Anyways, my car was in les schwab for snow tires today.. All goes well, they take it down, they drive out, the guy driving my car hits another guy in the parking lot.. Front corner smashed in... Not too much damage really... That said, because of the way the car's made, the hood, whole front bumper, quarter panel, and probably the wheel well all have to be replaced. That said, the paint does too... That of course involves tracking the guy who originally painted it, finding out exactly what was used, in what ratios, over what base, etc...
Tiny bit of damage, but it will cost about 4500, but hey, Les Schwab's paying for it all, so I'm good..

Tons of snow today, so I took it to get the tires, figuring that will be the important thing... Who knew that they would be the ones to hurt it?

 

2....

 

And how it was before today...

 

ouch

 

Thats a costly mistake for that shop. Atleast the frame is no where near damaged so its just body panels.

 

that really sux...your car is so nice

 

Oh come on........











THAT WILL BUFF RIGHT OUT!



edit: Oh yeah sorry about your car, at least you don't have to pay for it.

 

yea, but you gotta wait for it to get done...since you're putting winter tires on it, I take it you were to be driving it this winter? Are they gonna give you a car to use while it's in the shop

 

ur head light bar looks fudged too. those are fibre glass and break pretty easy. sorry about ur car i kno how u feel to have someone else hurt it. really sux hopfully itll turn out nice, plus u dont have to pay. good luck dude.
matt

 

Where is this shop located, I could use a new front end JK At least you are getting it all redone at their expense.

 

that sucks...seems like its gonna be hard to get it to match nicely again. At least you dont gotta pay...good luck keep us updated.

 

Yeah, that's lucky...

Yep, I was.. That said, there is a backup 1996 Civic Ex... 90 HP VTEC... Whoo....
Yeah, that whole mount area is broken, its clear if you look from a different angle...



I twill be hard to match.. Also, the paint is symmetrical on both sides... If its not good, there's a national company with pocket books to do it over again...
That said, I'd rather it was just as it was before...

 

if for some reason your hood has to be replaced, i'd be interested in picking that one up from you...

 

All right, I'll keep that in mind.

 

don't they teach those guys to drive?

sorry to see that happen to your ride. you clearly put alot of $$ into it (probably alot of time too) that is a beautifull paintjob. i have never been a huge fan of flames, but flamefan or not, if i saw your car drive by my head would turn. i hope the paintshop can match it. any chance les schwab will take it to the guy who originaly painted it?

Good Luck she'll be shining again in no time

 

man that blows

 

Well, to be fair, I didn't have it painted... Tha saaid, thanks anyway, I love how it looks...
We're trying to find the guy that originally did it... If I can't find him, I won't even repaint it, as it wouldn't match anyway....

 

i'd be pissed regardless that there paying for it

 

That is a crazy paintjob.. I thought it was gold..

Sort of gives you a headache seeing all the little shifts at once.. but looks damn nice

 

Not sure of the shops quality, but check up on the front they're putting on. I recently had my front left slightly smashed. Original plan was to just "shift" everything so it fit and just slap a car bra on it, but the shop took a different approach and put a whole new front on. UNFORTUNATELY, they used some aftermarket junk that doesn't fit correctly. Hood doesn't line up and has about 3/4 inch overhang over the front. To people unfamiliar to third-gens, it has an agressive look to it, but for me, I know its f'ed up. Watch out for the aftermarket front, I here they rarely fit correctly. (My sig. pic. is pre-accident).

BTW, your paint is amazing. I hope you can get it all matched up and looking nice!

 

Even if you get all the paint info, I highly doubt you'll be able to have that corner spotted in and have it match. Those color shifting pigments are going lay down differently depending on the number of coats, how heavy the coats are, how far the gun is from the surface, gun brand/style, air pressure, and also the temperature and humidity of the environment you're painting in. You'll never get that to match. You'll need to respray the entire flame section.

It's also a shame that you're using such a nice car for a winter vehicle. Once you get some rust and need paint work, you're going to wind up in the same paint nightmare, so I'd look at this is a stroke of good luck in that now you get to have that fancy crap replaced with a normal paint job on somebody elses dime. If this is a daily driver and especially a winter driven vehicle, the best thing you can do is spray it a normal color that can be matched in the future, because it's inevitable that a daily/winter driven thirdgen WILL rust and WILL need additional paint work.

 

I seem to remember you posting pics of this car when you first got it?

Sorry to hear about your luck.

Unfortunatly jim is right, you will never get it to match due to sooo many outside variables. You're best off repainting it with new flames if you want them.

 

Yeah, you're right, on all the counts. Actually, i doubt I would have ended up driving it much in the winter anyway... It was a possibility to drive the Honda.. I'm obviously stiking with it now, but I would maybe have done it anyway...

We'll see what the shop says, but I've got a feeling you might be right on the paint.. If they agree, it will get a normal paint job, I'm thinking black with some silver. Who knows though, we'll see.

One question though- Since the color is based on the lay of the particles, if the particles aren't laid down EXACTLY the same, will the color shift in different areas? I mean, from the same angle, will the original look blue, while the new look purple, or something along those lines?

 

Since the shop crashed it, shouldn't they be bringing it back to the exact way it was, custom paint and everything? Even if they can't do it, shouldn't they be paying for it to get done?

 

sully91rs has a point. due to the unusual nature of the "costom" vehicle they decided to crash, they need to pay to have all custom areas effected repainted. in this case the hood, nose, quarters and doors.

good luck getting that to work. all it should take is a threat of legal action if they say they will not do it. you may need to get your insurance company to go to bat for you as they will supply a lawyer (depending on insurance company)

good luck

 

I would definitely stick it to them! Make sure the paint is just as cool as it was before. If you have to repaint it eventually, you can get something basic done on your own dollar...for now, go nuts!

 

Sully has a point, but the reality is, insurance companies don't typically operate that way. They will give you the amount that covers the value of the damage. As far as the insurance company is concerned, getting the paint to match is the body shop's problem. Unfortunately, no body shop is likely to guarantee a color match with that color.

As for the new paint having different side tones, yes, that's possible. To what extent it differs depends on all of those variables I posted above, so there's no way to know for sure. I'm not real familiar with the particles used in that color shifting paint, so I can't say for sure what is going to happen if you try to match it, but I am familiar enough with standard metallics and pearls to know that any time you have particles suspended in paint, you wind up with many more variables than you do with solid colors.

 

That is sweet! why are you driving it in the snow any ways? If It was my car It would be in the garage when snowing

 

schwab lol
sorry, but lol


at least they're paying for it and that guy is more than likely getting in serious trouble

 

Well I know a guy who is in his mid 40's, an upper level sales/custormer support guy and respectable father of two.....

That being said, he has the nickname of "Firebird"

You see, when he was 17, he worked at a Montgomery Wards auto center as a tire tech. It was his 17th birthday, and he drank about two bottles of cheap wine with friends on his lunch break.

Meanwhile, a sargent from the nearby Marine base dropped off his Firebird for tires.......can you predict the disaster?

Yep, he floored it, overshot the hoist and put 'er halfway into the wall from his own account. Needless to say, he was fired on the spot, and fortunately was kept from "meeting" the near totaled car's owner, who was slightly irate-

So you got off lucky so to speak. Accidents happen, and there are two sides to the coin there, the tire guy probably had his manager on his butt to get as many cars in and out as possible.

Unfortuantely your custom paintjob will be hard to match, though that's not your problem.