C5Z... now with headers... post 410

[jpalamar]

Police report finally came in. Other guys insurance accepted 100% liablity. Nationwide refunded me my deductable.

Didn't hear back from Excel about our tentitive appointment on Friday. Called my insurance adjuster and left a message with him about my out of pocket expenses for the rental and about replacing my front tire, rear wheel?, and the smal scuff still on my rear bumper were it meets the rear fender.

[AWD GS]

just show up on friday at the shop. the longer you wait, the harder its going to be to claim.

[jpalamar]

My insurance adjuster called me back. Said he never heard from Excel and he is calling right now to set up a time and will let me know what time they set up.

[jpalamar]

Excel called back. Appt scheduled for 8AM on Tuesday to look at the car. They said my adjuster doesn't need to be there.

[The01Cav]

Good luck with everything, I hope it gets figured out.

[jpalamar]

Did my oil change. Got just over 9000 miles on this one. Mobil 1 Extended and a Purolator filter.

[VETTE_50_TH]

[AWD GS]

hope your appointment goes well and they agree to fix the problems

[EklipzGSXkid]

Goodluck today!

[jpalamar]

I went to the shop today.


Per our discussion:

1. Shop advised the paint color is correct and was blended properly on the panels(they took them off and painted where it needed and blended, then clear the whole panel and reinstall). They say the reason it looks like it doesn't match is because I'm comparing 10 year old clear to new clear. They advised if I take it to a detail shop and have paint correction done it would make it look alot better. Doesn't make any sense to me but I'll be getting the opnions of a detail shop and another body shop to verify. Can't see how its industry standard to have cars not match. There is a difference between swirles and the wrong tint IMO.

2. Shop said anything they didn't do right is going to be fixed: overspray and paint imperfections.

3. My insurance will not pay for a new tire because it isn't damaged and only has cosmetic damage. Really pissed me off because the tire is less then a month old before the accident and was perfect. If it would of been a tire that was old I wouldn't realyl care... but now I get to look at this for the next 40k miles.

4. Adjuster is going to look at pictures he took previously to see if the rear bumper damage was there and just overlooked.

5. Hard to tell if the rear wheel is accident related or not. It could be me just being paranoid.


They will call me back with what was decided with insurance and give me an estimate to review.

[DocWalt]

IIRC they painted the tire... Paint thinner rubbed on the spots should take them off, but don't overdo it.

FWIW a lot of this same BS poor quality work was done on my dad's van at another shop in our area. Seems like a lot of the big body shops around here just flat out suck.

[jpalamar]

There wasn't paint on the tire. It rubbed from impact. It was there the second I pulled over. Not damage from the paint shop.

[DocWalt]

Ah, ok. That's bull**** then, they should have replaced it. I'd bitch and moan until they did, but I'm an asshole

[Zaior]

Now from what I have read Yellow is a difficult color to work with, but I had a part of my bumper repainted over the summer, and even I the owner can not see where the new paint starts. My car is 12 years old as well.

[ITSTOCK]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

I went to the shop today.


Per our discussion:

1. Shop advised the paint color is correct and was blended properly on the panels(they took them off and painted where it needed and blended, then clear the whole panel and reinstall). They say the reason it looks like it doesn't match is because I'm comparing 10 year old clear to new clear. They advised if I take it to a detail shop and have paint correction done it would make it look alot better. Doesn't make any sense to me but I'll be getting the opnions of a detail shop and another body shop to verify. Can't see how its industry standard to have cars not match. There is a difference between swirles and the wrong tint IMO. GGoing to be getting expert opinions from a Corvette resoration place and good detail shop.

2. Shop said anything they didn't do right is going to be fixed: overspray and paint imperfections.

3. My insurance will not pay for a new tire because it isn't damaged and only has cosmetic damage. Really pissed me off because the tire is less then a month old before the accident and was perfect. If it would of been a tire that was old I wouldn't realyl care... but now I get to look at this for the next 40k miles.

4. Adjuster is going to look at pictures he took previously to see if the rear bumper damage was there and just overlooked.

5. Hard to tell if the rear wheel is accident related or not. It could be me just being paranoid.


They will call me back with what was decided with insurance and give me an estimate to review.

The biggest problem you have, is problem 1.

It's really not the shops fault. Unless you respray the entire car, it's nearly impossible to match a sun-faded color, especially yellow. I'm not sure why you are having such a hard time understanding that.

It sucks, especially since the accident wasn't your fault, but that is the truth. You're obviously free to get other opinions, but I think it's time to move on and live with it. DO detail the car and see if it brings the old paint back to life at all.

[jpalamar]

It def sucks more because I wasn't at fault for the accident... but saying the paint doesn't match because its the cars fault just doesn't seem like an acceptable answer to me.

But by your logic every car that is 10 years old should just be totaled for minor fender benders because they can't match paint to pre-accident condition?

Personally, if I would of been told upfront that they couldn't match it... I would of just not had them do anything.

[VETTE_50_TH]

Sounds eerily familiar.

[Zaior]

If I were you. I would trade it for a slightly modded Green solara.

[slowZ]

Yea I have a shop and that doesn't seem acceptable to me if I get a problem color such as yellow a proper repair but not always done is to paint the area clear the area once then re clear the entire panel so u don't get a lot of clear build up on edges and change depth perception to adjacent panels. Obviously any color will fade but being some one who takes pride in there work I would have buffed the surrounding panels to see if it wasn't going to come back to life then I would have brought it to the customers attention and seen of he wanted to take the repair a Lil further. To me the shop just did what the estimate said but in this business u have to go a Lil further to keep customers happy! But like I said earlier I take great pride in what I do some people just do it for a pay check

[ITSTOCK]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

but saying the paint doesn't match because its the cars fault just doesn't seem like an acceptable answer to me.

First, when things like this happen, existing disparities are only amplified. So under certain light, different body panels DO look different, and they always did. Some people just don't notice...until something comes up where they start to nitpick. And as far as nitpicking goes, I don't blame you one bit on the legitimate concerns that you have (overspray being the big one).

Why is that not an acceptable answer to you though? You can only get so close when blending, as cloning natures work on various materials is just about impossible. I think that with paint correction/a good detail, you will be surprised at how close it really is, new paint/clear when compared to old paint/clear.

Basically, the shop brought the damaged area to new. I can't tell from the pictures how much they blended in to existing panels, if they did. But you would pick that out too. They can't duplicate "used" colors. If you wanted them to duplicate the faded yellow (I'm NOT saying that your paint is noticeably faded, just as a technical term compared to new) that a used car has, maybe you should have just kept the existing damage.

But by your logic every car that is 10 years old should just be totaled for minor fender benders because they can't match paint to pre-accident condition?

It's not "my logic". You are talking about a minor cosmetic DIFFERENCE (note, not problem, not defect, not damage) between the new paint and the old paint. Some paints age differently, and on most any car available, you can tell where a car has been painted/repainted.

I don't really understand your parralel on why an INS company should total a car because the new paint isn't a 100% match to the old paint, nor do I understand why you feel that a car that had a very minor accident, that included a couple of panels repainted, entitles you to get an entire paint job. I know that's already been posted in this thread, I just don't get why you aren't understanding that.

Personally, if I would of been told upfront that they couldn't match it... I would of just not had them do anything.

Fair enough. even if I don't understand your logic. A LOT of people sell their cars after minor incidences because they start realizing everything "wrong" with the car, even though they aren't usually noticeable to others. After looking at all of the pictures closely in this thread, and your critique of the car, I don't personally think that you'll ever be happy with the car again (I've been through it before), so I suggest you sell it and move on. But first, at least take their advice and get paint correction done on the entire car. The new owner will appreciate it even if you don't.