Holograms by body shop?

T

tC_Crazy

New member
Hey all. After getting into a front-end collision, my 06 black sand pearl Scion tC had to go to the body shop to get the bumper and drivers side quarter panel replaced (plus radiator damage, etc.)



Well, after washing my car today I found holograms EVERYWHERE. I don't own/have never used a rotary or DA polisher of any sort. And nobody else has touched my paint. I have done hand polishing with Meguiars Dual Crystal and I hand wax with 26. But this never made holograms or swirls. I am positive that they are holograms as I walk across I see them seemingly popping in/out of the paint. Swirls are also there. As you can imagine, I'm very upset. I'm thinking the body shop must have used a rotary and messed it up.



I'll have pics up soon, my camera batteries are charging. Are there any other causes of holograms? what do you all suggest I do?



Thanks
 
Yep, most body shop buff guys don't take the time to do things right... they often finish with a rotary and an oily glaze/compound mix in poor lighting.



I would highly recommend speaking to your insurance agent about the unacceptable nature of this work. He will likely recommend taking it back to the same shop, and they might do it right if given some prodding (having a more experienced employee polish it out, using a filler-free polish, using a dual action to finish. If they don't do it right on the 2nd try, demand that the body shop pay a local Autopian pro to do it right.



You might be able to borrow a PC or Cyclo or UDM from a local Autopian and knock it out that way. You don't run the risk of the body shop removing more clear, but it will take a while, esp for an inexperienced user.
 
Yeah I was afraid of that. I'm going to contact the body shop tomorrow as a "prospective customer" and just do some prodding to see what their usual process is. If they indicate polishing by rotary then I'll definitely contact state farm and tell them what's up. I'm just hoping it isn't too late because the car was completed july 12th. I (very unfortunately) have been extremely busy this summer and this was actually just the second time I washed my car. The first time I did I got rained out and had no garage. The dirt/water spots made it impossible to see the holograms. Well, hopefully this will get worked out. I was heartbroken when I saw the finish in direct sun.



Oh, and just for the record the shop was Collision Revision, a fairly large chain in Illinois. They do warrant their work for lifetime, so we'll see how this goes tomorrow.



Thanks for the suggestions guys
 
tC_Crazy said:
If they indicate polishing by rotary then I'll definitely contact state farm and tell them what's up. I'm just hoping it isn't too late because the car was completed july 12th.

Oh, and just for the record the shop was Collision Revision, a fairly large chain in Illinois. They do warrant their work for lifetime, so we'll see how this goes tomorrow.
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Did State Farm recommend this shop to you as one of their "Direct Repair Shops"? If they didn't, you're wasting your time contacting them. If it's your choice of shop, it's your problem. You'll have to work it out directly with the shop. If it was one of SF's shops, they should stand behind a quality repair and go to bat for you.
 
My dad just had his car repainted by a shop here local.. theyve had it back 3 times to get the holograms out and they keep using a glaze on it that covers them up until it rains, then theyre right back. I keep trying to get him to bring it over but he keeps carrying it back to them.
 
It's very typical of body shop work. I wouldn't hold your breath at all on getting the body shop to fix it correctly. Save yourself tons of heartache and find a local autopia detailer right now. It will be fixed correctly and for good that way. You mentioned finding out if they use a rotary on the car. I would say about 99.9% of body shops use rotaries. That's how it is. Sorry you had to go through this. I have been through it myself.



Greg
 
Stay away from body shop chains, they are as bad as dealership body shops.



If your insurance company paid the body shop directly, they should go to bat for you. If you got a check from them and paid the body shop yourself, then they won't.
 
Scottwax said:
If your insurance company paid the body shop directly, they should go to bat for you. If you got a check from them and paid the body shop yourself, then they won't.
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I write checks to body shops all day long and I have zero recourse after doing it. The only time an insurance company will issue a check directly to you is when you don't have a leinholder and you request it. Otherwise, if you have a leinholder, they have to make a 2-party check to either you & the shop or you & the leinholder.



Again, if it's not a Direct Shop of State Farm, they won't/don't need to get involved.
 
Go ask your question at autopia.org auto detailing forum. Lots of experts there who can help you out with your hologram problem.
 
Yeah, State Farm did recommend it as a direct shop. And they paid the shop directly. I will tell State Farm about their use of glaze as a cover-up for irresponsible rotary use. The damn place gave an initial guesstimate of $3,500, which was then changed to a real estimate of $4,500 and by the time all work was done, they juiced state farm for over $7,500.



And just my luck my digicam lens won't open or move in any way. I can borrow my sister's tomorrow, however. I got one picture in... i'll post in a minute.
 
tC_Crazy said:
Yeah, State Farm did recommend it as a direct shop. I will tell State Farm about their use of glaze as a cover-up for irresponsible rotary use. The damn place gave an initial guesstimate of $3,500, which was then changed to a real estimate of $4,500and by the time all work was done, they juiced state farm for over $7,500.
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Sounds like it was hit pretty hard!! State Farm is totally on the hook for the poor finishing work of their shop. Try to work with the shop 1st, but if the lines of communication fail, definately get State Farm involved. I have a strong feeling that if this shop is this incompetent in the 1st place, they won't be able to correct their own work. If you agree to take it to an outside source, they will off the hook. Especially if it can't be corrected, which could be the case. Good luck.



I know of a redo claim right now on a early 2000's Porsche Turbo where State Farm put over $40,000 into fixing it at one of their shops. The car came out terrible(unsafe) and they are now on the hook for corrective repairs for $50,000 more!!! The bad repair has to be completely cut-out and redone with new parts.
 
OK got some pics of the worst holos.











:(

And yes I confirmed that the body shop goes over the whole car with a rotary. Now I'm debating whether or not to let them touch my paint again. I don't want to, but insurance might make them fix it (probably make it worse).



**** body shops
 
Here's a tip for when you go back - make sure their most experienced guy buffs it. A rotary in the right hands is quite capable of a hologram-free perfect finish. If you talk to the guy yourself, aren't too rude about it (I always have a tough time with that part :)) and make it clear that you know what you're talking about and will not accept less than perfection, he will probably knock it out right.



They will likely cover up their work with a glaze - Perfect-it dark car SMR, Product-X, etc. Bring some rubbing alcohol mixed 50:50 with water in a spray bottle... get it in the sun and spray down a panel before you accept the car. This will eliminate any fillers so that what you see is what you get.
 
Yeah I was going to ask that they not use a glaze because they clearly used it the first time around. I'll try to be as polite as possible while still making it clear that they need to uphold the promise made by their own website:

You can trust us to fix your car to your satisfaction.
Click to expand...



I just happen to have very high standards, unlike the vast majority of drivers my age.



Thanks for the tip
 
Wow. So my car spent 2.5 hours at the body shop today, getting "detailed" to remove those holograms. Well, I finally took the finished car and it looked good (inside the garage). When I asked them about the glaze, the guy said he used "black magic". So I took the car out into the sun, gave it a couple sprays with the 50:50 alcohol/water solution... and to my horror I found this:













:mad:



So the Regional Manager was in today, and I had a talk with him. He admitted that he couldn't see anything significant. And he clearly knew little about detailing. He spoke with the guy who detailed the car and he claims that the marks were really light, probably made by toweling. "black cars show everything, so just toweling the car will cause these tiny scratches."



I told him how I carefully washed the car weekly during fall spring and summer for a year and NEVER got these marks. He could see that I was unhappy with the quality of the work and claims he has a professional detailer at another location about 15 miles away, who is "more than qualified" of doing the job. I, personally, would prefer to have a real, high quality, reputed detailer do the job. I'm going to talk to insurance to see if they will pay for

the detail because their direct shop is unable to do the job properly.



So if anybody knows a quality shop in the Chicagoland area, I'd love to know about it.
 
I'm not being a smart ---. This might be the time to invest in a pc and do the job yourself. I always end up polishing out swirls and other minor imperfections after my trips to the body shop and I go to a good one that I have used for over 30 years. Body guys are not detailers.



Tom :cool:
 
Hey you def. don't sound like a smart ***. I am still considering that option, but since the car is technically my dad's he insists that we let them try again. He doesn't think I would be able to fix the problems on my own. However, that AG b-day discount is coming up next week... so we'll see. Honestly if it was my choice I would get a PC along with some LC pads and Optimum Polish, plus RMG. Maybe its time to break into that summer job money. =)
 
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