I just got a fresh paint job this past weekend, and it looks horrid. So bad I wanted to post this in the VIP section so I could use some proper words to describe it.

Back story: I told my brother that I wanted my car painted for my birthday in late April for a car show I've entered. I gave him some money, and it was his job to find a painter. He found one through a friend. This guy, lets call him Max, is a professional painter with 8 or so years experience. He painted my car's roof, rear bumper, and wing mirrors. The roof was done poorly, too thick, contaminants in the clear coat, and the seals weren't pulled back. The rear bumper has drips, and sand in one spot, and the mirror covers contaminants in the clear coat. The whole also has really bad orange peel (worst I've seen). Max was not paid because he has ruined my car.

Now: I got an estimate from a paint shop where another friend of a friend works. They want about $440 to fix this mess. They also said that the mess could not be fixed by wet-sanding because if I sanded the imperfections away, there would be no paint. I'm getting another consult with someone else tomorrow. Meanwhile, my brother is having issues with Max wanting to get paid. We told Max that we'll speak with him in a few days.

At this point, I just don't know what to do. Pay Max and live with the bad paint, or tell him to bug off, pay more (already paid for the paint to get it done the first time) and get it fixed?

 

Sorry to hear about your sub par experience with this painter or body shop.

The reality of it all is body shops can be a nightmare, we have all been thru this at one point or another. But customer service and satisfaction should be priority # 1 by any reputable shop or painter. I believe that if the job does not pass your inspection, you should not be liable for the bill. I would advise him that because of his inferior work, you will need to take it to a competent shop to redo his poor quality work. If he is a good business man he will understand.....if it was a friend deal you may get the bad end of the stick......

I would just move forward and have the other guy refinish it appropriately and get the satisfaction that you were looking for from the beggining!

Just my 2 cents!

 

...pay Max... - $440 and force him to watch what it takes to get it fixed.

oh, and openly forgive your brother too (after he mows your yard), I'm sure he feels really badly right now.

 

Pictures would be king!

But i would pay "Max" and move along. Just because it seems Max is a individual and doesn't seem to own a body shop. Friends of friends is hard to avoid.

 

I think Max is going to get partly paid. I have fully forgiven my brother, and don't blame him because if anything he was as angry as me.

Max may be an individual, but he did mess up some other important things that could have been done properly. Remember, he is also a professional, who should have done professional work. I've actually got two more consults lined up now.

I would post pictures, but it looks fine in the pictures (and it really isn't). When I wash my car later in the week, I'll see if I can't take some bad pictures.

 

Sorry to hear about this paint mess , looking forward to seeing your ride in perfect condition .

 

Well, it's been decided that Max will be partly paid, and the rear bumper and mirrors will remain, but be wet sanded a bit to minimize the EXTREME orange peel.

The roof has to be resprayed because of the issues around the seals (something about buildup of clear coat).

 

first, anything under a $1000 for paint work is asking for rattle can work. Ive sprayed my own vehicles and generally come close to a $1000 in materials alone. primer, sealers, base coat and clear, then more sanding and buffing. Today I saw a Volvo in the shop that look like the hood was sprayed in the sanding booth instead of the pain booth. Ive gotten 100x's less crap in my paint in the driveway.

 

Doesn't this go back a few weeks to where your brother owed you money?

Then he gets a chance to get off the hook if he gets your car painted because he doesn't have the money to pay you back.

At that point, he is going to go the economy route.

Max enters the picture and does the level of work that is called for at $440. He may very well have done differently for $4000.

Now, did the $440 include materials? If it did, do you know how much automotive paint costs? A lot more than house paint.

 

Yes, this does go back to when my brother owed me money, but he has stated that he will pay whatever it costs to fix my roof. We have collectively decided that the work on the bumper and mirrors can be overlooked, so much so that Max was partially paid. So, this isn't a smooth mental trick made by my brother (I think that's what you're getting at).

Max's price wasn't $440, that's a professional shop to do the whole thing (materials +). For 4 grand, he would have ruined the whole car. When Max painted the car, we supplied the paint since I can get it at cost from another friend who sells automotive paint.

The fact still remains as such that Max is a professional who did sub amateur work. I could have done a better job with a spray can.

 

PPssshh, it can't be that bad. I once painted a 944 with Rustoleum and a roller! Outdoors!

 

BINGO, and this is exactly why I end up do almost everything from paint to house repair, wiring, building etc....
I get tired of paying hard earned money to professionals that give work that either I could duplicate for far less, or even do better.........and paint and body work is my biggest issue and why I now have all my own body tools and paint guns

 

Totally agree with you Brutal. Heck, even if you buy all the tools to do the work yourself you are still saving money. I painted a car and buying all the tools and materials, including paint gun etc, and even some test panels to practice on after reading how to's to get a technique, I still didn't pay what the paint job would of cost from a professional who could give two craps about my car. Thats how I think you can tell a true professional is if they show a love of their job and pride, just dont have that too much now-a-days.
I think when its your own stuff you are working on you do it better cause its yours and you want it done right.

That sucks about the bad job hopefully it gets fixed up and everything works out.

 

Well, today's consultant said it could be wet sanded out. I'm more inclined to believe consultant II because they were a very busy shop who said they could still wet sand the car, but the only opening they had was a week after my car show. Consultant I was less busy, and consultant II asked me if consultant I had done the bad paint work! That pretty much kills consultant I and everything they've said.

Tomorrow will be consultant III. If they also vote for wet sanding, I'm going to go for that myself since I was going to sand the bumper and mirrors anyway.

I'll wash the car tomorrow before consultant III and take some photos of the bad work so you guys can see what I'm on about.

 

No, it is simply that this is one of those friend of a friend of a friend of a friend deals.

Add to that the fact that perhaps your brother was not out to spend top dollar. After all, if he had the money, he could have just paid you and let you do whatever you wanted with the money. The fact that he is upset now that the whole thing has turned upside down is immaterial.

Max, like any other professional, would tailor his work to the implied or agreed upon budget and expectations of the customer.

If you ask someone to wash a car for $1 it isn't going to be the same job as $100.

If Max was budgeted for $440, and he wants to make $44/hour, then he only has 10 hours for the whole job from beginning to end no matter how you slice it.

 

First off, we never had a price for Max (the $440 was for consultant I), the goal for him was to make the car look like it did 14 years and some months ago when it left the factory at Browns Lane. Price wasn't an issue, and we told him that, perfection was the issue. My brother and I weren't out to spend top dollar, and if I wanted, he could have given me the money, and I'd have done the work myself (found a painter etc.), but since he has various contacts, I thought it'd be easier for me to let my brother find a painter. Max was only chosen because of his good reputation, and my brother's friend was going to have him paint his truck. Now, everyone is backing off from Max because of his dreadfully sub par work.

 

My 2 cents. I would post Max real name and location, to protect others who may need a repaint. If he is a professional others may be taken as well.

By hiding his real name you are kinda protecting him.

 

See this is the problem I have. I have spent good money on paint jobs. As an example, When I first had my Suburban painted 18 yrs ago, I told the shop owner I wanted factory quality, not show quality. And that entail alot of wet sanding and then buffing to get flat paint. I wanted it to look like it did sitting on the showroom floor in 87. I wanted all the doors pulled and glass taken out and all new seals replaced, and door hinges rebuilt. For that he said $3000, what I got was a $1000 paint job that I made him redo again cause
there where runs, the door jams were dry and no gloss what so ever. I was better the 2nd time but still poor quality and alot of crap in the paint which for being in a booth was terrible. That work cost him 2 other paint jobs that I took elsewhere on other cars. Later when I decided to redo the paint on the sub myself. I pulled the door off to get straight body lines. only to find the hinges were never rebuilt and when I installed new pins and bushings, funny how I had to proeblem getting the doors to line up. I painted the truck in the drive under a portable 10x25 canopy and got excellant results, a few runs I flattened with a nib file for runs, then wet sanded and buffed and the job looked fantastic. took me a week and $1000 in supplies, at that time it took me more than a week to earn the money I saved on the paintjob by doing myself. My point on this is that even though the owner and I agreed on cost and quality the guys doing the work did the same crap work regardless of the money spent. I got a $1000 paint job for $3000 cause thats the kind of work they did. I dont do better work if you pay me more. I do great work cause thats my charector, and work ethic

 

I would love to post Max's real name, but I actually don't know it. Yeah, I forgot.

@Brutal. That's my same issue. We told max that I wanted the car to look like it did 14 years ago when it first left Brown's Lane, price not being an issue. Instead, it looks like he took a roller to the car.

Pictures coming tonight after work!

 

Okay, a bit later than I promised, but I've got photos of my bad paint job.
A photo of the bad blending:

The runs on the bumper:

The clear coat is so thick here that its touching the trim where their should be a gap:

It's really hard to get a photo of the contamnants in the CC, but here's my best shot: