Brad in FLA

I just had my rear bumper and driver side rear quarter panel repaired and painted after a minor parking lot incident (he didn't have insurance so I had to pay my $250 deductible on the $600 repair bill :-(

After closely looking at the work done (in direct sunlight) a few flaws caught my eye. I have silver metallic paint and the repainted portion of the car has probably 1/2 the "sparkles" than the rest of the car. This causes the repainted portion, although the same color, to appear somewhat duller. Also, there are 4 or 5 imperfections in the new paint with what looks like very small particles/dirt in the paint which results in little raised bumps.

I doubt anyone would notice either of these problems unless they are pointed out. The place I had the work done is the high end shop in town and made it clear if I wasn't 100% satisfied to let them know at any time down the road. Are these kind of flaws inevitable with any body shop or should the repairs be a lot closer to the original factory finish? As of now I'm up in the air whether to take the car back and see if they can do better or just be satisfied with the job done. Any and all insight is appreciated.

djnelsen

make sure you find a REALLY good body shop

Pizzicato

If you can see flaws in their work so can others

mangelo

and I fully agree with "pourboire", if it's not factory go back and ask questions. my car goes back in, for the third time, to have the side repainted. Aside the shop's bigger issue(s) they also had some small imperfections like you speak. I was surprised as they were able to remove most of them by color sanding and/or re-polishing. I'd go back and just show them. They'll do one of two things, fix it, or tell you you're some kind of crazy Audi nut. As for the flake/dullness issue, it apparently depends on many factors to get a good silver match. I've heard so much crap, I've basically accepted that in some light it will never match and in others it'll look fine. The depth and clarity of factory rocks...the new stuff look similar, but not quite as good. If it's killing you, stop by another shop and get a professionals opinion?

btw...my insurance co. had an inspector who looked over the car. It was great because thats the person who deals with the shop. If the inspector feels you have a valid complaint, you'll defiantly get it fixed.