[greenhorn]

Posting this thread as I've now had TWO incidents with two different paint shops where an estimate was committed, and I was put in a position where there was no choice but to spend extra money, and final cost came to around 2x the estimate

Typical process - Ask around a couple of shops for quotes - agree on a scope and timeline
Day 1 - Sir there is way more rust underneath than was originally visible , I can leave the rust as it is, but then i cannot guarantee rust coming back in a few months
Day 2 - Sir the metal is too far gone, need tinkering. I can leave it as it is, but then structural integrity of the car is goner
Day 3 - Sir taking off the paint and the bondo is taking more labour than planned, I will need more labour and material - I can manage with the existing materials - but then finish will be bad
and so forth - there are just the excuses I have discovered.

Compared to my recent repaint experience at a dealership which was relatively painless, and cost about the same, I am wondering what I am missing, or How do you deal with such local painters other than withholding payment or leaving bad reviews?

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Posting this thread as I've now had TWO incidents with two different paint shops where an estimate was committed, and I was put in a position where there was no choice but to spend extra money, and final cost came to around 2x the estimate

Typical process - Ask around a couple of shops for quotes - agree on a scope and timeline
Day 1 - Sir there is way more rust underneath than was originally visible , I can leave the rust as it is, but then i cannot guarantee rust coming back in a few months
Day 2 - Sir the metal is too far gone, need tinkering. I can leave it as it is, but then structural integrity of the car is goner
Day 3 - Sir taking off the paint and the bondo is taking more labour than planned, I will need more labour and material - I can manage with the existing materials - but then finish will be bad
and so forth - there are just the excuses I have discovered.

Compared to my recent repaint experience at a dealership which was relatively painless, and cost about the same, I am wondering what I am missing, or How do you deal with such local painters other than withholding payment or leaving bad reviews?

I guess the only way is to ask them to check it thoroughly at the start and give you a proper quote including if there is and rust, how much, where, any tinkering needed, etc and if you give them the go ahead and they start making these claims later you can either ask for photographic proof of you think it's genuine or if they are pulling a fast one then stick to your guns and tell them that they inspected it thoroughly and gave a quote before starting so it's upto them to absorb the cost and give you the best quality repair.
Upto 10-20% cost escalation is fine but anything more than 1.5X is not right