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Hey everyone! I stumbled upon Meguiarsonline.com while trying to fact check what I am being told by an autobody shop doing repairs on my 2018 Outback which was t-boned by a taxi driver running a red light back in February. They have told me some pretty questionable stuff which has led me to question the correctness of explanations I have been given with regards to the refinishing. My car is currently back in the shop for the third time since my accident for several deficiencies. After going through your forums, I thought I had enough knowledge to have a conversation with the manager of the body shop regarding some issues. So when I was pointing out some longer straight scratches in the finish right under where they replaced a window trim piece last time it was in, I added that because I can catch a nail on the scratch it's too deep to buff out. The reply I received was that it was fine to buff out because it really wasn't too deep. Do you know what I said. Nothing. I had nothing to say because I really didn't understand the ins and outs of this type of thing. And this is why I've joined and I'm posting. I know it's tough to offer up insight when you haven't seen the car but if anyone has time to read a little further and maybe give an opinion on if something sounds right and if deficiencies should be corrected the way they are proposing I would be so appreciative of your time.
The background is that my new car after being on road 6 months was in an accident. The car is black in colour (which seems to be of relevance in this saga), and was hit by a Taxi causing damage to drivers side passenger door, rear quarter panel and a bit of damage to drivers door. All in all it was close to $16,000 damage. We have public insurance up here and threshold to write off was not met. Bodywork was finished and painting completed around April 1st. Car went to a mechanic for suspension work, alignment and dynamic control calibration of steering. There were sensor errors that needed to be addressed. 1 was ABS. Other was 2 sensor errors for blind spot warning. It was at mechanic for 43 days, mainly parked outdoors in cold. During this time it snowed 3 or 4 times. On May 21 I was told my car was ready to pick up. I showed up to find there was a bumper clip missing, rear door on drivers side not aligned properly, window trims on drivers side of car were really dinged up compared to passenger side which i assume was because they had to be taken off and reinstalled, and there was an area within the rear trunk area (where I think something was welded) that was not painted. There were also tons and tons of brush marks on the hood of my car and we also found similar marks on the newly painted drivers side passenger door which apparently had been buffed a lot the day before we went to pick up car. Because of the unpainted spot in rear trunk area, they had to repaint much of what had been curing since April 1st. Repainting done and deficiencies apparently completed on June 7th.
Here are my concerns.
1. Brush marks on hood. Not part of the accident and not repainted. Came into conversation with auto body shop manager when she went on and on about how much buffing was required on my car and that she got all of the marks out except the brush mark on the hood. When I asked how they got there she told me I did it. All cars have them but only black cars show them. She showed them to me the day in May when I was first told car was ready to pick up. The car was outdoors at the time and took photos while there. She kept insisting that I made all of the marks. I'm 5 foot nothing and pretty weak. I'm definitely not able to press down hard on a snow brush and only had to brush snow with a brush a few times before accident - I used the "arm" method until I remembered to purchase a brush in January. It was only after I looked at photos I took and saw similar marks on the newly painted door that she backed down and told me they would just buff the marks out on the hood. I asked about losing top coat on the hood and she replied that buffing does not remove top coat. It just moves it around. Is this true when we are speaking about the factory finish top coat? Or even the non fully cured topcoat on my newly painted doors? At the time I didn't know enough to feel the scratches to see how deep they were. Should I be concerned about the finish on the hood now being too thin? Is there a way to tell if it's too thin now?
2. After the repainting done at the start of June, I was stressed about driving a car that had not had time to cure at all. It's an insurance claim and I asked how we would possibly sort out dings and scratches and marks - how can we tell what would not have been there had the repainting in June not been necessary? She replied that the top coat goes on at maximum strength and the curing is only off-gassing. My understanding of curing is it is a chemical process and strength increases over time. Can someone please comment on this?
3. I found scratches on the window trim that look like its from being buffed. I recall seeing in someones post on this sight that someone said that he does not use tape when he buffs his own car but he would if he was working on someone else's. Is it normal for trim to be protected when being buffed? I asked the auto body shop to replace the damaged trim pieces. They said that there's not a problem and they are going to polish these marks out. Should I be concerned about this? Do I have to worry about a protective finish being removed by the polishing?
4. I mentioned early about scratches deep enough to catch a nail in the finish of my car where repairs done. Autobody shop has told me it is fine to buff out as they were not really deep. How does one know if a scratch is too deep to buff. And if a scratch gets buffed out when it shouldn't, what is the consequence? How can one tell after the fact?
5. Ghosting. I don't know what this is really called but as the weather here got hot and the second paint job started to cure, I started seeing hazy opaque spots start to come out. Several. At first I thought it was buffing compound that I didn't notice at first but it is not. Autobody shop has told me that it's perfectly normal for these hazy spots to occur when paint cures. Again, it's because my car is black I see them. I was told it was from dust and impurities from when they painted. Not a big deal, they said they would just polish them out. Do all cars get these spots when curing? If not, what is it? What is the correct way to deal with it?
6. Buffing mark, buffing marks and buffing marks. Will I always have a portion of my car be swirly twirly in bright light? When I tell the autobody shop that my expectation is that I have the same finish as pre accident (only 6 months on road and still new car beautiful), they start telling me how all black cars are covered in marks. Mine was not. As can be seen on the undamaged passenger side of vehicle. Always a touchless car wash, always parked way in the middle of nowhere in order to avoid door dings. Is there any way they can get rid of these buffing marks?
For anyone who has stuck with me this long, I thank you. I am going to try and attach photos of the ghosting and an example of scratched trim. Don't hate me though, I downloaded an app to my phone so I could try to decrease photo size but it don't think it worked. I have no personal computer so I'm trying to make due with what I have.
Any insight or observations that you would care to share would be so appreciated. I am grateful.
I just tried to insert photos that I had uploaded to my gallery here. Looks like I don't have permission to post an attachment. They are in my gallery though if you can find it from my user name. Sorry!
The background is that my new car after being on road 6 months was in an accident. The car is black in colour (which seems to be of relevance in this saga), and was hit by a Taxi causing damage to drivers side passenger door, rear quarter panel and a bit of damage to drivers door. All in all it was close to $16,000 damage. We have public insurance up here and threshold to write off was not met. Bodywork was finished and painting completed around April 1st. Car went to a mechanic for suspension work, alignment and dynamic control calibration of steering. There were sensor errors that needed to be addressed. 1 was ABS. Other was 2 sensor errors for blind spot warning. It was at mechanic for 43 days, mainly parked outdoors in cold. During this time it snowed 3 or 4 times. On May 21 I was told my car was ready to pick up. I showed up to find there was a bumper clip missing, rear door on drivers side not aligned properly, window trims on drivers side of car were really dinged up compared to passenger side which i assume was because they had to be taken off and reinstalled, and there was an area within the rear trunk area (where I think something was welded) that was not painted. There were also tons and tons of brush marks on the hood of my car and we also found similar marks on the newly painted drivers side passenger door which apparently had been buffed a lot the day before we went to pick up car. Because of the unpainted spot in rear trunk area, they had to repaint much of what had been curing since April 1st. Repainting done and deficiencies apparently completed on June 7th.
Here are my concerns.
1. Brush marks on hood. Not part of the accident and not repainted. Came into conversation with auto body shop manager when she went on and on about how much buffing was required on my car and that she got all of the marks out except the brush mark on the hood. When I asked how they got there she told me I did it. All cars have them but only black cars show them. She showed them to me the day in May when I was first told car was ready to pick up. The car was outdoors at the time and took photos while there. She kept insisting that I made all of the marks. I'm 5 foot nothing and pretty weak. I'm definitely not able to press down hard on a snow brush and only had to brush snow with a brush a few times before accident - I used the "arm" method until I remembered to purchase a brush in January. It was only after I looked at photos I took and saw similar marks on the newly painted door that she backed down and told me they would just buff the marks out on the hood. I asked about losing top coat on the hood and she replied that buffing does not remove top coat. It just moves it around. Is this true when we are speaking about the factory finish top coat? Or even the non fully cured topcoat on my newly painted doors? At the time I didn't know enough to feel the scratches to see how deep they were. Should I be concerned about the finish on the hood now being too thin? Is there a way to tell if it's too thin now?
2. After the repainting done at the start of June, I was stressed about driving a car that had not had time to cure at all. It's an insurance claim and I asked how we would possibly sort out dings and scratches and marks - how can we tell what would not have been there had the repainting in June not been necessary? She replied that the top coat goes on at maximum strength and the curing is only off-gassing. My understanding of curing is it is a chemical process and strength increases over time. Can someone please comment on this?
3. I found scratches on the window trim that look like its from being buffed. I recall seeing in someones post on this sight that someone said that he does not use tape when he buffs his own car but he would if he was working on someone else's. Is it normal for trim to be protected when being buffed? I asked the auto body shop to replace the damaged trim pieces. They said that there's not a problem and they are going to polish these marks out. Should I be concerned about this? Do I have to worry about a protective finish being removed by the polishing?
4. I mentioned early about scratches deep enough to catch a nail in the finish of my car where repairs done. Autobody shop has told me it is fine to buff out as they were not really deep. How does one know if a scratch is too deep to buff. And if a scratch gets buffed out when it shouldn't, what is the consequence? How can one tell after the fact?
5. Ghosting. I don't know what this is really called but as the weather here got hot and the second paint job started to cure, I started seeing hazy opaque spots start to come out. Several. At first I thought it was buffing compound that I didn't notice at first but it is not. Autobody shop has told me that it's perfectly normal for these hazy spots to occur when paint cures. Again, it's because my car is black I see them. I was told it was from dust and impurities from when they painted. Not a big deal, they said they would just polish them out. Do all cars get these spots when curing? If not, what is it? What is the correct way to deal with it?
6. Buffing mark, buffing marks and buffing marks. Will I always have a portion of my car be swirly twirly in bright light? When I tell the autobody shop that my expectation is that I have the same finish as pre accident (only 6 months on road and still new car beautiful), they start telling me how all black cars are covered in marks. Mine was not. As can be seen on the undamaged passenger side of vehicle. Always a touchless car wash, always parked way in the middle of nowhere in order to avoid door dings. Is there any way they can get rid of these buffing marks?
For anyone who has stuck with me this long, I thank you. I am going to try and attach photos of the ghosting and an example of scratched trim. Don't hate me though, I downloaded an app to my phone so I could try to decrease photo size but it don't think it worked. I have no personal computer so I'm trying to make due with what I have.
Any insight or observations that you would care to share would be so appreciated. I am grateful.
I just tried to insert photos that I had uploaded to my gallery here. Looks like I don't have permission to post an attachment. They are in my gallery though if you can find it from my user name. Sorry!
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