Clear Coat Sanded Through by Bodyshop!

[the_invisible]

As some of you may have already know, I was having issues with windshield adhesive/urethane being dropped on my car while the dealer was replacing my windshield a while ago.

I went back to the dealer's sister bodyshop to have them repair the problem their sister company had done on my car. They agreed to remove the adhesive/urethane by wetsanding the affected area.

After the wetsanding procedure, the adhesive spots were removed. However a highly visible indentation of the adhesive remained in the affected area of the paint.

In one particular spot, a patch of clear coat is missing from the paint. When I waxed over the area with the missing clear coat, pigment of paint is transferred from body to the application pad.

I talked to a lawyer and he advised that I sent a formal letter to intimidate the bodyshop. I will not have them touch my car, instead I will have the affected panels repainted.

What do you guys think I should do?

[Ryan L.]

Re: Bodyshop Sanded Through Clear Coat. Legal Action Required?

Seems legit. I would see if the body shop will replace/repaint those panels at no charge before taking legal action.

Its going to cost you more money than its worth to sue them.

Talk to the body shop and see what happens then go from there.

Ryan

[the_invisible]

Re: Bodyshop Sanded Through Clear Coat. Legal Action Required?

After having a dinner with my family and some quiet time to meditate about it, I think, at this point, the best course of action is to talk to them politely. I figured that if I confront them aggressively, they may do a horrible job in retaliation. On the other if I approach them in a polite manner, they would be more willing to resolve the issue. Does this logic make sense??

Do you think a patch of missing clear coat the size of a penny a major issue? It is not too noticeable.

[Ryan L.]

Re: Bodyshop Sanded Through Clear Coat. Legal Action Required?

After having a dinner with my family and some quiet time to meditate about it, I think, at this point, the best course of action is to talk to them politely. I figured that if I confront them aggressively, they may do a horrible job in retaliation. On the other if I approach them in a polite manner, they would be more willing to resolve the issue. Does this logic make sense??

Do you think a patch of missing clear coat the size of a penny a major issue? It is not too noticeable.

Yes it makes perfect sense. If you go in there yelling and screaming at them then they aren't going to go out of their way to fix the problem.

If you explain to them what happened, show them the problem hopefully they will be understanding and repaint the panel.

Your very last option should be legal action, but if you have to go that way then I guess if you have to.

And yes a missing patch of clear coat could spread further.

Do you have any pictures of it to post so we can make sure it is clear coat missing and not just etching?

Ryan

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Bodyshop Sanded Through Clear Coat. Legal Action Required?

A calm and rational approach is the best way to get this resolved. Any decent body shop, prides itself on the quality of it's work and will be anxious to correct the defect to your satisfaction. I think they would still do a professional job even if you went the intimidation route, but why make the whole thing unpleasant when it's likely not necessary? Chances are they will bend over backwards to accommodate you if you approach them with respect. They might even throw in little extras in appreciation like wrangling a good deal for you on a rental or maybe even some free courtesy work at a later date.

[the_invisible]

Re: Bodyshop Sanded Through Clear Coat. Legal Action Required?

Thanks for the advice fellas.

Do you have any pictures of it to post so we can make sure it is clear coat missing and not just etching?

Ryan

Does etching cause paint to transfer from the body to the applicator pad? If so, then I guess I shouldn't worry about it. I rather this be etching than clear coat missing. Seriously.
On a second thought, the spot might be etching because of the rounded shape.
here are the pictures:

Paint Transfer with ScratchX 2.0 and High Rubbing Pressure:















As you can see, the the spot I am suspecting to be clear coat being sanded through is round. When I run my finger across the affected spot with my eyes closed, I couldn't fee any ridges or unevenness on the paint.
This may be edtching, and I hope it is.

After doing some research on etching in this thread How To Remove Water Spots off Automotive Paints

I find that the spot I am having an issue with is similar to this type of etching:

[Ryan L.]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

From those pictures, I can't see anything wrong at all. Maybe somebody else can?

Also from the looks of your pad, that could be dirt or product causing the different color on the pad.

Silver is such a hard color to tell if it's paint transfer or surface dirt.

Hopefully somebody else will reply because I can't see anything wrong in those pictures.

Ryan

[NiNe STaR SHiNe]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

Hi,


I kept telling myself to not get involved here but IMHO I felt this might get you pointed in the right direction at least. Unless I`m incorrect. (have had issues with hard water spots/removing them in the past) And since they fixed the area then what IMO it looks like a water spot/bird poop etching that you might not have seen before washing and did not remove all of while washing/drying or you removed it all and it is just residue that etched into the clear and I say this because I noticed in a few of the pics that you have water spots on the glass.


The one on the hood/panel should be easy to remove by hand which is I think they say to use Scratch-X 2.0, not by machine and cutting pad. IMO you need precision pressure here with a foam applicator pad, microfiber applicaor or for what I`m told will give more bite is terry cloth to remove the spot and this may take 3-4 or even more passes with MSX 2.0. depending on the pressure you`re using, how long it has etched into the surface and many other variables. Just remember to put little passion behind the pad and try not to buff down to a polish until you have made a few passes.



Give this a try and let us know how it turns out, also if you want, get a pic of this "etching" in sun light BEFORE you do anything else to it and someone might be able to give you even better advice/procedures/products to use.

[the_invisible]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

Hey guys, the area is actually very clean, so I am very certain that the pigments on the pad is indeed paint. It could have been etching. Does the above look like the clear coated is being sanded through? After second thoughts, I don't think it is, because the surface is absolutely smooth. I tried rubbing it with different types of polishes, including Ultimate Compound. That was when I started discovering the paint transfer. It isn't severe, but it's noticeable when I rub hard enough. Although it is hard to tell from these pictures, the affected spot is noticeably dull under certain lighting condition. It is very much like etching.

After some meditating, I figured that the bodyshop may have used some very strong solvent in an attempt to remove the windshield adhesive from the paint. The use of solvent may have etched into the clear coat. Although the area isn't missing an entire patch of clear coat, pores may have been developed in the clear coat through the use of strong solvent. In that case, it would be really hard to get the bodyshop responsible.

The waterspots on the windshield are actually quik detailer. Water etching has never been a problem for me due to where I live.

[NiNe STaR SHiNe]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

sooooooo, no sunlight pics????


it IS VERY light...the chevy in my avatar right now had SEVERE water spots on the roof most of them about the size of a quarter or 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch some were a lot smaller and a few were 2-2 1/2 inches by whatever they were, but it took 4 applications of scratch-x 2.0 to get rid of them. and now the roof looks GREAT!

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

The last couple pictures look like possible burn-through to me. It is very slight.

[the_invisible]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

The last couple pictures look like possible burn-through to me. It is very slight.

That could be a possibility. I never thought about that. However, I think burn-through creates an obvious unevenness in the paint. This one is flat and I couldn't feel any ridges whatsoever. It could possibly be a burn-through, or an etch. I remember trying to remove some sanding marks by hand in that area. Could M105 and high pressure using a thumb cause a burn through? I doubt I burnt through the paint myself, but there's probably a 1% chance that I did. Let's just say I was a little passionate with my thumb trying to remove the sanding marks... :S


I wonder if it will spread...............?

Kind of ironic that my daily driver is actually in better condition than my pride and joy...

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

That could be a possibility. I never thought about that. However, I think burn-through creates an obvious unevenness in the paint. This one is flat and I couldn't feel any ridges whatsoever. It could possibly be a burn-through, or an etch. I remember trying to remove some sanding marks by hand in that area. Could M105 and high pressure using a thumb cause a burn through? I doubt I burnt through the paint myself, but there's probably a 1% chance that I did. Let's just say I was a little passionate with my thumb trying to remove the sanding marks... :S


I wonder if it will spread...............?

Kind of ironic that my daily driver is actually in better condition than my pride and joy...

Missing clear is missing clear- whether it was from the etching, the sanding, the polishing, or the most likely...a combination of the three!

That said, you do not know how much the body shop sanded or buffed on that. It could have been on the very verge of burn through by the time you got started. So, yes, M105 by hand in this case could have been the straw to break the camel's back.

As for the "unevenness" of the paint...you won't feel ridges because it is such an insanely gradual change. Think about it... the sanding and buffing wouldn't create a ridge... it would just slowly lower the whole area. The missing clear just happens to be the lowest point.

***DISCLAIMER**** This testing method likely WILL further the damage to the car!!!!

***DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO REPAINT THE ENTIRE AREA**** A way to see if it is a burn-through would be to continue applying M105 to the area. If it keeps spreading, you know the problem.

[the_invisible]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

Rubbed it lightly with ScratchX 2.0 to confirm.

Indeed, more color transfer. and the spot becomes bigger. This is unacceptable.
I have put the applicator pad in a plastic bag to document this to the bodyshop.

Should I head the bodyshop directly next week or call them first?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Etching or Wetsanded Through Clear Coat?? Picture Below.

Rubbed it lightly with ScratchX 2.0 to confirm.

Indeed, more color transfer. and the spot becomes bigger. This is unacceptable.
I have put the applicator pad in a plastic bag to document this to the bodyshop.

Should I head the bodyshop directly next week or call them first?

I would call them to document it ASAP.