Was not that impressed with the Langka touch-up paint process. It's okay but nothing to write home to Mom about. Followed all the instructions but the chemical that is supposed to remove the blob affect, also will removes the touch up paint inside the chip. I am somewhat concerned it will remove or dull the clear coat.
ok - so I had figured why run out and get this hit-and-run repaired out-of-pocket...if past history was any indication, if I simply waited a while, there was a good chance I'd get whacked in front of my office again sometime soon. Well, my patience paid off.
Yep, happened again yesterday and I stopped the old bat in her beat up Caprice taking off too. $595.38 to repair her damage and repaint the bumper cover (not replace). For $40 more, they will fix the Home Depot remodel job. Price includes paint blending onto both rear quarter panels.
Therein lies my question: Shop says Diamond Graphite is a real b*tch to match and that painting bumper cover only will leave a *very* noticable visual break if they were to simply stop at the seam rather than blending onto the rear quarters. Now, I don't know, I don't like the idea of having any more non-original paint on my car than absolutely necessary. I've never been particularly impressed with mid-panel "blend" jobs. That's the problem - I think you see them more often than not. But, he is adamant the it will result in a "less" noticable repair. Hell, I don't want to notice ANYTHING, but he says a perfectly un-noticable repair is not going to happen with this paint.
Arrgh! This is no fly-by-night shop - it's the biggest Infiniti dealer in the area and it also services the franchisee's 4 other auto dealerships. What's the best way to go here? Any paint/collision/repair experts in the house?
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
I might suggest looking into getting a second opinion. The guy at the shop is probably not wrong, but it couldn't hurt to see what another professional says. I'd definitely stay away from anyone who says they match it perfectly for very low cost though.
P.S. seeing your reflection in this photo again reminds me why I kept wondering what the hell was going on when LC though you were a woman. []
Is it just the bumper? How bout going junk yard style for a new one (relatively). Might be worth a look. I have links for some online junkyard searchs if ya want em. I'll post them later ... they're on my laptop.
He said something like the DG flake can layer on in one of 16 different ways, therefore, you have a 1 in 16 shot at getting a perfect match to the adjoining paint. Apparently, depending on how it lays on, even paint from the exact same can can look *very* different. Said they did a Ferrari 360 Modena back quarter in a silver metal that they tried 8 times to re-paint up to a seam break. They never could get it good enough and ended up stripping the panel and blending to the adjacent panels. The same problem exists when putting on a new 'used' bumper cover. Even that has a 1 in 16 shot of matching exactly. Since he mentioned it, I have noticed a slight color variation between the rear quarters and back bumper cover, a result he says, of the bumper covers not being painted at the same time by the factory. ???
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
Wow, dholly I'm really sorry to see that. It looks like somebody tried pretty hard to ding you since it hits your bumper in a number of different angles. It's not as if it was all on the rear, side, front, etc...you've got it on the rear, corner, and side of the panel. People suck [rage]
I believe bizz may be right, when I worked at publix in HS, there was a time a cart rolled into a guys M5... he went ape-poopy on the manager. I laughed. The manager (and im sure company) paid for the repair.
I tried to play that angle, believe me. Bottom line: the burden of proof that the damage occurred in their lot was on me. I had no witnesses and they had no lot cameras. After talking to the store manager, I am convinced that the higher-ups at HD removed the lot cameras to avoid such vehicle damage claims - of course, at the potential expense of the patrons safety. You would figure that the deterrent effect and conviction rate the cameras provide against assualts and robberies on their property would justify any deductible HD might pay for vehicle damage claims. A bottom-line driven corporate decision you might shake your head about.
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
Yeah, I had my truck at HD one time and I just moved up to the loading area and my dad was on the way out when this employee trying to pull two of the big orange jobs let one go and it rolled down into the side of my truck and left orange paint and a small 1 inch long pole shaped ding in the bed area behind the rear tire. HD had to pay for it. I raised hell with the manager and got a claim form. I took the money and was going to get it fixed when about a month later I was at this girls house and one of her girl friends backed completely out of the drivewayand across two lanes to finally crush that same area. Ran out to get her insurance, she was on the phone, running late for soccer pratice and basically gave me her insurance card and took off. Turned it into her insurance and they paid for the damages plus I made a couple hundred from the HD incident.
As I was reading down I was thinking the same thing for you as you said it happens on a regular basis. Then I hit the post where it happened again.
I have come to the realization that parking in the FAAAAAAAARR faaaaaaaar reaches of the parking lot is WELL WORTH IT. Although it adds 3-5 minutes to your store trip... id rather take the 3 minute loss than my G gettin hurt. I don't understand why people are so inconsiderate.
2004 6mt Coupe White/Black Leather - Premium/Aero.
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