Standsrd of Paintwork Repairs

[barriecrampton 6]

I'm of the opinion that the standard of paintwork repairs are getting worse, in fact some of them ate so bad that they actually devalue the car more than if it had come in with damage, its a lot easier to do the repair right in the first place than it is to rectify a repair thats been done by some incompetent half wit who, i cant believe that privates actually accept this shoddy workmanship, in effect they pay for it twice , once when its done, and again when they trade their car in, whats happening?

[James Baggott 227]

I don't know Barrie. The work the team at Fix Auto UK did on the Project Peugeot restoration was superb. Someone at the manufacturer actually told me the respray was better than how the paint would have looked out of the factory!

[Guest]

Surely it's a case of paying what for what you get? There must be massive fluctuation in the cost of work and therefore in the end results? Maybe there should be some sort of regulation in place that uses a grading system to evaluate work? 

[James Baggott 227]

I think it has a lot to do with insurers screwing down the cost of repairs. Corners get cut...

[Andy Entwistle 96]

The problems Seem to be with substandard smart repairs. The guys that turn up on site to repair vehicles can never get the same quality of finish as a body shop with the right environment. Repairing a car in a tent on a forecourt is a short term solution, the paint finish will absorb moisture and simply won't last.

 

Sadly more and more unscrupulous dealers are carrying out cheap repairs, which look great while its on the forecourt, but 6 weeks later, it starts to dull and the customer ends up with a shody repair needing to be properly sorted...

[umesh 336]

sadly giving all of us a bad name! I've only ever tried smart repairs a hand full of time EVEYTIME disaster , I stick to my body shop cots a bit more but proper job no issues and most of these cars come back in part exchange a few years on !

 

Saw a 'nearly new' car recently supplied by a main dealer - shocking 'smart' repair on such a new car felt so sorry for the poor customer who had just bought it !!

[James Baggott 227]

I don't know. I've had some brilliant smart repairs done on my car. There are some really good firms out there doing it well - you can't tar all smart repairers with the same brush. The problem is some are a lot worse than others. If it wasn't for smart repairs my alloy wheels would look pretty bad...

[Jon Reay 4]

It probably varies case-by-case a bit too. Some of the scratches we had on Bagg's project Peugeot 205 were so deep that you could STILL see them when it was stripped back to the bare metal. That kinda stuff is never going to be fixed quickly. 

[dan sellen 15]

We probably only have ourselves to blame, we all want work done for 'cheaper' and as quick as possible. Cheapest isn't always cheapest!

[James Baggott 227]

That's true. Everyone wants speed. But there are some really good smart repair firms out there. It's interesting to hear that you guys suffer from different levels of service. I'm surprised there's no industry standard?

[barriecrampton 6]

i was looking at a repair on a mini door, firstly the repair was awful, well actually it was pathetic, the paint was the wrong colour, it had been masked badly, there was paint all over the door trim, which actually clips off in seconds, the paint and laquer were already starting to peel off round the door handle, as the surface obviously hadnt ben flatted or degreased properly, the car would retail at £6000 but with the door like that, i doubtt if it would ever sell at all, every single bit of the repair was shoddy and unnacceptable at any price, yet someone, somewhere has signed a satisfaction note, then jumped in it and driven off

[Philip Raby 7]

My experience of smart repairs is that they look great for a while but don't last - a few months down the line you can see where the repair was done.

[Paul Stewart 8]

Has anyone had any dealings with Chips Away ? 

 

Seen a couple of repairs that look good, including a dash repair. 

[James Baggott 227]

I haven't dealt with Chips Away for some time - but I have used Revive. They're brilliant and the standard of their repairs is top class. They've done wheels and paintwork on my car and the repairs were invisible and they still are today

[Paul Stewart 8]

I have heard of Revive, and for that matter Chips Away through a franchise magazine. Always thought it was a good idea as people always need repairs to cars etc but never been in a position to front up the crazy buy in price to become a franchisee. 

[Andy Entwistle 96]

I've seen varying quality of chips away work, as with most of this stuff, it comes down to the nut at the end of the tool. A good franchise, with good experience can do good work, someone new or looking for high volume quick stuff, will leave you disappointed !

 

For small stuff these guys "can" do good work, but i think many dealers are trying to smart stuff thats simply too big.