Any one have any suggestions on what to look for in a body shop? Computer matching of paint? etc?

thanks,
-Shing

 

Hey Shing,

I usually ask my insurer what paint places they use. Remember that the insurance company wants a good painter because you can go back against them if the paint fails. Usually I visit their preferred shops to see the cleanliness,how busy they are, and see other newly painted cars outside. Maybe this isnt the best way, but I feel that insurance companies want a good paint job on a car that wont fail.

Hope this helps

 

Good advice vapors. Check the cars that come out of the place, and talk to the customers if you are feeling brave. The shop shouldn't mind if you 'browse' a bit.

 

Look for Porsche, Mercedes and BMWs!

Take a look at their finished work. They should always have some finished cars there waiting for the customers. Look for tape lines, bad blends, off color, overspray on the trim, bad tape jobs and overall detail to the job.

The reason why I say look for the above cars, is that European cars use much better paint from the factory. A good shop will use the same paint for the repair. Therefore you have a very good chance at getting better quality paint and attention to detail as a matter of course vs someone's extra effort on a normal sub-par job. I ask you the following question. You have seen older mercedes, porsches and bmws right?? How does the paint look vs older hondas, nissans, domestics? Now which paint would you rather have on your repaired car? IMHO??

 

if the shops seems VERY clean and their schedule seems to be fairly open...run don't walk away from that shop. too much time on their hands. painting booth also helps. a frame machine is important.
also like Jeff said look at what other cars they work on and their finish product.

 

my good friend .. lets see.. shop "checklist"..
a seperate paint booth/prep area is a MUST... look at where chemicals are stored.. thinners, alchohol based products, etc.. that can cause fisheyeing should be well away from any car haveing work done on it.. find out what paint brands they are setup to shoot and are comfortable with..
PPG, DuPont are both nice.. Glassurit is even nicer ..
Look for shops that do things other than factory cars.. shops that do hot rods, show cars, etc.. chances are if someone who's willing to pay $5K+ for a paint job is willing to trust em... then they probably do a pretty good job... get all the specifics and ask if they have any references (i.e. HIGH DOLLAR custom jobs) that they would be willing to point you at.. they should have a few cars in various stages so you can check out their work.. just because its a small shop doesn't mean its a bad place.. some of the best places will be booked up for awhile.. so don't fret.. and don't get impatient.. that usually leads to crappy work... ask about warranty stuff of course.. ..
ummm from there.. email me for more specifics... oh and uhhh what car is this for?.. (merry christmas dude.. its gonna be a LOOONNNNNGGGGG week)

 

I basically went to several different body shops and asked to tour the shop. If they are a decent shop, they will walk you around. Ask to see cars that are ready to be delivered. Also, look at what kind of cars they are fixing. The two body shops I went to that I would take my car to both had Porsches, several BMWs, Mercedes, etc. The one I now go to has a completely fiberglass 240Z, and a BMW 2002 thats track/race ready! The other one had a 2000 Lingenfelter Vette with a bad *** custom paint job out front ready to be delivered to its lucky *** owner! They also both TOLD me about their lifetime warrantee. I didn't even have to ask. Actually, my paint was starting to peel, and I took it back and he stripped the entire front of my car down to metal, then repainted it, and even gave me rental car money while he had my car! Awesome service!