Rg591

So i took my car to a local shop to get my opti replaced. yea i know i should have done it myself but i didnt want to mess it up. anyways when i got it back it was nice and scratched. My dad picked it up because i was out of town and he didnt look at the car he just payed the guy and brought it home. now that i came back 2 days later i see it has a 3 inch scratch on the fender where it peeled off the paint as well as lots of random scratches on the bumper and other fender where they bent over it to work on it.What can i do? its just a local guy with a couple of helpers and ive delt with him before so im pretty sure he will play dumb and try to get out from paying for it. i dont want to go down there and look like an idiot trying to get something and he wont do it.

z99ls1

iTrader: (12)

Shoulda done it yourself lol. I changed it probably 3 times when I had my lt1. As someone who works on cars and works in a shop I see cars getting scratched all the time. If I wur you I wuld buy fender protectors and take them with you to the shop and ask them to plz use them. Otherwise alot of shops don't bother. I wouldn't be extremely mad if I seen a little scratch on my car after having major work done, but if there are alot than I would be pissed and go let them know about it. If I am workin on a nice car I am very carefull not to scratch it, but I see fellow mechanics that get there greasy fingers all over **** and don't give a f****. It anoys me actually how iresponsible some people can be while working on others cars.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

The only thing you can do is make a complaint to the manager, however now that a significant amount of time has passed, good luck trying to prove anything.

pillarpod

i'd go in there waving a gun in their face ask'n whos gonna pay for it

shbox

Since the scratches were not detected when picking the car up, you are pretty much at the mercy of the mechanic's good will. Waving a gun in someone's face would do nothing but get yourself thrown in jail. Get real, LOL!

sempire

iTrader: (5)

Run in there with a samurai sword and ask who's gonna pay for that.. bonus points for bringing the guy who played Mr. Miyagi..

moehorsepower

iTrader: (3)

Take it as a lesson learned, You will just stress out more, and NO, they are not going to admit to it...

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Agreed, no way to win this one.

AR15 guy

iTrader: (1)

I work at a major tire retailer and if we do something like that we will get it repainted for you. But we have 1400 stores and insurance to cover our asses. If it is just some guy working out of a small shop you are probably screwed.

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

Always remember, NO ONE will value, cherish or respect your ride the way you do. Next time, man up and do it yourself. It wouldnt hurt to ask the shop tho.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

I just remembered.

I had some nice OZ Italy racing rims on my car but after many years of use, the paint got faded. I had them painted in a basecoat/clearcoat refinish and they looked like a million bucks.

Took the bare wheels to the biggest tire retailer around, showed them the wheels and there perfect painted appearance and they mounted new tires and metal stems on without incident. The metal stems started leaking and I requested that rubber stems be used.

Went to pick them up now there are numerous similar looking gashes to the finish right around the outer rim. I was fugging pissed and the installer and the manager said they were like that when I dropped them off. I went totally Fukashima and made a scene and demanded they fix this. The ordeal dragged on several days and they stuck to their story all the way.

I then requested that they remove the tires so the damages could be fixed. I also insisted on watching the tires be removed and the asshat installer was using a pry bar to pry the tire up and over the wheel and this caused the marks that were made. Busted.

He then said "well I guess I might have made those marks". I showed the manager and he had no choice but to fix the rims. If you cant proveit, they wont do dick.

They were repainted again then promptly sold and I told the guy that bought them they had been refinished so he would have to watch the folks installing tires.

GREGG 97Z

iTrader: (4)

I had the same thing happen back around 2000, I had the car since new and brought it into the dealer for some little t.s.b, something with the emmisions I think. Anyway, my car was spottless, not a scratch on it when I dropped it off. P/u next day and looked like a guy dropped a wrench all down the hood, I was livid. Ended up talking to the owner and he said he 'personally' spoke with the mechanic and nothing happened. Told him he'd never see any business from me again or anyone I knew. Long story short, called my ins co and filed a damage claim. They cut me a check for $600 to have it repainted. That was when I got the Borla That dealership has since gone out of business, f'ng losers.

AR15 guy

iTrader: (1)

Have you ever changed a tire before? You have to use a pry bar to lift the tire up.... The machine doesn't do everything for you, but if you take your time normally nothing will happen to your wheel. Especially if you are using a plastic head on the tire machine instead of the metal ones.

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

^^ not true, you CAN do it without a bar but if you must use one, put a rag under it. I worked in a custom shop for two years and thats pretty much all I did when I started. We did tons of performance rides and all of them were just as picky as us ******** about our cars. Bottom line, if you see something nice, keep it that way,even if its not yours. These minimum wage *** clown dont give a **** about your cars or mine. This kind of **** makes me want to find that tech, drive to his house and throw a cocktail through their window(perhaps I need therapy, but that's another thread)

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Wow you must be kidding.
Again it was at least 7 marks on three wheels not just one little slip up.

If you take your time NORMALLY......There is the problem right there if there is even a small chance of damage then the job is not being done correctly and the procedure must be examined. I even told these ******** the wheels were refinished so I did my part.

A metal tool should never be used against any painted surface. It takes very little effort to use a piece of rubber, plastic or some other thin sheeting to protect the finished surface. They also have thin plastic rings that can be slipped over the wheel to protect them during tire removal too. I know this cause they cam with the wheels when they were shipped to me by tire rack.

Bottom line is he took no pride in doing quality work and protecting my property. If it were his wheels, it would not have happened end of story.

duh

iTrader: (16)

FYI, if do0ne correctly you can use a metal rod. I used to do it all the time. Years ago when I worked at the tire store we did everything from mom and pop grocery getters to Chuck Samual's 8 sec. third gen. If done properly and you pay attention to what is happening, you can do it. I don't recommend it as you have to be very careful. Now that being said we didn't have the plastic tipped rods to use, so if I was worried about it there were plenty of rags laying around to get sacrificed. Even had one owner of a Ferrari watch me work, **** as anyone here, and gave me a complement for not fu**ing up his $10,000 wheel. As for the OP's issue, unless you have hard proof (ie. a photo with a date stamp from the day it was dropped off) then chances that they'll do anything for you will be slim to none. You could go talk to them calmly and civily and see if it helps, but in today's day and age you're boned. Sorry man.

AR15 guy

iTrader: (1)

If you know what your doing that metal rod will never tough tue wheel just the machine.

duh

iTrader: (16)

I disagree, at least on the machine's we used. You had to pry the upper bead over the lip of the wheel and hold it there while turning the wheel to get the bead up and over. Now on the other hand if you were really good, you could keep the bar in one spot and not let it slide around and damage the wheel, but it still touched. On the truely high dollar wheels, I'd use a rag between the lip and the bar just for added insurance, but it was mostly unneeded.