SVX Paint Issues (Gilsons Autobody in Carson)

[sperry]

SVX Paint Issues
- Issues after paint job by Gilson's Autobody, March 2005

Paint Swirls:
- all panels of the car are covered w/ very noticeable swirls


Clear Coat/Paint Quality:
- There is simply *no* clear coat.
- Preparation was inadequate, the paint is already chipping/bubbling



Paint Color:
- Color does not match factory specs, looks purple/faded. Should be a pure "Barcelona Red".

Overcharged:
- Was quoted approx $2950 for paint job (covered by insurance), plus $400 for new grill (out of pocket)
- Was charged approx $4000... $3300 for paint (over estimate w/ no reason), +$700 additional for grill and "additional body work" (that in my opinion was not needed since the car was dent free)
- Was *not* contacted for authorization for additional work, additional work was not mentioned when I contacted them to check on the progress of the work
- Ended up having to pay approx $1100 out of pocket for a repair that should have been covered by insurance except for the new grill

Passenger Side Corner Lamp:
- Lamp not installed properly, bottom half of lamp is not connected, lamp is misaligned

- Lamp weather-stripping is damaged/torn.


Driver Side Corner Lamp:
- Lamp not installed properly, bottom half of lamp is not connected, lamp is misaligned

- Lamp weather-stripping is damaged/torn.


Passenger Side Mirror:
- Overspray on trip
- Damage to trim


Driver Side Over-quarter panel
- Installed improperly, part is loose
- Trim is damaged
- Overspray on trim
- SVX badge missing
Before:

After:


Passenger Side Over-quarter panel:
- Installed improperly, part is loose
- Trim is damaged
- Overspray on trim
- SVX badge missing


Trunk:
- Poor coverage, fiberglass showing through the paint

- Overspray on keyhole trim and rubber gasket


Windshield:
- Overspray on trim


Antenna:
- Not installed properly, antenna is loose


Hood Emblem:
- Emblem not replaced, damaged emblem reused


Passenger Rocker Panel:
- missing attachment pin


Windshield Wiper:
- Driver side wiper arm paint chipped off
- Was in good condition before I dropped the car off for painting




Please note: This thread is being posted for hosting/informational purposes only, if you'd like to comment on it, please start a new thread.

[ScottyS]

Scott, saw that stickied post, dude. HOLY !@#$! You need to borrow any hardware?

[MattR]

Scott, Holy crap man...I didn't realize the low quality of that job was...I'm scared to have my car painted now!

Also, I noticed in the key hole picture, that the paint is really orange-peeled, which comes as a result of an unclean or greasy surface.

What a sham. Gilson's is completely off my list of reputable shops.

[sperry]

Yeah... if it was just one or two things, or if I hadn't been overcharged so much, I would probably have let it slide. But after I washed the car the other day and found more issues, I decided I can't live w/ it as bad as it is.

[Nick Koan]

Well, I guess that knocks Gilsons off my list too.

The paint doesn't look too horrible, until you get close. All the little details add up to a paint job that'll be lucky to make it through next year.

[ArthurS]

People make mistakes (although quite a few in this situation). I would wait to see what can be done to fix these issues. Shops can screw up, but the good ones make everything right in the end. I hope it ends this way.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

People make mistakes (although quite a few in this situation). I would wait to see what can be done to fix these issues. Shops can screw up, but the good ones make everything right in the end. I hope it ends this way.

IMO this looks like a rush job, by a less experienced painter. I doesn't necessarily mean that all the work by the shop will be this flawed, however before a car is released to the owner, someone that is experienced should have inspected it and made sure it was up to snuff.

I know that Gilson's can do good work, since I've seen some of the cars they've painted and they look great. However, in this case, I feel like I was really short-changed.

If Gilson's is willing to re-prep and re-paint the car to correct all these issues, I will feel much better about their commitment to quality, and consider my issues just a fluke.

[khail19]

That's just sloppy prep work all over. Bad masking job, bad surface prep, and rushed work. And not getting new emblems is just wrong.

[ArthurS]

Originally Posted by sperry

IMO this looks like a rush job, by a less experienced painter. I doesn't necessarily mean that all the work by the shop will be this flawed, however before a car is released to the owner, someone that is experienced should have inspected it and made sure it was up to snuff.

I know that Gilson's can do good work, since I've seen some of the cars they've painted and they look great. However, in this case, I feel like I was really short-changed.

If Gilson's is willing to re-prep and re-paint the car to correct all these issues, I will feel much better about their commitment to quality, and consider my issues just a fluke.

By all means I agree with you.

[MikeSTI]

sorry your car had to be the one
that paint sucks!!!

Good Luck with getting it fixed. The thing always to remember is that the shops carry insurance also. don't let him control what the next step is, just start the steps.

[Evo Mike]

exactly.. i mean you paid alot of $$ to get a quality paint job. I'd be pretty pissed and demand that they fix it or legal action will be taken.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Evo Mike

exactly.. i mean you paid alot of $$ to get a quality paint job. I'd be pretty pissed and demand that they fix it or legal action will be taken.

Because the job is guarenteed by the Allstate, I am in the process of getting things squared away. Art's already contacted Gilson's and hopefully they will be cooperative w/ either correcting the situation or refunding me and Allstate for the botched job.

In fact, the reason I posted the pictures was so they'd be hosted for Gilson's to review, not really to start this discussion. I really don't want to bad-mouth Glison's, at least not without giving them the option to make good on the issues.

As I mentioned before, I hope they're willing to correct this situation in which case my opinion of them will be drastically different.

[dknv]

I think the pictures are a good documentary of a badly done paint job. I do hope it gets fixed without alot more hassle for you. I would trust that the Allstate guarantee will see to that.

But the other side of the problem, is that they did not notify you that the amount charged was going up as well.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by dknv

I think the pictures are a good documentary of a badly done paint job. I do hope it gets fixed without alot more hassle for you. I would trust that the Allstate guarantee will see to that.

But the other side of the problem, is that they did not notify you that the amount charged was going up as well.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the law is that a shop can't exceed a quote by more than 10% without customer approval.

10% of $3,300 is $330. They went over by about $700. That especially hurts when I was only expecting to pay about $400 out of pocket. According to my wallet that's exceeding the estimate by about 75%! I even asked if I could pay cash... imagine my surprise when the $400 I was expecting to pay became $1100 to get my car back!

[sybir]

That's craziness, man. There's no f'in way that's a $4k (or $1k) paintjob. At least Maaco only charges you $200 for a taped-over respray with no clear and minimal prep, and doesn't break your shit as well.

[Evo Mike]

Originally Posted by sybir

That's craziness, man. There's no f'in way that's a $4k (or $1k) paintjob. At least Maaco only charges you $200 for a taped-over respray with no clear and minimal prep, and doesn't break your shit as well.

"break your shit as well" hahaha i like that.. flows..

[JC]

Ya they did a horrible job on my parent's Outback. Paint was good, but we had to take it back 3 or 4 times for other shit and it was never fixed that well.

[dknv]

Originally Posted by sperry

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the law is that a shop can't exceed a quote by more than 10% without customer approval.

10% of $3,300 is $330. They went over by about $700. That especially hurts when I was only expecting to pay about $400 out of pocket. According to my wallet that's exceeding the estimate by about 75%! I even asked if I could pay cash... imagine my surprise when the $400 I was expecting to pay became $1100 to get my car back!

I'm no lawyer - but 20% is the way I read this one:

http://www.washoelegalservices.org/carrep.htm

[sperry]

Originally Posted by dknv

I'm no lawyer - but 20% is the way I read this one:

http://www.washoelegalservices.org/carrep.htm

Actually... from that article you posted:

State law requires that upon request by any person authorizing repairs to a motor vehicle, such person shall be given a written estimate of total charges for labor and parts and accessories, and that no charge may be made exceeding the estimated amount by 20% or $40.00, whichever is less, without the consent of the person authorizing the repairs.

So in my case, they're not allowed to exceed $40!! I'd say $700 is somewhat more than $40.

[sperry]

Thread has been merged and moved to the Member's Forum.

Gilson's will be looking at the car tomorrow. Apparently Gilbert wasn't too happy to see my car's issues posted on a public forum. And while I sympathetize w/ the unfairness of posting this stuff w/o giving him a chance to fix the issues, it was posted in a public forum that he does have access to if he'd like to post a rebuttal. Plus, his actions regarding these issues are his actions and if he wants to protect his good reputation, then he needs to ensure the quality of his work the first time, and not only after there are complaints. However, since he isn't happy with the post, it's been moved out of the public forums.

As far as my opinion of the shop... when I talked to Gil today, he seemed very eager to make things right, and upset that I was upset about the quality of the job on the SVX. Hopefully this is genuine concern on his part. Like I said before, I'm willing to give them a shot to make things right, and if they're willing and able to solve all my issues, my opinion of Gilson's will be much improved.

[JC]

Ya well they still never fixed my parents car. In fact they seemed incapable of doing so.

[doubleurx]

In CA, they are not allowed to exceed the estimate by more than 10% without written authorization.

That totally sucks though. It is quite the sloppy job. Maybe they were too busy and just dropped the car off at Maaco!.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

In CA, they are not allowed to exceed the estimate by more than 10% without written authorization.

That totally sucks though. It is quite the sloppy job. Maybe they were too busy and just dropped the car off at Maaco!.

I looked up the actual law on the Nevada state website. A shop is not allowed to charge more than 20% or $100 over the estimate, whichever is less.

However, it's not really the money thing that's bothering me... if all that work really needed to be done, even if I wasn't properly notified, it wouldn't have been an issue if the car looked like it had a $4000 paint job. IMO the car looks like it *was* dropped of at Maaco.

Anyway, I dropped it off at Gilson's this morning. Gil was very enthusiastic about getting the issues I listed taken care of. They are going to repair all the trim and overspray issues, touch-up and color-sand all the chips, re-buff the car to removed the swirls, and get me a set of badges. They should be done on Friday. If the car comes back looking like it's got the $4000 paint job I paid for, then I won't have any problem. If not, well then I'll be contacting Allstate, and it will unfortuantely be their responsibility to deal w/ repairing the car at another location. And I will be calling my credit card company and disputing the charges if that's something that Allstate can't cover.

On a more personal note... I spent about 20 minutes chatting w/ Gil after we discussed the paint job. He's really a good person. He's a car guy just like all of us. It's my opinion that I got screwed because he wasn't able to personally oversee my car. It may not be a good excuse, but I don't think that Gil was intentionally trying to screw me. My problems seem to come more from having to deal w/ the office staff there being out of the loop with regards to my discussions directly w/ Gil. That, and what looks like a "new guy" that painted the car. So while I'll likely never return to that shop, as of now I'm not holding anything against Gil personally.

[tysonK]

Scott's car looks eleventy-billion times better!

[sybir]

Pics?
So they took care of you, Scott?