting lots of photographs from as many angles as possible, to keep for your records. Bit of a pain with it being this time of year and people on holiday, but try and get a word with your local Trading Standards office at the council. I appreciate the dealer has not responded yet, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to explain it to them and get their view on things, see if they are interested and what support they may/may not offer if the dealer decides not to be helpful.

I'm sure they will sort this, although its disgusting you're having to deal with it at all. As for fobbing you off about leaving the paint to settle? What a load of bollocks - it either looks great straight from the bodyshop or it doesn't. They have very obviously tried to deceive you, and at least the bodyshop manager is on side. If you haven't already, bring this to the attention of the Dealer Principle (top chief) to make sure there is no more sweeping under the carpet.

Good luck mate.

 

[davidol]

go nuts, lying to customers is not on and i'd contact the local paper too

 

[davidol]

oh and paint settling? wtf are they on about...

 

[buford-t]

Trading standards mate, if you have a receipt stating it has been done and the body shop stating it hasn't, then as you have paid (albeit part of the purchase price) it is the offence of obatining property by deception (property being the money paid). If trading standards won't help. Give the dealers 14 days in, writing, to ammend the situation then issue county court proceedings!!

 

[charvel]

I would start communicating in writing from now on. You will have written evidence of their poor service, and letters usually get you further in the long run, as they dont like incriminating themselves.

 

[cuprablue]

Trading standards mate, if you have a receipt stating it has been done and the body shop stating it hasn't, then as you have paid (albeit part of the purchase price) it is the offence of obatining property by deception (property being the money paid). If trading standards won't help. Give the dealers 14 days in, writing, to ammend the situation then issue county court proceedings!!

Agree with the above. They've almost certainly also contravened the Sales of Goods act with respect to goods being sold as described. ie They've told you it's been resprayed and it hasn't.


cuprablue

 

[Scotty_b]

Open the bonnet and look at the blackcross member infront of you (above the lights). Does this have any stickers on it? New slam panels dont come with the original car details etc so this would indicate a frontal impact (of course someone may have just peeled the stickers off!)

 

[p1tse]

get them for it!
being lied to! in theory if this happens, they could be taking cars for services, invoicing people and not done the work, same thing really!?

also could it have been a previous track car? and possibly having graphics on them taking the top laquer off when taken off...just a thought

 

[RobM]

Thank you, seriously, for all your ideas! Tomorrow when it's light I'll get outside and check everything mentioned, there are some superb ideas here that I simply wouldn't have thought of!

I'm going to speak to the body shop tomorrow to make sure they took the quotation to the dealer and then, if done, pay the dealer a visit. What happens there will determine the next step I take.

If they agree to have everything sprayed as they should have done in the first place, and they agree to give me a courtesy car while it's being done, then problem solved. I wont be happy about having to go through all this, but at least it gets resolved.

If they argue at all, then I will simply tell them I will be contacting Trading Standards and I will write to them advising which actions I am taking and what I want to happen. If it goes that far, I will also be pushing for expenses compensation too to cover the time, phone calls and effort I've had to put in.

Sound ok?

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate it!

Rob

 

[Reg]

also could it have been a previous track car? and possibly having graphics on them taking the top laquer off when taken off...just a thought

Its a good idea, but wouldn't happen. Its possible that if a graphic or badge was on long enough, it might fade the paint around it and removing the sticker would show a brighter patch. But when taking a sticker off, if it took paint off with it you'd know all about it! It wouldn't just be dull or different colour paint.

 

[RobM]

Well I think I have had a bit of a result today!

I went to the body shop to collect the quote this morning, as I decided I wanted to have deliver it to Inchcape myself. The body shop have basically said there is no way they can get the car looking as it should by only painting the wing and quarter panel, so they have quoted for the following:

Remove near side front and rear doors
Remove near side wing
Remove near side rear quarter panel
Remove all fittings
Replace side fittings and some other bits I forget
Strip back all areas, prepare, prime and paint back to original colour.

They are also going to try and match the colour to existing panels so it doesn't look odd. i.e. they are doing a proper job!

They gave me this quote to take to Inchcape with the total price of.... £912

After a few friendly chats with the sales chap and the manager at Inchcape and after showing the sales chap exactly what the problem was (again...) and explaining what the body shop said, I left it with them on the understanding they would call the body shop today and get back to me with a decision. I also said I absolutely must have a courtesy car when mine is away, or else I'm stuffed for getting to work!

Anyway, an hour or so later I get a phone call to say that Inchcape have accepted the quote and are going to get a firm repair date fixed for the new year when everybody is back to work. It will probably be the second week of Jan and Inchcape have provisionally booked me a courtesy car for that week

So fingers crossed, in a few weeks time I'll be leaving my car with the body shop to have the entire passenger side stripped and re-sprayed! I'll post back here with my thoughts on their work as they are in a good position in Southampton, and good body shops seem rare these days. If they do a good job I'm tempted to have my wheels refurbished by them after

Not a bad day all-in-all really