Sai Colorium has a mixed reputation here on TBHP. Some people are happy, some people are unhappy and some people seem to think they are Gods and go with unrealistically high expectations!
I might be in the 3rd category!
In this very long post, I will explain in detail without hiding anything while I hope I can do justice to the efforts of all parties involved.
My car needed a repaint badly and I’ve always had pleasant interactions with Bharath at Sai.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bangal...ml#post2943342
Also, I knew that wherever I left the car, it would be a long process. Sai Colorium is close to my house and my office so I could drop in regularly and keep myself updated on the progress.
I went to Sai a few days prior to leaving my car, spoke to Bharath and he suggested a Scratch Resistant Clear Coat on top of whatever paint I choose. He gave me a few options in White. I chose a Super White shade instead of the Tafeta White. This is similar to the Toyota Super White. Probably the same. I was given a variety of options to make my car look unique. Unusual paint shades, different colour for the roof or hood, etc... However, I was very keen on retaining the stock look of my car.
I gave the car on 17th December. I was told that it will take about 3 days for preparing the car, 2 days for painting and another 5 days for finishing, fitting all the parts, etc… So, I was looking at a delivery time of end of December.
The reason I chose this time period is because my dad and mom were going on vacation and I could use one of their cars as my primary mode of travel.
However, by the 28th of December, the car had still not been painted. They were still prepping the car for painting.
Attachment 1623778 Attachment 1623779 Attachment 1623782
They had stripped all the body parts like mirrors, logos, etc but the car was nowhere close to complete.
Finally on 1st January, the car had been blessed with a fresh coat of paint.
After this, they started polishing the car. Polishing involves wet sanding the paint and then polishing it and finishing it. I had informed Nirmal(of Keystone Enterprises), who is working with Sai that I wanted a ceramic coating on the paint.
Multiple panels had to be repainted because polishing this scratch resistant paint was so difficult, the paint got burnt in a few places.
This polishing part took ages to do because the clear coat was hard and as we found out later, the technique that was being used was wrong. When they finally got the technique right, it was just a 2-day job for Nirmal and his team.
One thing that annoyed me at this point was the plastic sheet they used to cover the engine bay. My hood was damaged and they sourced a hood from the gujri which they painted. But for some inexplicable reason, they didn’t fit it on the car after it was painted. I had to tell them at least 3-4 times to fit the hood so that dirt and polish and water and everything else didn’t get into the engine bay. I simply didn’t and don’t understand the logic of why the hood was kept separate AFTER the repainting was done!
On 11th January, things were looking better and almost ready. However, I was in for a mighty scare. I noticed rat footprints in the engine bay. And rat poop. This was what I was worried about and why I kept hounding them to install the hood(don’t know how much it would have helped though).
Thankfully, it didn’t seem like the rats had caused any damage.
On the 13th of January, the car was still not fully ready. The polishing was turning out to be a major challenge but I simply couldn’t wait anymore. My car had been here for 5 weeks and more importantly, I needed my car for a specific event on the 14th.
I took my car back on the evening of the Friday, the 13th. Even this wasn’t as simple as it seemed. The car just refused to start. No electronics, no lights, no indications, nothing. The guys at Sai said the battery had been charged. Khan was there along with Nirmal and a few other people.
I assumed that the rats had done some actual damage.
However, we tried jump starting the car and it started. So, turns out the battery was dead. Anyway, we jump started the car and I tried to drive it out of the workshop. Even after idling for more than 6-7 minutes, the battery hadn’t charged enough. I stalled the car twice just getting it out of the workshop.
Thankfully, my driver was there with my dad’s Civic and I told him to follow me home. Khan was kind enough to lend me the jump starting cables so the other Civic could jump start me if something happened on the way.
I drove the car and it stalled at least twice more. Then I decided to go straight to Blackworks to check if there was something else.
My driver followed me all the way, jumpstarting my car twice along the way!
Finally I reached Blackworks and Chandru had a look at it and it turns out the cables were loose. Due to which the battery wasn’t charging at all. Further, during cranking, it was just shutting off. He tightened everything and while the voltage seemed a bit low, everything else seemed normal.
Finally called it a day and got home.
The issues I had with the car at this point are as follows:
1. Terrible finishing of the paint. The car didn’t have the gloss, the smoothness associated with a new paint job. Terrible swirls all around the car and especially on the hood, the boot lid and the quarter panels.
2. A dirty horrible looking stain on the dashboard.
3. A stain near the gear lever
4. Front bumper was painted half heartedly. Clearly the painters thought no one is going to bend down and actually check the quality. (later on, I noticed the paint had started to chip away).
5. Glass pieces still on the dashboard (behind the speedo console).
6. Mark on the brand new windshield.
The good thing was Bharath was quick to accept the faults and assured me a perfect finish. He requested me to drop the car at my convenience so he can look into these aspects and correct it.
He claims this was the first time they were using this Scratch resistant paint and that's the reason they were struggling with it. So, they consulted the paint company on the correct techniques to finish the paint. They were told to try a different technique which he promised to try on my car when I left it there again.
I left the car there on the 15th of Feb and they promised to return the car on 18th Saturday.
However, the work was progressing very slowly. The bumper was painted only on the 18th. Very little other work was done and I felt they could have used the time better. I kept dropping in every day and putting pressure on Bharat to get the work done but clearly, they were overworked.
In this time, they also repainted the dashboard. However, they screwed up again and I can see a lot of overspray on the white paint of the front passenger door.
They did clean up the glass pieces and the stain near the gear lever as well.
They polished two panels with the new technique and the results were encouraging but because of the delay, they didn’t have time to finish the car. I personally didn’t mind too much because Nirmal had promised me that he would come home and finish the car.
So, the car was ready on the 18th evening but the work wasn’t complete.
I however got busy on the 18th and couldn’t go to collect my car. Bharat very kindly arranged for the security guard to open the garage and allow me to take my car on Sunday even though it was a holiday for everyone.
Finally, on the 24th and 25th of February, Keystone Enterprises came home and polished the car again. The full experience of that can be found here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bangal...ml#post4155375
To Summarise:
Just see my post on my thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post4133318
Bad things:
1. The owners Bharat and Ananth have to reduce their workload. They accept each and every car that comes and while their business may be booming, the quality is deteriorating. The painters, tinkerers, etc are too overworked to do a perfect job.
2. Standards may vary. I was expecting a PERFECT paint finish because I had spent a staggering sum of money on the entire repainting but I finally had to settle for just a good job. This is mainly due to point no 3.
3. Communication has to improve. When I chose the scratch resistant clear coat, I wasn’t told anything about how it may not be possible to get a perfect finish. I think the mistake made by Sai was in over-promising and under-delivering.
4. Not much value given to my time and effort taken to live without my car. 5 weeks without my car is simply too much. And add another 4 days in February. This is my only car and my job involves driving everyday from one office to another. I don’t think Sai colorium appreciated just how difficult life was for me without my car.
5. The mark on the glass wasn’t removed. It is not a mark but a scratch from the inside. This is extremely annoying as it’s a brand new windshield. It shows that either I got a used piece or the handling of the windshield was very poor.
6. A lot of rework done even though the car was there for 5 weeks to begin with. The entire job took 5 weeks + 4 days in Feb + 2 days at home that Nirmal was polishing my car. Simply unacceptable.
Good things:
1. The owners are very hands on. They are rarely to be found in their air conditioned office but always on the workshop floor directing the work.
2. Ethical people. They take responsibility for their work and are ready to rework on panels that are not finished properly.
3. Always polite and courteous. These two are thorough gentlemen.
To conclude:
Yes, there were issues. Lots of it. The important thing is that they were resolved to the maximum extent that they could be. I never felt betrayed or abandoned by Sai Colorium. I am happy to go back there and in fact, I ensured that one of closest friends gave his car to Sai Colorium for a full paintjob on his Honda City. They had to change the colour to Black. This was done very well as I recommended the normal clear coat for my friend’s car. The finish was flawless. However, even this car took far longer than it should have and what was promised.
The only suggestion I will give any prospective customer is: Do not believe Sai Colorium’s timelines. It will get delayed. And it is good if you can visit occasionally and keep up the pressure and ensure good work is done.
To Sai Colorium: I still feel you are one of the best paintshops in Bangalore, but there is a market for perfectionists which is yet to be filled. You can fill it but you need to start saying NO to some customers and regulate the workload. The paint drying process has to be done properly. I found some drip marks near my door handles and at the bottom of the doors and bumpers. This is probably due to a hasty painting and drying procedure.
End of the day, I am happy to go back to Sai because I know the owners are not there to cheat people or make money by employing unethical business practices. They take responsibility for their work and do their best to ensure customer satisfaction. I sincerely hope that they start scheduling their work properly so that the efforts of Bharat and Ananth are fruitful. Right now, they simply cannot minutely inspect the work that their people do simply because of the work load.
I would also like to put on record that even though Bharath was suffering from some medical issues, he always went out of his way to return my phone calls, send me images of my car and basically communicate with me.