Oh Crap!!

[Bluecoupe]

Well crap! I took my 06 coupe in to get a clear bra installed today. I got a call from the shop, the tech was trying to work the corner down, lifted the film and lifted the clear coat! It is a small area about 2" x 1" but it is right at the top of the bumper. After arguing with them, they are going to cover the repaint.
Of course, they tried to blame Dodge for defective paint. Has anyone heard of paint problems on the 06?

[Indy]

That sucks...Make sure you get a reputable shop to do the paint!

[plumcrazy]

did you buy it new ?

[FLATOUT]

I have heard of it happening on an 08 but not sure if it was factory paint or not.

[bluesrt]

its not the shops fault, that's not factory paint. no way that would happen. they were only doing their job. I would not make them pay for that- step up and do whats right

[Bluecoupe]

Plum crazy, no I did not buy it new. I bought it last year, it had 8800 miles. The previous owner said there was no damage history and factory paint
Here is a photo of the damage. Hopefully they can just fix that area and not have to paint the whole nose
image.jpg

[plumcrazy]

im guessing the guy you bought it from lied

[Bluecoupe]

im guessing the guy you bought it from lied

A seller lie?? Never!!
A friend in the auto body business told me it happens all the time when installing the clear bras. The tech had a hard time pulling off the rest of it. He was on the last corner.

[GT Venum]

It looks like it was repainted.

You should always use a steamer to remove film off of any car....

[EZ 2B Green]

I just had my clear bra replaced last week. The original was installed at the dealership when the car was new. There were no issues removing the old one (a heat gun was used in some areas). BTW: the new material is much clearer (no orange peel).

[Torquemonster06]

Looks like its been repainted, you can see the "orange peel" on the bumper.

[Bluecoupe]

I just returned from getting quotes for repair, not as bad as I expected.

I also asked these three professionals if the car had been repainted. One estimator even got his painter to check it. After looking at the door jambs, hatch and under hood, they all agreed, it haas not been repainted. The painter said he has seen this very thing happen when the installer cuts the material too close and nicks the clear coat. When he pulled it back. Up came the clear coat.

[VYPR BYT]

Looks like its been repainted, you can see the "orange peel" on the bumper.

I thought the same at 1st glance but I think the orange peel you see is actually the old film.


As far as the original paint, it only takes a small amount of carelessness by the guy prepping the surface to get poor adhesion. MD's large fries for lunch, then finishes prepping it, then straight to paint. One little grease smudge can cause a problem.

[Bluecoupe]

Looks like its been repainted, you can see the "orange peel" on the bumper.

Damn you got good eyes! There is NO orange peel in the paint. There are some water spots on the hood though.

[v10enomous]

Actually one of the locals here "limitless" on the forum has the same car as you and he eliminated the white stripes and changed his paint scheme and I believe he had issue with the original paint on the hood and bumper.

[Coloviper]

From looking at the finish on my original 06' sister car when I had it to yours with your orange peel, I would bet dollars to pecos that you ground effects was repainted. Having had that blue and painting a 08 hood to match for my car, I can tell you that color is very hard to match 100% perfect.

[Bluecoupe]

I suspect that the clear coat may have been thin in that area, maybe someone tried to buff/polish it and got a little too much clear coat removed.
The good news, less than $1K to repair. Yes plum crazy, I am going to have them pay for it. When a shop takes on a job, they are responsible for any damage their employees do while doing the job.
, unless I had signed a waiver warning about clear coat damage. I was not warned it could be damaged, so they are responsible. If you took you viper in to get the tires rotated and they scratched the paint on the fender, would you not expect them to fix it??

[Bluecoupe]

Sorry , Coloviper, I wish it had been repainted. The lower fascia is scraped up terribly and was the day I picked it up last June.

[Bluecoupe]

Coloviper, if you are going to Sedona with the club, you can see it in person.

[Coloviper]

Unfortunately I can't make the Sedona trip as with the new job I only have enough vacation this year to go to Detroit NVE1. Hope everything gets fixed up well on your car. My Ole Blackie goes in to Eddie at Elite Performance & Tuning for the big upgrades and maintenance next week. Can't wait to get it back after that but sure he will have it for a month to get everything done. Looks like an early Spring for the Saleen S351R Speedster to drive around.

[Bluecoupe]

I understand the vacation problems, my daughter is getting married on Labor Day weekend. That is why I am not going to NVE

[slitherv10]

The Installer definitely cut the film too close tot he clear and caused the damage. they new that, that is why they offered to repair it. A repaint only needs 60 days to fully cure and most if not all 3m or the like, installers will only warranty the install if the paint has been cured for that period of time. Some say 3-45 days after a repaint, but most keep it on the safe side and only offer the warranty after the 60 days.
A new car can install right away.
The OP's car was bought 8 months ago and so if there even was a repaint from the other owner, the paint and clear would have had plenty of time to settle and cure.
Definitely the installers problem.

[Bill Pemberton]

If the fascia is scratched down below , you might offer to chip in to get the entire fascia redone. You are going to have to wait a bit after painting to put on clear bra anyway, but if it is scratched why not repair while it is off anyway. You would be paying alot more if you did yourself and it might make them feel better when doing the other work down the road?

[Taximan1]

absolutely no way that pulled off factory paint. that has been painted..

the door jams and all may be original. but that nose has been painted prior. you can pull at that stuff all day long on factory paint.

[CarolinaViper]

I suspect that the clear coat may have been thin in that area, maybe someone tried to buff/polish it and got a little too much clear coat removed.
The good news, less than $1K to repair. Yes plum crazy, I am going to have them pay for it. When a shop takes on a job, they are responsible for any damage their employees do while doing the job.
, unless I had signed a waiver warning about clear coat damage. I was not warned it could be damaged, so they are responsible. If you took you viper in to get the tires rotated and they scratched the paint on the fender, would you not expect them to fix it??

That estimate seems really high if they are only going to re-clear the bumper. Maybe things are cheaper down here in NC but you can get the scratches sanded, primed and repaint the underneath and re-shoot the entire bumper with clear between $4-$500 dollars. To take the bumper off and re-shoot it with clear would be 2-3 hours at the most...$1000.00 really high. I would check around with other shops...fix the scratches and then take it back for bra install