I am having my vette painted.

I had this shop give me a written estimate, and I agreed to the job. They then proceed to do the work, but the agreement was to have me do all the dis-assembly and re-assembly. Today at around 5:00 I went down there to see the car, and with the work, in their words, 98% done, I asked, "Should I pay you the $xxxx now or should I wait until I pick up the car."

The shop owner then says, its going to be quite a bit more than that, but didn't say how much more, so I said to him, "shouldn't I have been notified if it was going to be more", and he says, oh now I see how you are, well I wish I'd never done this f****** job, its been a pain in my a** and I'm only making $500 at that price. Do you think I should do that job in my shop for that much. If you are only going to pay that much, then you can take it home just like it is right now. Then storms out and leaves, so I couldn't take it home since he didn't let me pay him. One of his employees was still there after he left, and said he'd seen him do that before, but didn't want to get in the middle of that.

The car is painted, re-assembled and has been buffed, but needs more buffing. It doesn't all that look great at this point since there are spots that they re-wet sanded to knock down some trash after the initial buffing, so it needs those re-rubbed in those spots, and then it needs final buffing.

What would you do? I'm trying to think of my next move. I personally don't think I said anything that should have set him off. I sure thought we had an agreement on price, and in writing, and nothing went wrong with the job, they sanded, painted , and buffed the car, and that is what it said they'd do in the estimate.

How binding are body shop estimates? Can he just charge me whatever he wants anyway?

If I just pick up the car and have someone else finish it, is he liable for paying for it?

What a mess.

 

Is there a clause in the estimate, "subject to change without notice"? Or something like that?

If there is, he still should have called, but within his rights to change the estimate.

Otherwise, screw him. You have everything in writing. If the price changed, he should have called before he did the work to verify that it was OK to proceed.

 

There are typically two sides to every story. BUT in this case it he sounds like a few people I have run into in my life. A bit of a nut job. That being said I would have taken him up on his initial offer and taken the car without paying for work done. Then let him try to settle up later. Another shop would gladly finish it up and appreciate your money. If you still have the option, go get your car.

I think you Estimate should hold some weight if it went to court. But I am certainly not a lawyer.

Good luck.

 

There is nothing that says subject to change without notice. Here is the verbiage, and its in capital letters:

THE ABOVE IS AN ESTIMATE BASED ON OUR INSPECTION AND DOES NOT COVER ANY ADDITIONAL PARTS OR LABOR WHICH MAY BE REQUIRED AFTER THE WORK HAS BEEN OPENED UP. OCCASIONALLY AFTER THE WORK HAS STARTED, WORN OR DAMAGED PARTS ARE DISCOVERED WHICH ARE NOT EVIDENT ON FIRST INSPECTION. BECAUSE OF THIS THE ABOVE PRICES ARE NOT GUARANTEED AND ARE FOR IMMEDIATE ACCEPTANCE ONLY. PAYMENT FOR ALL REPAIRS ARE DUE AT TIME OF DELIVERY. THIS INCLUDES ALL SUPPLEMENTAL REPAIRS.

Its written as a collision estimate as you can see, and there were no worn or damaged parts, they were all new, and on a two year old car. It does say though that the price is not guaranteed. I'm probably screwed.

The estimate lists 40 hours work. That seems reasonable, and I don't see how they used more time than that since I dis-assembled and re-assembled the car, and they sanded and painted the body panels, and then so far half way buffed it. They didn't even paint the roof or halo.

 

Check your state laws, some require notification and approval of additional work if it exceeds a certain percentage of the original quote.

 

My experience has been if the actual cost will exceed 10 percent of the original estimate, the shop calls to advise and requests guidance.

However, one shop gave an estimate for a full repaint and it ended up actually costing significantly more. He honored the original estimate. Since then, I've had several other vehicles painted there AND recommended his work to friends. In each case, the work has been extremely good and worth every penny he charged.

I've also seen some genuinely gifted paint/body men lose their businesses because they're lousy managers when it came to putting a price on their work.

 

That may be my best angle in dealing with him tomorrow. I can tell him that if he honors my estimate and completes the work, that I'll give him the best word of mouth praise, and a prominent place on my web site, but if he doesn't, then he may lose future business. It just never crossed my mind that I would be exceeding the estimate because there have been no surprises along the way. I understand if I have to pay him 10% more I guess since he said his material cost was higher than he thought.

 

"The car is painted, re-assembled and has been buffed"

Did you re-assemble the car or did he? If he did it I would say you owe him some more money based on time. You made a point in your first paragraph to point out that the agreement was based on your taking it apart and putting it back together. If you didnt put it back together and he had to do it to get it out of his shop then it would be extra.

The verbage of the contract says the estimate can change for parts OR labor once the job is started. Im guessing he will hit you up for more labor. It would have been nice if he had made a call and let you know.

**edit** What was his initial estimate btw (if you dont mind)? Just curious as to prices in your area compared to mine.

 

Tough call for sure.. I wouldn't personally be upset if the price varied by 10%, but anything more than that and he should eat it...

/joe

 

Yeah littlejake, I did ALL the disassembly and reassembly. They didn't lift a wrench. That was the agreement. They simply sanded, painted, buffed.

It probably won't hurt to reveal the estimate I guess. It was $2579. Thats because I did the wrenching.

 

There is also this verbage in the estimate...."DOES NOT COVER ANY ADDITIONAL PARTS OR LABOR WHICH MAY BE REQUIRED AFTER THE WORK HAS BEEN OPENED UP."

It seems a bit vague and it doesn't say anything about calling for approval say if the estimate is exceeded by a certain percentage but it certainly sounds like the door is open for an additional charge. An estimate is just that...it's an estimate.

Maybe or obviously you caught the guy at a bad moment. I'd go back and try to discuss the job with him in a calm manner and see if mutual agreement can be reached as to what is fair. Hopefully you can avoid litigation (or swinging on each other).

 

$2579 for a same color paint job isnt bad at all. If he used quality stuff im sure there were about $1500 worth of materials so the guy is making some change. Not as much as he could off an insurance job but he should be happy.

Was it a change color or same color?

 

It was a same color job. I put Z06 fenders and nose on the car, and they painted them plus the hood, doors, hatch tail and rockers. No jams, roof or halo.

That is why I was confused about why he was mad. It seems reasonable for him to accept what he agreed to. He even admitted to making money. I didn't even give it a thought when I asked when I should pay.

Here are a couple of pics after re-assembly and before they started their buffing. It is Monterrey Red, so its a metallic. A little harder than a solid to shoot, they said.

Thanks WayneO, hopefully he'll cool down and just be reasonable tomorrow.

 

I would ask him what is the reasoning for the price increase. More time than thought? More labor than thought? What? Seems like a straightforward job to me and the estimate should have been easy, especially for someone that owns a body shop.

 

That's what I thought, its very straight forward. The estimate says its based on the Motor Crash Estimate guide, and spells out every panel to be refinished, and how long it will take.

Front bumper 4.5hrs
Front right fender 3.1hrs
Front Left fender 2.2hrs
Right Door 2.1hrs
Left Door 2.1hrs
Right Rear Quarter 2.1hrs
Left Rear Quarter 2.1hrs
Rear bumper 4.1hrs
Hood 2.8hrs
Third Brake Light Pod 1hr
Right Rocker panel 3hrs
Left Rocker Panel 3hrs
Buf the Car 9hrs

 

Looks like they may have a loop hole.

 

It would be a lot easier for you to decide if he's being fair in asking for more $$$ if you knew why the final cost exceeded the estimate. It's not like he took the car apart and found hidden damage.

 

He even added 9hrs for buffing into the estimate, and while agree that the highlighted red and maybe some other of that verbiage is a loop hole. Based on what? I think its the not even knowing what he wants to charge me thats getting to me. He just stormed out and left me hanging.

 

Be very careful that you do not even imply that he will lose work as a result of his/your job. That kind of a statement can bite you badly. Turn a statement like that into a positive one. "You, sir, can expect referrals from my web site, etc." Or something like that.

Attorneys are expensive. Keep in mind that if you and he end up in court, judge will frequently refer both of you to arbitration. Back to block one. More $$.

Remind paint shop buy that you are both adults. Take him down the street away from shop; have lunch; discuss situation as adults. You both can resolve the issue fairly simply. No need to get into childish behavior or battles over a simple paint job. Remind him that you have heard that he does excellent work; that you both can be proud of your car and paint job. Job needs to be completed. Vette owner needs to make payment. Case closed.

(Somehow, you need to see what his warranty is, but that is a totally diff subject.) You can likely establish his warranty from other friends calling in about Vette paint jobs, as bringing that topic up right now can cloud the issue.

 

That's good advice. Thanks. I'm usually not like that anyway in your first sentence, but I'll be careful not to even go there. I don't know about lunch, but promise of referrals is good.