Not satisfied by a mile. It is going back.
Told you it was Orange didn't I?
Tony.
Told you it was Orange didn't I?
Tony.
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Spot the problem.
- Thread starter t-tony
- Start date
No, it's not mate. I'm surprised they even allowed it to leave. Doesn't make good PR, the guy Shirl spoke to initially started down the BS route saying one part is metal and one is plastic, and they don't take paint the same!!. Well, they did from the factory, didn't they?
Tony.
Tony.
If the guy tried to pull the metal/plastic BS with me I'd have walked him round to the front of the car and pointed out the front bumper.
If we'd been there we would've, this was just over the phone.
Tony.
Tony.
my Abarth was 6 days old and got run into at work
This is how it came out of the Abarth bodyshop the bumper didn't even line up, and the ducts were missing.
I raised hell and they agreed to put it right.
Trouble was, I had to bring it home, as they wanted the courtesy car back and it was 25 miles away
I was expecting them to say the sun had faded the paint.
This is how it came out of the Abarth bodyshop the bumper didn't even line up, and the ducts were missing.
I raised hell and they agreed to put it right.
Trouble was, I had to bring it home, as they wanted the courtesy car back and it was 25 miles away
I was expecting them to say the sun had faded the paint.
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and the second attempt:
I don't know why they even allowed it out of the door the first time, or do some people really accept those excuses?
I don't know why they even allowed it out of the door the first time, or do some people really accept those excuses?
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I guess someone who has no conception of what's involved might have accepted it Pete. There doesn't appear to be any Pride in work anymore.
Tony.
ps. The finish of the paint was spot-on, just the colour was way out.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2018
- Points
- 139
- Location
- Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
- Model of Z
- Z4 E89 20i sdrive roadster
It will go that colour in the bright sunlight. But its supposed to match the rest of the car . . . Oh dear . . .
Long story - sorry.
In a different post I mentioned that I'd spent a few years crisscrossing europe in a truck. Often car parts. I'm sure you know that cars aren't all built in the same place. Parts come from all over and arrive, just in time, at the assembly line.
One route I did was plastic bumpers. Truck load of them all different colors in special racks with a kinda cling film over the paint. 100's of miles from where they were made and painted to the factory where they met the car they were intended for. So painted by different people/robots 100's of miles away in different towns, often different countries.
Another route was seat parts from south wales to vauxhall in Ellsemere port. I'd open the curtain on the side of my trailer and they'd unload it - while overhead is a gantry with doors rolling overhead. It looked like that door chase scene in monsters inc. Hundreds of doors, all painted in different colors. No idea if these were coming from a trailer somewhere or some other place in the huge factory. In any case they weren't being painted at the same time or place as the rest of the car.
And when it all meets up you can be sure everything is an exact match. No one saying "it's a different paint batch" or "Plastic" etc.
But I do understand the problem - when a car panel is re-painted by your local body shop he can follow the recipe based on the paint code. But the base paints aren't made by the same company so no matter how closely the recipe is followed there can often be slight variations. So they have to fade in a few inches to neighbouring panels
Some body shops don't bother with the paint code. They user their "paint-color-detectorizer" (Sorry. Don't know what that thing is called) but that's not perfect either
In a different post I mentioned that I'd spent a few years crisscrossing europe in a truck. Often car parts. I'm sure you know that cars aren't all built in the same place. Parts come from all over and arrive, just in time, at the assembly line.
One route I did was plastic bumpers. Truck load of them all different colors in special racks with a kinda cling film over the paint. 100's of miles from where they were made and painted to the factory where they met the car they were intended for. So painted by different people/robots 100's of miles away in different towns, often different countries.
Another route was seat parts from south wales to vauxhall in Ellsemere port. I'd open the curtain on the side of my trailer and they'd unload it - while overhead is a gantry with doors rolling overhead. It looked like that door chase scene in monsters inc. Hundreds of doors, all painted in different colors. No idea if these were coming from a trailer somewhere or some other place in the huge factory. In any case they weren't being painted at the same time or place as the rest of the car.
And when it all meets up you can be sure everything is an exact match. No one saying "it's a different paint batch" or "Plastic" etc.
But I do understand the problem - when a car panel is re-painted by your local body shop he can follow the recipe based on the paint code. But the base paints aren't made by the same company so no matter how closely the recipe is followed there can often be slight variations. So they have to fade in a few inches to neighbouring panels
Some body shops don't bother with the paint code. They user their "paint-color-detectorizer" (Sorry. Don't know what that thing is called) but that's not perfect either
Having been in the motor trade all my life I totally agree with what you say, but, and there's always a but, a skilled paint mixer will be able to make paint match (especially on a 3 year old vehicle). With modern paints metal or plastic doesn't make a difference, they manage it at the factory after all, we saw it at Spartanburg.
The biggest no no in my opinion is that if it's not right you do not let it leave until it is right and certainly do not "bullshit" the customer who may have better knowledge than you think.
Tony.
The biggest no no in my opinion is that if it's not right you do not let it leave until it is right and certainly do not "bullshit" the customer who may have better knowledge than you think.
Tony.
That's the day and age we live in Tony. In 'my day' a mechanic knew how a part worked and fix it. You could go to parts dept and the guy would pull a tiny lucas or girling piece out of a drawer and even explain what to do with it - even if you knew it was still good to hear that somebody knew what they were talking about.
Nowadays mechanics don't know how a part works. They just replace the whole thing. I guess labor costs more nowadays so it's cheaper to replace something instead of fixing it and they don't even bother teaching them any other way.
I imagine it's the same with paint. The skills just aren't taught. Some pick it up naturally while others just follow the recipe and then if it doesn't look right their boss can't blame them.
Nowadays mechanics don't know how a part works. They just replace the whole thing. I guess labor costs more nowadays so it's cheaper to replace something instead of fixing it and they don't even bother teaching them any other way.
I imagine it's the same with paint. The skills just aren't taught. Some pick it up naturally while others just follow the recipe and then if it doesn't look right their boss can't blame them.
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But the boss is responsible for poor workmanship leaving the business?
Tony.
Tony.
After all that though, Tony. Looking at your second side-on picture. I don't think it's the same paint shade at all.
My Z car has one paint code. 275. But when I go to the factors to buy paint they have 5 variations and no indication of which one is mine and there really is a big difference between them.
Maybe your red also has a few sub-shades (is that the right word?) and he picked the first one on the list.
My Z car has one paint code. 275. But when I go to the factors to buy paint they have 5 variations and no indication of which one is mine and there really is a big difference between them.
Maybe your red also has a few sub-shades (is that the right word?) and he picked the first one on the list.