If a body shop gave you this result, would you make them re-paint?

[Art_CA_4R]

The body shop obtained a brand new bumper and painted and installed it for me, due to someone backing into me at a parking lot. After I picked up the car from them, I saw these scratches and this run of paint or clearcoat that had dried. The black marks are not dirty, they're scratches that went past the paint.

When I pointed this out, they said some excuses about how it's people painting and installing the part, not a machine, so imperfections can happen. I don't buy that; I've seen impeccable paint jobs come out of body shops before and I expected it to come out like new. Am I expecting too much? Would you make them pull this bumper off and repaint it, too, if it was your clean 2018 Limited with 32K miles?

I also noticed the fender panel gap to the bumper cover by the headlight, but that's a Toyota problem I think, as there is a TSB out about that. I'm under the 36K mile limit but over the 36 month limit for the warranty coverage, since it was purchased in July 2018. Bummer.

 

[Too Stroked]

First, I would not accept that paint work - no matter what their excuse is. It's just plain unacceptable. Second, is that an aftermarket bumper cover or OEM Toyota? If fit's like crap - which is par for the course with aftermarket parts. If it is aftermarket - and you agreed to it - it's never going to fit correctly.

Side story on aftermarket bumper covers. A number of years ago, my son crashed my daily driver 2006 Scion xB trying to avoid a deer. Due to the age of the car, my insurance company wanted to put all aftermarket parts on it. I'd read my policy and knew I had the right to demand OEM parts. I agreed to certain aftermarket parts - like the inner fender liner - but said the headlight, bumper cover and fender had to be OEM. They pushed back saying they'd guarantee the CAPA Certified bumper cover would fit perfectly. I agreed, but said I would be the judge of it it was acceptable and they agreed.

So the body shop got all the parts, repaired the damage and painted everything. They prepped and painted the bumper cover off the car because it was easier. When they went to install it, it wouldn't even go on. Not even close. They called the insurance company and they had to pay for an OEM bumper cover, prep and paint. They had to eat the prepped and painted aftermarket cover. I felt so bad - for about 10 seconds.

 

[Art_CA_4R]

First, I would not accept that paint work - no matter what their excuse is. It's just plain unacceptable. Second, is that an aftermarket bumper cover or OEM Toyota? If fit's like crap - which is par for the course with aftermarket parts. If it is aftermarket - and you agreed to it - it's never going to fit correctly.

Funny that you mention your story about the Scion. The shop did get several aftermarket bumper covers and none of them fit, so they ended up getting an OEM Toyota one. The fitment looks worse in the picture than in real life for some reason; the only fitment problem in-person is the gap at the headlight/fender area, and that's due to the Toyota TSB issue. In person, the main eyesore is that paint problem and the scratches. I agree, it has to go back!

 

[Ripper238]

The drip can happen but the scratch is unacceptable. Especially how visible they both are. They need to redo it or make it so you would never notice.

Make sure you are clear on how they are going to fix it though.

 

[rakrak2]

Art_CA_4R,
Sorry to see you get this low level of quality. Not an expert on painting but an old dude who has been through many quality issues with various types of vendors.
One aspect to consider is that this quality may be the best that they can do. Having them re-do it could result in more/other problems added to what you have already. And a do-over could be impacted by their bad attitude about being pressured to do more work. I'd recommend testing their attitude (though it sounds like you have some feedback from them already). If they are saying sorry, don't know how that happened, we'll fix it right away then you might be ok. Otherwise, the do-over quality might be affected by their poor attitude. Sometimes you are better off to take the loss and get a different shop to clean it up.
Good Luck !

 

[Art_CA_4R]

The drip can happen but the scratch is unacceptable. Especially how visible they both are. They need to redo it or make it so you would never notice.

Make sure you are clear on how they are going to fix it though.

They said they will remove the bumper and repaint it. Is that level of detail what I need to know, or do you think they need to provide more?

I wish I could ask them to help me to replace the bumper cover retainers by the fenders that the TSB calls for so that terrible fender gap doesn't show, since they will have the front bumper off anyways. But I think I will just do that myself after I get the 4R back, since they seem to be feeling a bit salty about me requesting to fix these imperfections.

 

[Art_CA_4R]

Art_CA_4R,
Sorry to see you get this low level of quality. Not an expert on painting but an old dude who has been through many quality issues with various types of vendors.
One aspect to consider is that this quality may be the best that they can do. Having them re-do it could result in more/other problems added to what you have already. And a do-over could be impacted by their bad attitude about being pressured to do more work. I'd recommend testing their attitude (though it sounds like you have some feedback from them already). If they are saying sorry, don't know how that happened, we'll fix it right away then you might be ok. Otherwise, the do-over quality might be affected by their poor attitude. Sometimes you are better off to take the loss and get a different shop to clean it up.
Good Luck !

It's kind of in the gray zone, not very clear. They're not being straight-up unhappy and unfriendly about it, but I can tell that they're reluctant to get this fixed. After claiming that the imperfection is within an acceptable range, the service advisor asked, "are you sure you want the whole bumper removed and repainted just for that?". They're still offering to address the issue at no cost to me, but that reluctance was noticeable. When scheduling when to bring the 4R back to do this, I felt the level of courtesy and friendliness was not quite what it was before the initial repair. But I don't think they're flippant enough to come back with another bad job just to spite me. So I think I will give them another shot. I think...

 

[Ripper238]

They said they will remove the bumper and repaint it. Is that level of detail what I need to know, or do you think they need to provide more?

I wish I could ask them to help me to replace the bumper cover retainers by the fenders that the TSB calls for so that terrible fender gap doesn't show, since they will have the front bumper off anyways. But I think I will just do that myself after I get the 4R back, since they seem to be feeling a bit salty about me requesting to fix these imperfections.

That's good enough. Just didn't want them touching it up on you and not telling you.

Yeah, if they are feeling a bit salty I am not sure if asking for help on the fender gap is a good idea. Unless your willing to pay extra for it since you feel bad they have to repaint the whole thing anyway. :hatsoff:

 

[FTRPilot]

The drip in the clear can be addressed by simply wet sanding it out. The scratch not so much. They should have dealt with it before you saw it. Who ever was putting it on saw it....and probably hid it from the boss... Now that you know it's there a repaint is the only thing that will fix it. Not sure how picky you are with your truck, but I'd give them a chance to partially refund you ($200 etc) and touch it up yourself.......but again that is up to you.....

 

[214RUNNER]

I wouldn’t pay for that until it was fixed, that not exceptable for any good body shop any were.

 

[shadow247]

Actual body shop veteran here. That would not have left my shop, I would not have even attempted to deliver that to a customer.

Demand they remove the bumper and repair that properly. It looks like it's scratched through the clear/color, so it will have to be repainted and recleared. They It's also possible there are some underlying issues causing the bumper fitment issues if it's OEM. I have never seen one this bad that didn't have other issues.

That little drip or drop could have been fixed before the bumper was installed, but the scratched was caused by poor handling during installation. Don't accept this.

 

[Jensen735]

In my opinion, its absolutely unacceptable! I wouldn’t pay for that until it was fixed. The drip is almost invisible, but the sctratch, on the dark colour it wouldn't have been be so noticeable. Wouldn’t pay for that until it was fixed properly!