Need suggestion on where to take my car for painting/fixing

[Charger_Killer]

Hi,
2 months back when I was stopped at red light someone hit me from behind. I took my car to one of the service station GEICO recommended for inspection. After inspection I took the car to DODGE showroom and left my car at the service station. My car is 1 yr old and I dont trust the one geico recommended. The service station fixed my car and unfortunately few days back again when I was backing up my car someone hit my car. According to book rule they said its my mistake. Anyhow again I took my car to Geico recommended service station for inspection. After looking at the damage they said the one who worked(new bumper + paint) on your back bumper first time did not do it properly. I checked with the station who did the fix for the first time, but he is saying that is how the paint is, if it hits it will be like that. What if my car hit something and each time I need to paint if they do painting this way? If it is minor damage I can ignore but what if the paint goes off even it is minor hit in future?
So I am bit confuse to whom I should get my car fixed? I trusted the service station since it is DODGE's.
Please let me know if I am not clear on any part.

[bill440rt]

Whoever did the prep work on that bumper cover previously did not do it correctly. The paint should not have cracked/flaked like that.
That shows 1) The bumper was not scuffed properly, and 2) A flex additive may not have been added to the paint.

Shop around.

[myk]

You will have to shop around, and ultimately your choice will most likely be a shot in the dark.  Body shops can, IMO, be the most unsavory people in the automotive industry.  Why?  Because their work is easy to pass off as quality when the reality of their work may not actually surface for an unspecified amount of time-just like your rear bumper did just now.  Talk to local car people in your area and see if you can meet up with a shop that has a good repuation on the streets.  I think this will be the only way you can stand a chance of getting quality work done, but then again that's assuming your insurance will work with whatever shop you choose. 

As for taking a "Dodge" to a "Dodge" place?  It doesn't matter.  In my experience body shops at dealerships aren't directly connected with Chrysler, Dodge or whatever, rather the dealership rents out the place to a private body shop/business, and there may be a financial arrangement between the two parties that benefits the both of them; there ain't no such thing as rewarding brand loyalty anymore...

[Ghoste]

And flat rate shops, such as dealerships, encourage quick and dirty by the very nature of the pay structure.

[myk]

And flat rate shops, such as dealerships, encourage quick and dirty by the very nature of the pay structure.

Yes, I didn't even think of that as well...

[Charger_Killer]

Thank you all for your valuable comments. I will take car to the same guy and see what he will respond. According to Geico inspection they are planning to paint half of the bumper but I don't want to fix that way. Really it is very hard to deal with these guys even the service stations at showroom.
Thank you all again.

[myk]

Half of the bumper?   

Body work is SOOOOO shady...

[bill440rt]

Half of the bumper?   

Body work is SOOOOO shady...

That has nothing to do with shady bodywork, myk. That was specified by his insurance company.
The body shop is not bound to repair the vehicle as per the insurance company's estimate, and neither is the customer. It is only what the insurance company is paying.
(Just my outside opinion here, but I would definitely be speaking to my insurance company if they wrote a ticket like that. No paint company in the world is going to warranty their product losing the clear halfway thru the bumper.)

BTW, "melting" clear coat in a panel does happen in the collision repair world. Think about it. Someone bumps your quarter panel on your '02 Altima. There's no solid break-off point between the quarter that got hit, the roof, and the opposite quarter. It is one continuous area. One option is to clear 2/3 of the vehicle, both costly & labor intensive. The other option is to "melt" the clear coat in the C-pillar. Many shops will choose to do that to avoid painting much of the vehicle. This is not shady, it's common practice. Now, painting half a bumper... 

[Ghoste]

Yes, you need to get your insurance agent on this and fight them.  They will almost certainly win but the adjusters entire job is about NOT paying claims.  No sense making it easier for them.

[myk]

Half of the bumper?   

Body work is SOOOOO shady...

That has nothing to do with shady bodywork, myk. That was specified by his insurance company.
The body shop is not bound to repair the vehicle as per the insurance company's estimate, and neither is the customer. It is only what the insurance company is paying.
(Just my outside opinion here, but I would definitely be speaking to my insurance company if they wrote a ticket like that. No paint company in the world is going to warranty their product losing the clear halfway thru the bumper.)

BTW, "melting" clear coat in a panel does happen in the collision repair world. Think about it. Someone bumps your quarter panel on your '02 Altima. There's no solid break-off point between the quarter that got hit, the roof, and the opposite quarter. It is one continuous area. One option is to clear 2/3 of the vehicle, both costly & labor intensive. The other option is to "melt" the clear coat in the C-pillar. Many shops will choose to do that to avoid painting much of the vehicle. This is not shady, it's common practice. Now, painting half a bumper... 

Well, if it isn't shady on the part of the body shop it's certainly a shifty thing for the insurance company to do.  Half a bumper?  Jeez, now I've heard it all...

[bill440rt]

Half of the bumper?   

Body work is SOOOOO shady...

That has nothing to do with shady bodywork, myk. That was specified by his insurance company.
The body shop is not bound to repair the vehicle as per the insurance company's estimate, and neither is the customer. It is only what the insurance company is paying.
(Just my outside opinion here, but I would definitely be speaking to my insurance company if they wrote a ticket like that. No paint company in the world is going to warranty their product losing the clear halfway thru the bumper.)

BTW, "melting" clear coat in a panel does happen in the collision repair world. Think about it. Someone bumps your quarter panel on your '02 Altima. There's no solid break-off point between the quarter that got hit, the roof, and the opposite quarter. It is one continuous area. One option is to clear 2/3 of the vehicle, both costly & labor intensive. The other option is to "melt" the clear coat in the C-pillar. Many shops will choose to do that to avoid painting much of the vehicle. This is not shady, it's common practice. Now, painting half a bumper... 

Well, if it isn't shady on the part of the body shop it's certainly a shifty thing for the insurance company to do.  Half a bumper?  Jeez, now I've heard it all...

Well, that happens too. It all depends on the situation.
Here's another scenario: You have a wrap-around bumper cover up front, say on your '02 Altima again. Someone bumps the right corner of it. But, you have damage on the other side. What's the body shop gonna do? Paint over your damage on the left side when they paint the bumper? You insurance company doesn't owe you for that opposite damage, either. And you, being a cheapskate, don't want to pay out of pocket to have that other damage repaired. The shop would probably just repair the right side, and blend/melt the clear coat fading in just the right corner.
Now, for the insurance company to arbitrarily only pay for only a portion doesn't make sense. The OP would need to have that discussion with his carrier. See how that works?
(BTW, I wasn't really calling you a cheapskate, this is only a hypothetical situation.    )

[Cooter]

Gone are tge days where you heard about your cousin, uncle, grandpa, etc. Gettin a whole paint job out of a fender bender.Gieco is especially bad about only replacing/painting what they have to. This includes up to, but certainly not limited to painting/ blending half a panel...

Just wait till you hit something serious and look at how many bolts/ clips/ shields/ wiring harnesses are either missing or hacked.
see it everyday when inspection time comes round.
"What? My headlights fogged over?? Whadya mean it won't pass? I just got it back from the body shop!"

[hemi-hampton]

'it's certainly a shifty thing for the insurance company to do"

That statement is funny. Since when are the Insurance companies not shifty or shady or low life scumbags. Insurance companies are out to pay as little as possible. And even when the Insurance does pay to paint the whole bumper most the body shops will spot repair it anyways & pocket the extra time & money. Even if a Bumper is Preped right & a Flex Additive is added that only helps you so much, this will help you in a minor accident but not a hard major hit. LEON.

[garner7555]

I used to work in this industry, I would think they are referring to "blending" the bumper.  This means they would paint (base coat) only a little larger than the damaged area and then clear the entire bumper.  This way the paint matches great where the bumper meets the quater.       

[Dino]

I used to work in this industry, I would think they are referring to "blending" the bumper.  This means they would paint (base coat) only a little larger than the damaged area and then clear the entire bumper.  This way the paint matches great where the bumper meets the quater.       

Not necessarily.  You can paint the base with the majority of the bumper masked, remove the masking and clear a bit further, spray the overspray with thinner and later polish it all up.  When done right you cannot see this, but over time you will likely see a trace if you look for it as the different clears and thicknesses do not age the same.  I've done it a million times on small things like insides of doors and rockers but use the blending technique like you describe it on the outside.  Many shops do half panels all the time but I never saw the benefit of it all.

I was in autobody for 15 years, I quit that career and moved to the US and had two cars repaired, the work on both sucked and it cost me a lot of time to get my money back.  It's sad, I could do all the work myself if I had the time and place.  Now I'm stuck trying to find someone I can trust and in the 7 years I've been here I haven't found one yet.

OP you cannot trust anyone in this business, not the shop nor the insurance.  You need to go look at the cars coming our of the body shop and find one you like.  Sounds silly but visit a Maaco, they can have really good guys working there and if not come back in a week when they have new folks.   

The prep on your bumper sucks btw, they really screwed up a very simple job and now all of the paint needs to be removed.

[garner7555]

You may be correct Dino, I never saw the benefit of cutting the clear short unless it was on the sail panel either.  I always preferred to do it right once to try to avoid a redo for free.

Something to keep in mind, these guys are paid on commission, and the insurance cuts them down on the pay, therefore they become more worried about speed than quality. I'm not making excuses for them, just explaining the pay/mentality behind it.

[Mike DC]

   
It also bears noting that the material costs these days are huge.   It's worth it to the shop/insurance not to paint any more than necessary just for that reason alone.  The additional labor savings just add to it. 

   

[Silver R/T]

Thank you all for your valuable comments. I will take car to the same guy and see what he will respond. According to Geico inspection they are planning to paint half of the bumper but I don't want to fix that way. Really it is very hard to deal with these guys even the service stations at showroom.
Thank you all again.

How did insurance company say it exactly? They probably meant that bodyshop will paint spot where bumper cover is damaged (perform a blend) and then clear coat entire cover.

[Charger_Killer]

Thank you all for your valuable comments. I will take car to the same guy and see what he will respond. According to Geico inspection they are planning to paint half of the bumper but I don't want to fix that way. Really it is very hard to deal with these guys even the service stations at showroom.
Thank you all again.

How did insurance company say it exactly? They probably meant that bodyshop will paint spot where bumper cover is damaged (perform a blend) and then clear coat entire cover.

No they said they will paint half of the bumper(vertical - one side of the bumper). Anyhow I took the car to same dodge guy and showed him and he said he will give life time warranty and if anything goes off they will fix it. sometimes for minor damages the paint may come off and in that cases he will cover, only if the part is physically damaged then it don't cover.