Does this paint quote seem realistic or excessive?

[stretch-bsn]

2018 JLU Sport S Wrangler…I had to raise hell since I was on year 6 and second owner but they agreed to pay for half. I read a bunch of articles and made sure ask them about their prep…if they color match and color blend with other panels of the jeep and how they handle the brackets, doors, and any other areas. The guy was super thorough…he found some areas at the base of the doors right next to the seem I never even knew about. Anyway…thoughts?

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[NWJeepr]

I wrote estimates for insurance companies as an adjuster long, long ago, in a world far away. I think I can still read one of these things...let me put my glasses on. I'm rusty, and I have no doubt an actual body man will be along to tell me how wrong I am.

Basic gist is they're going to book-time you for every little thing removed, re-installed, replaced. Book time is what it is, but we all know the shop does it faster. And most of it does need to be removed-- to paint a door, it needs to be disassembled. down to a bare shell. To paint a quarter panel, fenders, trim, bumper, lamps all have to come off. Top's gotta come off. This is all basic R&I, and with every part, there's a little more squish in the estimate. Are they really painting the interior face of the door? If not, I wonder how much assembly and paint time could be knocked off.

Where it gets real squishy is in the repair time estimates. What are they doing to the two doors that needs 6.5 hours EACH of repair time. We're talking corrosion and refinishing, not dents, correct? Other doors are 3 hours, x2. Yeah they need time to bring the corrosion down to bare metal and build it back up, but they're spending like 3 full days doing this. Are they sure about that?

The other squish is in blending. Apparently they're gonna blend the f*** out of those quarter panels and fenders. 4.4 hours of "blending" those puppies in total. Jeep quarters and fenders are small, and they're all vertical plane, not like they curve up and share a bunch of real estate with a hood or trunk panel.

They're going to charge $175.00/hr for TWO hours of pre/post scan? Like plugging in an OBD scanner and reading codes, which takes 5 minutes? If the Jeep doesn't go in with codes, it shouldn't come out with codes, and if it does, that's on their clock, not yours. They're basically charging 2 hours of diagnostic time, for what?

I'm not saying it's a bad estimate, but it looks like it was written by an estimator employed by a dealership body shop. If it looks generous in the shop's favor, that's because it probably is. But the other option is to take it elsewhere, and they're gonna do it their way, probably very similar to the dealership.

 

[stretch-bsn]

I wrote estimates for insurance companies as an adjuster long, long ago, in a world far away. I think I can still read one of these things...let me put my glasses on. I'm rusty, and I have no doubt an actual body man will be along to tell me how wrong I am.

Basic gist is they're going to book-time you for every little thing removed, re-installed, replaced. Book time is what it is, but we all know the shop does it faster. And most of it does need to be removed-- to paint a door, it needs to be disassembled. down to a bare shell. To paint a quarter panel, fenders, trim, bumper, lamps all have to come off. Top's gotta come off. This is all basic R&I, and with every part, there's a little more squish in the estimate. Are they really painting the interior face of the door? If not, I wonder how much assembly and paint time could be knocked off.

Where it gets real squishy is in the repair time estimates. What are they doing to the two doors that needs 6.5 hours EACH of repair time. We're talking corrosion and refinishing, not dents, correct? Other doors are 3 hours, x2. Yeah they need time to bring the corrosion down to bare metal and build it back up, but they're spending like 3 full days doing this. Are they sure about that?

The other squish is in blending. Apparently they're gonna blend the f*** out of those quarter panels and fenders. 4.4 hours of "blending" those puppies in total. Jeep quarters and fenders are small, and they're all vertical plane, not like they curve up and share a bunch of real estate with a hood or trunk panel.

They're going to charge $175.00/hr for TWO hours of pre/post scan? Like plugging in an OBD scanner and reading codes, which takes 5 minutes? If the Jeep doesn't go in with codes, it shouldn't come out with codes, and if it does, that's on their clock, not yours. They're basically charging 2 hours of diagnostic time, for what?

I'm not saying it's a bad estimate, but it looks like it was written by an estimator employed by a dealership body shop. If it looks generous in the shop's favor, that's because it probably is. But the other option is to take it elsewhere, and they're gonna do it their way, probably very similar to the dealership.

Wow thanks so much for taking the time to write this up!! I’m going to ask these questions. What you’re saying makes a lot of sense. It does seem generous in the shops favor….not horrible…but something to ask some questions about. Thanks again!

 

[JeepinJason33]

Look how much time they are billing you for the stickers and emblems. Take those off yourself. Then ask if you can also take apart the door handles and other items to save labor. They are killing you on the small stuff.

 

[Jeeper621]

2018 JLU Sport S Wrangler…I had to raise hell since I was on year 6 and second owner but they agreed to pay for half. I read a bunch of articles and made sure ask them about their prep…if they color match and color blend with other panels of the jeep and how they handle the brackets, doors, and any other areas. The guy was super thorough…he found some areas at the base of the doors right next to the seem I never even knew about. Anyway…thoughts?

I can’t comment on the quote because that’s outside of my realm. However, I have decided to go the route of buying new doors and new door side hinges. All 4 of my doors have the corrosion. Since I plan on keeping this Jeep forever, I’m shelling out the dollars for the new parts. One brand new door fully prepped and painted is about $2K. The company is called Revemoto and they’re based in Texas. Free shipping. They offer lifetime guarantee on their paint job. I am doing one door at a time due to the cost and because some parts are back ordered.

 

[Da Capt]

2018 JLU Sport S Wrangler…I had to raise hell since I was on year 6 and second owner but they agreed to pay for half. I read a bunch of articles and made sure ask them about their prep…if they color match and color blend with other panels of the jeep and how they handle the brackets, doors, and any other areas. The guy was super thorough…he found some areas at the base of the doors right next to the seem I never even knew about. Anyway…thoughts?

Yeah get other estimates , to make it easier you could remove the stuff yrself so that excuse is out the window for the greedy bastids

 

[RaddDad]

In my experience you get what you pay for. You want to go cheap, or save money doing something yourself that you may have never done before but they do every day…. sounds like a bad idea IMO. I would get at least two more quotes so you have something to compare against.

 

[Jeeper621]

2018 JLU Sport S Wrangler…I had to raise hell since I was on year 6 and second owner but they agreed to pay for half. I read a bunch of articles and made sure ask them about their prep…if they color match and color blend with other panels of the jeep and how they handle the brackets, doors, and any other areas. The guy was super thorough…he found some areas at the base of the doors right next to the seem I never even knew about. Anyway…thoughts?

Interested to learn how you raised hell? I need to learn because so far I can’t even get my local Jeep dealerships to return my initial phone call. I have a 2018 JLU and the corrosion started two years in. I am the ONLY owner. I spent the last 3 years stationed in the UK so couldn’t get it fixed because the civil lawsuit results said the work had to be performed in the US or North America. Now that I am back in the US I am over the 5 year warranty limit.

Also- for your situation, make sure the body shop is painting the underside of the hinge, the side that makes contact with the door. I’m asking the place that’s doing mine to do that and also going to see about putting a piece of material between them as an added layer of protection against corrosion. I might be overdoing it but I don’t want this problem popping back up in 1-3 years. I plan on keeping this Jeep for life.

 

[stretch-bsn]

Interested to learn how you raised hell? I need to learn because so far I can’t even get my local Jeep dealerships to return my initial phone call. I have a 2018 JLU and the corrosion started two years in. I am the ONLY owner. I spent the last 3 years stationed in the UK so couldn’t get it fixed because the civil lawsuit results said the work had to be performed in the US or North America. Now that I am back in the US I am over the 5 year warranty limit.

Also- for your situation, make sure the body shop is painting the underside of the hinge, the side that makes contact with the door. I’m asking the place that’s doing mine to do that and also going to see about putting a piece of material between them as an added layer of protection against corrosion. I might be overdoing it but I don’t want this problem popping back up in 1-3 years. I plan on keeping this Jeep for life.

Yep keeping mine for life as well…at least that’s the plan.

Raising hell…I called the headquarters…they go through the list and at the end says “something else” then you go through another list and say “something else”. After you get someone on the phone get a case opened up…let them know you situation (sounds like your military? If so use that and thank you for your service). If they keep saying there is nothing they can do pull a Karen….i would not let up and said I wanted to speak with a supervisor….after speaking with the supervisor she told me she’d personally call my dealership and give them a code…this all took about 2-3 weeks of daily calls and hounding. My dealership said they would agree to pay half after that.

I’ve spoken with a few other people as well who said if your shot down at one dealership go to another and see if they will do something. I made it clear….i do oil and brakes but for larger maintenance they will be getting my business if I’m treated well.

I also told the supervisor my “sob” story and my brand loyalty…all true. I was a Nissan guy before this. Told her how much I had no idea about the jeep culture and how I want to be a Jeep guy for life but I need to know the company stands behind its product. It was a lot but it worked out….half way anyway lol. I did all this BEFORE getting the paint done.

Yeah did talk with the body shop about how they handle prep and how they do the back of the brackets as well.

 

[Jeeper621]

Yep keeping mine for life as well…at least that’s the plan.

Raising hell…I called the headquarters…they go through the list and at the end says “something else” then you go through another list and say “something else”. After you get someone on the phone get a case opened up…let them know you situation (sounds like your military? If so use that and thank you for your service). If they keep saying there is nothing they can do pull a Karen….i would not let up and said I wanted to speak with a supervisor….after speaking with the supervisor she told me she’d personally call my dealership and give them a code…this all took about 2-3 weeks of daily calls and hounding. My dealership said they would agree to pay half after that.

I’ve spoken with a few other people as well who said if your shot down at one dealership go to another and see if they will do something. I made it clear….i do oil and brakes but for larger maintenance they will be getting my business if I’m treated well.

I also told the supervisor my “sob” story and my brand loyalty…all true. I was a Nissan guy before this. Told her how much I had no idea about the jeep culture and how I want to be a Jeep guy for life but I need to know the company stands behind its product. It was a lot but it worked out….half way anyway lol. I did all this BEFORE getting the paint done.

Yeah did talk with the body shop about how they handle prep and how they do the back of the brackets as well.

Thanks for the info and the laugh! The Karen part made me laugh. Do you have the specific HQ you called? I googled FCA and Stellantis but can’t seem to figure out which number or email to use.

 

[AcesandEights]

Have to ask, why are you getting the vehicle painted? What is wrong, door hinge corrosion? Something else? They are basically doing a full repaint. That seems absurd.

I've been an estimator/adjuster, ASE/ICar certified, and "had" all the credentials. I'm very familiar with what I'm looking at, and I have to wonder, what are you trying to accomplish? What's wrong with the vehicle?

 

[The Last Cowboy]

That quote says to me that they don’t want to do it, but will for the price quoted. In other words the quote was done to encourage you to leave.

 

[JeepinJason33]

That quote says to me that they don’t want to do it, but will for the price quoted. In other words the quote was done to encourage you to leave.

And also to mark it up enough that his "half" actually pays for the entire job!

 

[stretch-bsn]

Thanks for the info and the laugh! The Karen part made me laugh. Do you have the specific HQ you called? I googled FCA and Stellantis but can’t seem to figure out which number or email to use.

I’m always good for a laugh man! .

This number…. 877-426-5337

 

[KCSgtMaj]

Why are paint supplies and body supplies billed hourly?

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