Bodywork repair lon...
 

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[Closed] Bodywork repair longevity

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I had a repair done to some rust on the front wheelarch of my Transit. The invoice for the job says "Cut out corrosion on osf wheel arch, weld in new metal, prepare for paint and paint."

It also states that the guarantee is for 6 months.

The work was done last November, and now the paint is bubbling up in exactly the same spot. I am disappointed to see this. My feeling is that if the panel had been cut out and replaced, it is highly unlikely that the new material would rust through so quickly in exactly the same spot if it had been done properly. I am also suspicious that the bubbling is appearing in exactly the same spot, leading to a concern that it might have simply been a "strip'n'filler" job that has been carried out.

The place that did the work says bring it in and they will look at it but all work will be chargeable. Given that the previous repair has lasted less than a year if they tried to do a decent job, they clearly didn't, or they have tried to pull a fast one.

Am I unrealistic in my repair expectation? I assume that once the paint is removed from the panel it will be clear if they repair is as they have invoiced for, and if it isn't do I have any recourse?


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 7:30 pm
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Places here will say no warranty on rust repair but damage repair typically has a lifetime warranty.
Wife car goes back in once a year to have one of the many panels repainted and it boggles my mind as to how the repair shop are so darned useless. Trouble is that their damage repair has lead to rust so I'm not sure when these free visits will stop :/
(Previous owner was quite careless and we bought it with damage)

Establishing if they did the work per the invoice will be tricky though as I guess you'd need to strip that area of paint to see if it's been bondo'd or welded and grinded. Welded panels still need suitable prep though and any contaminants can result in paint failure and then rust.


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 7:40 pm
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I had a repair done to some rust on the front wheelarch of my Transit. The invoice for the job says “Cut out corrosion on osf wheel arch, weld in new metal, prepare for paint and paint.”

It also states that the guarantee is for 6 months.

That 6months is there to give you time to sell it whilst it's still worth something.

Mine.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/rustyfordtransit/


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:43 pm
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For bodywork repairs I'd always ask to see photos of the repair in progress so you know you got what you paid for below the paint.


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:47 pm
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It also states that the guarantee is for 6 months

That's generous for a Transit 😝


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:49 pm
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As an aside, it is in a place that would allow for a fairly easy pane replacement? Even painted you can pick these up at ok prices.


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:51 pm
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In my experience of cutting and welding rust, unless you can get to the back of the repair with paint and/or cavity wax it'll come back pretty quickly where the weld is unfortunately.

Does the repair section have an inner skin you can't get at?


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:55 pm
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The replacement panel can be picked up for less than £20. I do think that there has been no cutting out and replacing, just a quick filler and paint.

Proving this isn't going to be easy. I think I just need to cut my losses and get someone else to do the whole repair again.


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:57 pm
 lerk
Posts: 185
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Magnets don’t stick to bondo/newspaper etc…
However filler doesn’t rust!


 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:09 pm

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