Fixing the Mess from the Body Shop - Subaru BRZ - Mr. Sparkle Detailing Long Island

About 6 months ago I did a full correction and Opti-Coat on a 2013 Subaru BRZ. The vehicle left my shop, like all others getting this treatment, in near flawless condition. Client was happy and he maintained the car himself, so I didn't hear from him since then.

Fast forward to 4pm the friday afternoon before labor day weekend. I get a voicemail from a local body shop advising that they have one of my clients cars, and need an appointment with me for tuesday morning. I call back but they had left already for the weekend.

Tuesday morning after labor day I speak to the body shop. Client was in a minor collision, with front and rear bumpers replaced / repainted. Apparently he was unhappy with the finish claiming he saw swirls. There had been 3 failed attempts at getting this right and the client insisted that they bring it to me to 'clean it'. Which upon further questioning meant, buff the entire car.

I speak to the client who confirms the car is a mess and he needs my help. Body shop keeps telling him that he (my client) doesn't know what he's talking about and all cars have those swirl marks

I was booked all day tuesday, and wednesday. But I wanted to help out my client, so I accepted the job knowing I'd have to work on it overnight. Vehicle was finally dropped off around 6pm

Washed the car, twice, trying to strip off any glaze on the car. Pretty quickly I could see what was going on.

The doors still beaded water like they should with Opti-Coat applied. So they weren't touched. The rest of the car the water laid flat. After getting it dry I figured it out.

For whatever reason the body shop chose to buff the entire car (minus the doors) despite the fact that it was a near perfect finish with a coating applied. They had made a MESS. Sanding marks, swirls, buffer trails. They had scribbled all over my perfect little painting and I was not happy about it.

Here is my leftover work on the door where they had not touched. A few scratches from 6 months of wear & tear, but still pretty good



And here is there work, just inches away on the adjacent panel.



BLECH!

And so it began, at 10pm I put the pad to the paint

Flex 3401 + LC Tangerine + Menz Power Finish

Fixed that spot shown earlier




Buffer trails / holograms on the rear qtr panel




Fixed it




Same panel, different angle. Those arent finger smudges. Just the haze and mess



Got that covered




Leftover sanding marks on that newly sprayed bumper. Thanks guys!



Shakes head while buffing...




The hood was trashed and that was what the client kept focusing on when the car was shown in the sunlight. Buffer trails everywhere

Before




After




Hood from a different angle before



and after



The doors were polished with Optimum Poli Seal and CCS light green to preserve the existing coating.

and yes I reapplied Opti-Coat to the areas that weren't just painted as a courtesy to my client









When there's something strange, and it don't look good, who you gonna call??


Mr. Sparkle Detailing.com

Instagram @MrSparkleDetailing

 

I remember seeing the brief cut of this on IG. GOOD ON YA BRO. Respect the hell out of your work and tenacity.

 

Nice save!

 

Looks great and way to go the extra mile and Opti-Coat the whole vehicle again.

 

Really nice work and great save. Sure you now have a client for life. Body Shops just do not get it and they are blind to the buffer swirls. My friend had a mobile detailing business after High School and for more than 20 years after that. In the winters he would work at a body shop since he was a true solo mobile and they let him use space and he helped out when things were busy on their cars.

They used to tease the crap out of him for how long it took him to correct a pannel and how he would stop and look at ever angle. In those days he wiped the pannels down with somethiong called afta (a quick flashing solvent to get rid of the oils) and they told him he used more on a car than the whole shop used in a week.

You can't get angry at the body shops, look at all the work they throw to you pro's. Educating them is not in your best interests but it sure sucks for the customer.

You should tell your customer that had he not opticoated the car, the clear coat on the factory paint would have been severly diminished. Good save-Nice work and great customer service pulling the night shift routine after 2 full days. I really respect that effort.

Good to see a fellow LI'er knocking it out .

 

Super save Bryan !!!!

 

Good work! Maybe send the pics to the body shop. Maybe they'll see the difference, although I sure they wont

 

Them idiots wouldn't see the difference in a picture . He should have the customer take it and show them . Up close and personal. LOL !!!

 

Seriously, someone should bring the car back by the body shop again. Looks great. Those cars are really growing on me.