The shop never gave me a written estimate. I took the insurance adjusters documentation to them that covered just spot painting. They said they will work from this and contact the insurance company if they need anything else covered.
BTW, They did request to replace the quarter instead of repairing it. (another 2 week delay on the insurance companys fault) I didn't think it was that bad, but I let them make the call on that. Lets just say I have repaired MUCH worse in the day. I then asked (same conversation during drop off) if we could just put it in primer since they didn't want to do the all over. I was then told "We can work something out...."
After the work started they then told me no deal on primer only.
They did hand me a paper authorizing the repairs (and as usual, I did not read it, but I was told by the same guy that it just authorized repairs.) Didn't go into details of what is to be done. It was one of their generic customer forms.
But I was upfront with them on the fact that either I wanted an all over, or none at all. They were OK with this (Well, lets say the guy mis-spoke against company policy)

If they had told me upfront that they would NOT return the car to me in primer, I would have shopped around and this thread would have never been started.

ScottsGT wrote:The shop never gave me a written estimate. I took the insurance adjusters documentation to them that covered just spot painting. They said they will work from this and contact the insurance company if they need anything else covered.
BTW, They did request to replace the quarter instead of repairing it. (another 2 week delay on the insurance companys fault) I didn't think it was that bad, but I let them make the call on that. Lets just say I have repaired MUCH worse in the day. I then asked (same conversation during drop off) if we could just put it in primer since they didn't want to do the all over. I was then told "We can work something out...."
After the work started they then told me no deal on primer only.
They did hand me a paper authorizing the repairs (and as usual, I did not read it, but I was told by the same guy that it just authorized repairs.) Didn't go into details of what is to be done. It was one of their generic customer forms.
But I was upfront with them on the fact that either I wanted an all over, or none at all. They were OK with this (Well, lets say the guy mis-spoke against company policy)

If they had told me upfront that they would NOT return the car to me in primer, I would have shopped around and this thread would have never been started.

I can totally see you side here, I would have wanted to do it the exact same way, especially because I'm buying extra paint for the car I'm about to do a full repaint on, so in case something like this happens to my car, I can repaint a section with the same paint. I wouldn't want a shop trying to match it, just repair the damage

OK, I believe I have come up with an equitable compromise. When the shop orders the new "laser red" paint have the shop order 2 extra quarts of the base coat for you at the same time.(you will pay for the 2 extra quarts of red basecoat). Have them make sure that all three quarts are mixed up in the same container. The shop will use what they need to paint he damaged/repaired area (as per estimate which is what they want) which should take close to 1 quart or less of the 3 quarts of base. You will then have in your possession 2 quarts of the exact same red paint. You get to paint the rest of the car with paint that should be a perfect match to the repaired area. Bring the car home and paint the rest of it in your own garage or pay another shop to paint the rest of the car with the 2 quarts of your paint. Everyone walks away happy.

Phil V wrote:OK, I believe I have come up with an equitable compromise. When the shop orders the new "laser red" paint have the shop order 2 extra quarts of the base coat for you at the same time.(you will pay for the 2 extra quarts of red basecoat). Have them make sure that all three quarts are mixed up in the same container. The shop will use what they need to paint he damaged/repaired area (as per estimate which is what they want) which should take close to 1 quart or less of the 3 quarts of base. You will then have in your possession 2 quarts of the exact same red paint. You get to paint the rest of the car with paint that should be a perfect match to the repaired area. Bring the car home and paint the rest of it in your own garage or pay another shop to paint the rest of the car with the 2 quarts of your paint. Everyone walks away happy.

What about sealing it. Its waterproof and that would take care of tye rust problem?

well that color is a tri coat, so what your looking at is 2 qts rts ground and 2 rts mid. plus clear. tri coats are not cheap to buy. and ppg paint isn't cheap to get.
we charge 3k for a repaint and that's no body work involved.
plus i didn't see where the insurance comp. paid the op. so i assume that the insurance is paying the bodyshop direct. so what you have to realize is this. we have to do what we write on the estimate. if we don't,and don't give back what we didn't do (money wise) and do what you ask, then we slamed with insurace fraud. now if the op was paid directly, then that is a differnt story. plus i don't blame the body shop for not releasing the car in the first place in just primer. because if there's a paint problem down road, guess who gets the blame. another thing to remeber is that, the 2k is on top of the estimate, assuming a 1k. so 3k is ball park, what your looking at is the repairs of the dameage plus complete strip down, repaint, that includes labo, materials, etc...

however, you shouldn't have been mislead though.