Scratch on new car. Dealer overkilled repair?

[capt_slow]

I was helping a friend get a new 2016 Miata and during delivery we found a small chip on the driver-side door.



The dealer promised in writing to repair the chip at one of their contracted body shops. About a week later, I find out that not only did they repair the chip, but they repainted the whole door, the front quarter panel, and the rear quarter panel.

Does this sound like overkill? I'm concerned about the quality of the job compared to factory as there is a notable edge to the paint on the door frame. I also got a look at the dealer paperwork and the dealer cost was around $600 for painting all three panels.

Unfortunately, my friend already accepted the car and drove it away.

[Never_Enough]

That is overkill, but the car has a warranty so any future paint issues will be covered. Maybe your friend should get in writing a guarantee on that repaint, though.

[Red Bread]

Just know that the respray lowered the value of the car. A $200 paint thickness gauge will show that the car has been repainted and blended. Not a huge deal on most cars, but if this is a GT350 or similar, might be worth making some noise about this.

Oh, and never complain about paintwork to a dealer. Find a good PDR and airbrush guy for cosmetic repairs, never the dealer.

[overcoil]

mineral white paint? did they blend on the front and rear quarter panels or completely repaint all three panels? even with computers for matching paint mineral white isn't easy.

The edge on the door frame, w/o picture... but yeah just about all body shop repairs will leave signs of respray.

They probably did what it took make any repairs least noticeable.

[deansbimmer]

The only reason they would have painted the front or rear panels would have been to blend the color. Any color should be blended to make for a seamless repair.

Not overkill. Only seems like overkill to people who aren't in paint and body. It's the only way to "correctly" repair damage like that. It's possible they could have spot blended that area and re-cleared the door but an experienced eye could very likely pick it out.

If there even is any overspray you'll have to live with it- or remove it. But it's not exactly a collectors car where a future buyer is going to care. Dealer cost shouldn't necessarily be an indicator of quality- many have in house paint shops and that cost is just their overhead.

[wntrsnowg]

If it were my car I would have thrown on some touch-up paint and called it a day. They could have tried that or they could have tried to blend the small area surrounding it but it didn't look perfect so they redid the panels to blend it out. That's the price you pay for multi-layer paint colors. Most likely is they did the most work feasible for the job just to get paid the most haha

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by wntrsnowg

If it were my car I would have thrown on some touch-up paint and called it a day.

Yep. If I was dead-set on that car, I would have applied touch up and clear coat on that spot. A bit of wet sanding and compounding after to smooth it out.

I told my friend initially to find another car, but they wanted that color. Dealer mentioned the three panels are covered under the same Mazda 3-year limited warranty. With proper care, factory paint should last much longer. Only time will tell if those three panels will also last as long.