by "RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
Published 03/13/2017 at 15:56
by "RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
Published 03/13/2017 at 15:56
Tags: rants
STARS: 1
OK....so, anybody remember last year when I took my car to a local garage to get the plastic license plate mounts/grommets replaced as they were spinning in place and I couldn’t get the one-way security screws out?
Well, I was replacing the failing cheap, Chinese LED license plate bulbs in my Accent with some quality Philips LED bulb replacements this afternoon....and noticed that the worst of the scratches that I had touched up with touchup paint paint (the others, I think were only in the clearcoat) is starting to rust through....GREAT.
I just want to get it fixed before the rust spreads so, I emailed a few local body shops and got a quote back from the first one. Care to guess how much the shop quoted to fix this tiny, 2.5cm/1 inch scratch (and potentially the others if they are also rusting)?
$700. SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS.....for a 2.5cm scratch.....WHAT THE HELL MAN? I mean, I am not a professional autobody wizard by any means, but come on....!!! Couldn’t they just sand down the spot with the scratch and repaint it and blend it in as best they could? I don’t care if it’s 100% perfect. Hell, I could buy a pristine used hatch the same color as mine and install it myself for less than $700... 0_o ...
I emailed back and said that seemed vastly overpriced and the guy explained that his reason was the clearcoat they spray over the fix would eventually start to peel if they only did it the “sand the spot down and only repaint that” method rather than repainting the entire panel. Any Oppo body experts agree with that, or was that just BS?
Still waiting to hear back from the other shops I contacted...
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
03/13/2017 at 15:58, STARS: 1
This is standard for a quality body shop. Some don’t like to put their name to inferior work and spot repairs can be very hit and miss. Especially if they’re not experienced at them.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
03/13/2017 at 16:00, STARS: 1
oh dang that is crazy money
"The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock" (jukesjukesjukes)
03/13/2017 at 16:06, STARS: 0
I go searching scrap yards, there should be plenty Accents in them.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
03/13/2017 at 16:11, STARS: 0
I mean, they’re pulling or masking off that entire panel, removing the trim, sanding the clear coat off, and respraying the whole panel, right? That seems like a substantial amount of work and arguably the “proper” fix.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
03/13/2017 at 16:34, STARS: 1
do you know what the overhead is at a body shop? Do you know their rates are capped by insurance companies and have been roughly the same for 30 years?
It’s expensive to operate in the industry, it’s also become littered with regulations over the past 20 years that have contributed immensely to that expense. In the meantime their body labor rates have gone from roughly $32 to $38 an hour and I believe paint labor hasn’t changed at all. In that same span of time the rate at your mechanic’s shop has doubled from an average of $50 to $100?
It’s an industry in which the required skill is very marginalized, skills that are harder to master than most other automotive related jobs. I get the sticker shock, but think about those numbers up there and have another think on it.
That’s one reason I left the industry.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 16:48, STARS: 0
I guess....but I mean, $700 to repair a 2.5cm scratch just seems ludicrous to me. I get that cost for having to respray an entire panel, but for something that minor...is respraying the entire thing REALLY necessary?
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 16:49, STARS: 0
There is a garage down the road from here with an Accent the same model and even color as mine with a front hit - I’d just buy the rear hatch off of them if I had to!
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
03/13/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 1
It isn’t, but some shops just don’t want to do that work. It’s them saying, either pay us to do a full panel or we aren’t interested in your business. For that work and considering you aren’t massively bothered by quality, I’d just go for a budget mobile paint repair company.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 0
I do get that the amount of work involved in respraying the whole panel would warrant $700.....but is that really necessary to redo the entire panel for a scratch an inch long...?
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
03/13/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 1
They wrote a good, thorough, solid estimate. Remove all trim, repair affected area, prime repair area, block primer down, apply sealer, basecoat, then clear the entire panel. Reinstall trim after paint cured.
They’re right about clearing the entire panel, as well. Open blends (melting new clear into undamaged clear) aren’t warrantied by any paint manufacturer, and are against vehicle manufacturer recommendation for refinish by every manufacturer who’s put out a position statement. There isn’t enough material to hold up to environmental conditions if you don’t clear fully. I had some photos of failed blends years ago, you end up with a cloudy, dull halo surrounding the repaired area.
The shape of your hatch makes it awkward, too. There’s no breakpoints to cheat with and avoid painting the upper portion of the hatch.
This Forester, for example, has a removable plastic panel that runs the full width of the gate, allowing me to mask and spray just the lower portion of the gate, were it scratched near the tag as yours is.
Sorry for somewhat late reply, got kidnapped to actually do work related stuff mid post.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
03/13/2017 at 16:57, STARS: 1
I’d imagine this depends on the quality of shop you took it to. A respectable shop that does quality work would likely want to respray the panel as any difference in paint wouldn’t match.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:04, STARS: 0
I do understand where you’re coming from....It just boggles my mind how the cost to repair a scratch the length of one segment of my index finger is $700. Hell, I backed into a guardrail at 50kph after hitting black ice in January 2015 and the cost to repair that damage was $1300...and this scratch is half that?
Very sorry - I’m not trying to be mean or rude, I guess there is a LOT of sticker shock. I know it’s specialized and marginalized work, I do see what you mean, it’s just.....I don’t know how else to say it...how is a 2.5cm scratch costing $700 when I could buy an entire used replacement hatch from the PickNPull an hour away for $100?
I’m just blown away is all. I may just have to let it rust and get a new hatch at some point if this is the case! :(
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:06, STARS: 0
I would, but there are, weirdly, none around here.
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
03/13/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 0
That is strange. To be honest I would usually handle a repair that small myself if quality only needs to be reasonable. Instead of a touch up, get some etch primer, a colour matched spray can and some clear coat. Work a small patch back to the metal, getting rid of the rust. Make sure to progressively rough the paint on the edges of the repair to help blend the new paint. Putting a little rust treat on there helps too. Then hit the bare metal with the primer, wet sand it nice and smooth, then colour and clear. It wont be perfect but with patience it can look pretty good.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
03/13/2017 at 17:15, STARS: 0
I’m not familiar with the part or how much work is required other than the scratch in question so it’s tough to gauge if the price is right or a bit high
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:25, STARS: 1
I guess I see where you are all coming from, it just still boggles my mind. Guess I will have to swallow it if I don’t want it to rust out in coming years. :(
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:27, STARS: 0
I’m not that worried if the paint doesn’t match up 100% as long as the rust is sorted. This is a completely base level model of this car with 115,000kms on it. The resale will be nil anyway when the time comes to get rid of it.
That being said, as cheap and basic as it is, it’s my baby, so I prefer to try and keep it looking respectable, that’s why I want to get the rust fixed before it spreads. Looks like I will have to probably bite the bullet unless I get an entirely different used hatch.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:34, STARS: 0
My issue is that I have never done anything like that before....first time for everything I guess, but where I work 3 jobs at present, I have very little time to get into something that involved :(
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 17:39, STARS: 0
It is just the scratch - there are a few others in that same area by the same shop when they were removing my plate back last year, but the other scratches are not very noticeable, mostly smaller than this 2.5cm one that is rusting, and THEY are only in the clearcoat - I wasn’t going to worry about getting them repaired. I simply wanted this one fixed so the rust wasn’t going to spread.
The part in question is the rear hatch on my 2009 Hyundai Accent hatchback - the scratch is just above the right-top license plate screw. The plastic trim piece above the plate area is removable:
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
03/13/2017 at 17:43, STARS: 0
I wouldnt worry about trying it for the first time, provided you put the research in and such. Time is obviously a big factor though, if you’re that busy getting it done somewhere is the best option. There’s also the potential of going half and half. You do the prep and the primer then leave the difficult paintwork to a shop. May be a good middle ground cost wise.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 18:45, STARS: 0
I can easily remove most of the trim pieces (except the latch and license plate lights as I would need to leave those on to drive the car somewhere) as I’ve taken the interior trim off twice now as that is how the rear plate bulbs have to be changed (from inside). Two of the interior trim pieces from left of and right of the rear windshield have very fragile clips, so I actually don’t have those two in the car as the clips are broken on mine....have to pull some from a salvage yard at some point...
"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
03/13/2017 at 18:56, STARS: 0
It cost $2,500 to fix two softball-sized dents in my Taco. They had to remove the enter bed from the frame, shit like that.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/13/2017 at 19:17, STARS: 0
If they have to remove the bed, I can understand that cost.....I’ve still got another shop left to hear back from and it is the place that repaired my car after my little winter spinout back in Jan. 2015, so I’ll see what they say. There are a few shops to try after them as well.
The $700 quote place mentioned in my post was the place I
turned down
back (out of two) in Jan. 2015 for repairing my car as their quote then was $1700. The other place I had a quote from back then (and the one I am waiting to hear back from at the moment) quoted $1300...pretty big difference. Hopefully they’ll be a little more reasonable for my wallet to swallow!
The things I do to keep a Korean ecobox looking decent and lasting longer...
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
03/14/2017 at 00:23, STARS: 0
find someone that’ll do a spot repair. Used car dealers have these guys on speed dial.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/14/2017 at 08:27, STARS: 0
Still waiting to see what the two other decent shops have for a quote first, but we’ll see....thanks for the discussion though. :)