opinions on this body repair please [non-vw]

[Nate]

the focus has just been delivered back to us after having it's bum repaired after a guy in a 307 ran into it.  at a quick glance it looks tidy, but the closer i look the less impressed i am with the repair. 

it was done by a local-ish vauxhall main agent bodyshop - his insurer's local approved bodyshop.  i didn't ask for the car to go into the place i've always used in the past, as i was reasonably sure they were going to write it off as the boot floor was bent.

question is though, is this an acceptable finish or am i just being a picky bastard?

rough bit on the very corner of the bumper


poor fit and rough bits on the sharp edges of the bumper.  couple of small imperfections in the paint - looks like maybe it was bubbles that popped (hard to make out in pic)




looks like old paint was removed with a grinder, and that's all the prep work that was done before paint.  untidy seam seal (although at least they did use it!)




primer overspray


masking tape stick in paint




quite hard to photograph with a cameraphone, but the paint finish on the boot floor is really bad - lots of dust stuck in the top layer.  i though spray booths were meant to be dust free?  i know this is out of sight, but i think it shows a general lack of pride in their work.


the colour match isn't that good.  all they have painted that you can see is the rear bumper and the panel behind.  surely this should have been blended in to the adjacent panels?

would be grateful of your opinions.  got to give them a call in the morning

[steve]

I'd suggest that's a (poor) pattern bumper. But I'll see if my dodyshop employee housemate can offer anything shortly

[Nate]

I'd suggest that's a (poor) pattern bumper

it does have a ford logo on it inside the wheelarch. that was my 1st thought too ;)

[steve]

Hi there.

Steve's housemate here.

I work for an insurance approved bodyshop myself, and can see your concerns with that repair, and in my opinion they would be grounds to return the car to the bodyshop, if nothing else than to adjust the fitment of the rear bumper, remove overspray on the edge of the quarter and repaint the areas with masking take gunk still present in the paint.

Dependant on the insurer, based on the age of the vehicle, some insurers will request the use of non-genuine or replica parts, such as panels, lights and bumpers. The rule of thumb is if its non prestige, over 3 years old, a non-genuine equivalent part shall be fitted, unless:

1) The insurance approved supplier for non genuine parts (usually Direct Automotive Ltd) is out of stock of an item stipulated to be used in the repair process

or

2) The bodyshop has tried to fit a non-genuine part and found it to be of unsatisfactory quality, and has sent it back to the supplier and used a genuine part.

From your description of the incident I'm guessing the Focus would have, at minimum been put down for rear bumper, rear bumper reinforcer, bumper brackets and a rear panel, with repair time allocated to the boot floor. If the damage was a little more severe I would have said a new tailgate, or time allocated for tailgate repair.

In light of this, the insurance company would have allowed paint and prep of the boot floor, rear panel and bumper (possibly tailgate dependant on severity, I can only guess). Howevre, the boot floor, and rear panel will most likely have been rattle canned in the prep shop, as they are deemed a non visible part of the car, and you aren't allocated time to polish and denib these parts, nor are you allocated much preperation or paint time. This will explain the dull and dusty finish, though in fairness we use the same practices in order to replicate the OE paint finish of these areas, as 9 times out of ten they are only thinly covered with paint and not lacquered.

In terms of what should have been painted in the booth, the rear bumper and tailgate should have been (again if tailgate was repaired). However, you are not allowed or allocated any time to denib plastics, so any spots or dust, etc that get in the paint are often not polished out or any 'peel' in the paint corrected. The reason for this is simply the insurance company wouldnt pay the bodyshop for the time they spent polishing and denibing the rear bumper, so the bodyshop won't have done it.

Looking at the rear panel, grinding marks. This is a down to two things. The panel shop should have filled those surrounding areas, or dressed them better, and the paint shop should have applied a high build primer to those areas, on the basis they would only be putting a thin coat of paint on the rear panel, and not lacquering it.

The bumpers sharp edges and poor fit, to me suggest a pattern replacement that the bodyshop have opted to go with, rather than deciding it fitted poorly and going for an OE parts, however, this could have been down to the fact the car was close to being a total loss, and rather than have it written off by the insurance company having to pay out for an OE bumper, they opted to go for a cheaper part to ensure the car wasnt a total loss (obviously it pays for them to take on a job rather than write one off). The chip on the corner suggests a spot of clumsy fitting in conjunction with poor prep that has caused the paint to chip or flake off on that corner.

To recap, The bumper you can get the bodyshop to try and adjust it, and touch up the corner where the paint has chipped. If you are still not happy with the fit of the bumper, the only option beyond that point is that they fit a genuine Ford rear bumper. The latter may require some phone calls to your insurance company.

The overspray should be an easy job to sort. That shouldn't have slipped through quality control.

The grinding marks and glue left in the paint. They would require the panels to be filled and repainted in my opinion. You can give them the opportunity to sort all these issues out, and if the work is still unsatisfactory, you will need to go to your insuirance company once more.

They may contine to give the bodyshop that carried out the repairs to rectify the issues until you're happy, or they may allow you to take the car to your favoured bodyshop. This process can be long and drawn out though.

I hope this has helped.

Karl.

[steve]

Just to add, dependant on the age of the Focus, replacement, genuine rear bumpers come pre painted from Ford. I just caught your post saying it looked to be a genuine bumper. If it is one of those such cars, the issue for paint would then lie with Ford.

[Old Mac Rocco]

If I had to pay for that they would wait a long time for MY cash.
Shoddy is an understatement.

[Nate]

thanks karl, very helpful post :)

[snathe]

I'm a painter, and have just finished a big job on a focus the same colour (J8 - aquamarine frost iirc?)
The colour match should be 100% spot on with this particular colour, mine was lol. It's all down to the how well the guy who mixes the paint does his job. As for the grinder marks on the rear panel, these should have been prepped and primed ALOT better than this. Even if they are hidden out of sight most of the time! The less than perfect finish on the boot floor is understandable though, as the factory finish here is quite poor in most cases.
The fitment of the rear bumper should be rectified by the bodyshop. Even genuine bumpers can fit badly, worse than some aftermarket items in some cases. How the bumper has been stored can have an effect on the quality of fitment, as bumpers stored for long periods in a bent, or twisted position can be a right pita to fit properly.

[Nate]

just finished a big job on a focus the same colour (J8 - aquamarine frost iirc?)

neptune green met. hated it when we first got it, but it's growing on me.

the bodyshop have collected the car again, and are painting the bumper again, and removing the seam sealer to re-apply it tidily. due back beginning of next week. if they don't get it right this time, we're gonna tell the insurance company we want it sorted out by a decent bodyshop of our choice.

[snathe]

I stand corrected dude Bliddy iPhone screen made it look less blue lol...
Hope they sort it for you!