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A good body shop will obviously guarantee their work, but it's easier to catch the problem there and just leave the car as opposed to getting it home and having to take it back.
If possible go when its good and sunny outside. Look at it under shop lights and in the day light. Aside from major flaws also look for color match, orange peel, paint drips, fish eyes, and over spray.
i guess it's also up to me as far as what is acceptable. i'm sure it's going to be very close 99% for everything at least, i assume if there are no MAJOR flaws, i should just take it, since it is a repair job after all, i'm sure it's hard to get to 100%. from the pics i've seen so far though, looks pretty darn good. just need to check with my eyes and hands
I mean. Orange peel will only be so good. It's not a $25k show car paint job where each of 17 coats of paint got wet sanded...lol
Everyone has their standards. Maybe mine are the reason why I have so many problems with body shops.... Don't get me wrong though, my VIII's paint is in terrible shape. The reason I haven't repainted it yet is because I know what its gonna cost to get the job I want. Orange peel is not good though, some may be acceptable but it should be very minimal. From Wikipedia:
"Orange peel is typically the result of improper painting technique, and is caused by the quick evaporation of thinner, incorrect spray gun setup (e.g., low air pressure or incorrect nozzle), spraying the paint at an angle other than perpendicular, or applying excessive paint."
To be fair even OEM paint has orange peel, the thing is the new paint shouldn't be any worse than that.
Yeah, it should be of similar quality to a new OEM paint job, which generally has mild orange peel when somewhat closely inspected. Zero orange peel is unrealistic.
I have significantly reduced the OEM orange peel by sanding the clear coat. I only did a test panel though. There are couple videos on youtube about how they do it. The problem is most bodyshops only have to match an OEM finish. No one wants to pay the big money for them to wetsand every layer for that show quality finish and depth. Even sanding the clear coat on an entire car is pricey. Most people wouldn't want to pay a detailer/bodyshop to do that.
got the car with me, it looks really nice. only spot the paint looks different is on the rear bumper which i told them not to do. everything lines up well, gaps look appropriate and paint quality looks good. I'll probably detail the car next month and see more closely but honestly I'm just glad everything lines up
yea, extremely relieved. i looked over the car closely, there's some orange peel in the paint sure, but it's not bad, not something i've ever cared about.
the only thing that is persisting is a popping noise from the right somewhere when i go full lock at low speeds. axle? checked the boots, not torn. i'll check the shop if they noticed anything, but not sure what it might otherwise be, any ideas?
On light throttle? When u stop? For example when u stop and hear sounds, it could be the brake pads etc..
not when i stop. i think the light throttle is incidental to the noise. it's for example when you're stuck in a lane and you do a quick maneuver to get into the next lane and go, when you reach full lock it will go pop pop pop
Congrats on getting the car back. Your symptoms and context sound to me like an axle joint. If the axle took a hit though then the suspension needs to be checked out too. if it was me I would probably tear that whole sides suspension off and inspect it all. Special attention to the lower control arm bushings and ball joint. I think you can do a run out test to check the wheel bearing.
Or just take it to a suspension place and let them go over it. End of the day its probably going to need alignment regardless so this might just be 2 birds with one stone.
Congrats on getting the car back. Your symptoms and context sound to me like an axle joint. If the axle took a hit though then the suspension needs to be checked out too. if it was me I would probably tear that whole sides suspension off and inspect it all. Special attention to the lower control arm bushings and ball joint. I think you can do a run out test to check the wheel bearing.
Or just take it to a suspension place and let them go over it. End of the day its probably going to need alignment regardless so this might just be 2 birds with one stone.
