Body Shop Painted Without Telling Me... Now I'm Worried

[ChevyNick]

Hey guys. Well if anyone remembers my last post I made a few weeks ago on here... I finally brought my truck into a body shop this past Monday. I called today to get an update, it should be done this coming Monday afternoon, as they told me "We are just waiting for paint to dry". At that moment, I was like...


I am so dumbfounded as to why they repainted my entire tailgate... By the way, if you haven't seen the pictures I posted here, here is the best picture I have of my tailgate, which I took immediately after the accident. This was taken on the scene. Hows the tailgate look to you?



So I asked the guy why they painted it, he says I had a spot of touch up paint on there (which I did) and he also claims there were scuff marks and some scratches on there. You guys have to trust me when I say there were no scratches or scuffs on my tailgate. Yes, there was about a one inch line of touch up paint which is located way up near the top of the tailgate, no where near where the guy who hit me made contact.

It was also my understanding that no paint work was needed, and he said, before I brought it in, that paint work should not need to be done. They were supposed to call me if there were "big issues" or whatever as they started taking the bumper off, etc... Never received a phone call. I really would have loved a phone call so I could tell them to NOT paint the tailgate. I wonder if they damaged my tailgate while removing the plastic bumper and stuff? I guess I can't be too judgemental right now as I have NOT seen the paint job yet. I'll know hopefully on Monday. I guess my paint is no longer 100% factory... I really liked the fact that it was, and received many comments when i told people this is factory 2002 paint. Also, to me, thats another $500 probably that my insurance company will have to fork out. Unnecessary. I'm not mad at this body shop, I'm just dumbfounded on why they did that.

It is what it is...

Comments? How would you feel if a body shop went ahead and painted something that clearly didn't need paint work when you dropped it off?

[SVT Lightning]

Do you have a written estimate? If paintwork is not mentioned on it....I wouldn't pay for it if you are charged on the final invoice.

[ChevyNick]

No, my insurance is covering all of it. Looks like the body shop wanted some free $$$$$ so they painted the tailgate anyway.

[mswerb]

It's not really free money if they did the work. I wonder if the insurance company recommended the tailgate needed to be painted?

[ChevyNick]

How could the insurance company recommend anything? Did they see the damage somehow, like does the body shop send them pictures? In your opinion, how does my tailgate look in the above picture?

[tapp1]

Your insurance company appraises your vehicle prior to repair.....

[ChevyNick]

Why would the insurance company want to spend an extra $500 on something that clearly didn't need repair?

[GhOsT1321]

Perhaps they had seen the orange peel CC and wanted to correct it.

[Meticulous-Detail]

No, my insurance is covering all of it. Looks like the body shop wanted some free $$$$$ so they painted the tailgate anyway.

You hit the nail on the head. I was an insurance fraud investigator for 4 yrs and this is called "padding the bill". If they did a good job I wouldn't worry about it. Ask him to show you (with your own eyes) the paint thickness readings so you know how much clear you have.

[ChevyNick]

Perhaps they had seen the orange peel CC and wanted to correct it.

The orange peel on my truck is not bad at all. IMO it wasn't even close to being questionable.

You hit the nail on the head. I was an insurance fraud investigator for 4 yrs and this is called "padding the bill". If they did a good job I wouldn't worry about it. Ask him to show you (with your own eyes) the paint thickness readings so you know how much clear you have.

I know, now the insurance is gonna see a $2300 bill instead of, $1800 or something ya know. I didn't even think to ask them to show me the paint readings, will that be on paper or would they take a gauge out and show me right then and there?

I just want to see it so bad. Monday can't come soon enough...