The Resurrection of #22579

Fwiw, I worked a ton of yrs. on a horse ranch/Valley Forge area through my university yrs., Black Angus & thoroughbreds...& can feel for you guys on the maintenance thing, barns, fencing, etc.

 

If you do ......give me a call and we'll talk horses or some other BS until we get you calmed back down. Heck I'll tell you the story about how I tried to set my Rolls on fire this summer. By the time I'm half way though you'll be begging me to stop you'll be laughing so hard.

 

it would be interesting to see the invoice from the paint shop to the restoration shop.

 

Everyone is talking about the paint but to me it looks like the whole car was put together by a high school shop class on the last day before graduation - in a hurry and with no regards to quality - at all.

Why is the trim butchered? Why does nothing line up? Why are the screws just jammed in there?

Giving money back on the paint doesn't begin to address those issues. Also, giving money back on the paint is sort of like the old trick of taking $1 from 1000 people for a raffle... then you contact the "winner" and tell them that the raffle fell through but they are getting their dollar back. It really doesn't resolve anything.

Also, if the owner didn't specify a cheap paint job, then giving him the cheap paint job money back isn't making him whole. Making him whole would be providing him with what he was supposed to get in the first place.

I am sure there is a lot of back story here but for the shop to say "I don't think more than money back on the paint work would be appropriate" is downright scary. Imagine a tire shop trashing your car, then telling you they will refund the cost of the tire they put on.

I've been in business for quite a long time. I always protect myself from these types of issues, through documentation, communication, and sometimes when I screw up, through taking my licks and doing what is necessary to make things right.

I can't see how that isn't an appropriate solution here. If the shop doesn't have the funds to make it right, then they really shouldn't be in business.

 

+1

 

I've been,as all of us have,reading this thread with quite a large amount of amazement at the incompetence of many folk.

If the instigator of the work(shop) was a registered business in Aussie,then he would/should carry insurance for such instances.
I had an engine rebuild(NOT an F car...something MUCH more lowly,F350)done by a local shop.
It let go whilst towing 2 rally cars down to Tassy for the Targa.
After the dust settled and a 2nd hand engine obtained,we continued and had a great event.
Coming back home,having kept the shop in question abreast of the events...and taking photographic evidence of the shops' misdemeanour (as has been done here),the shops' insurance carried MOST of the pain.
Perhaps this is not the case in Canada???

 

Ok Kurt but please don't make me look at that crooked seam on the console again. It hurts my eyes when I do.

 

Dude, you really got a banana...glad you have a somewhat of a sense of humor about it...
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A successfully straightened one at that !

 

My car is in for paint right now, thanks for scaring the cr*p out of me.

 

Kurt it's a new type of anti-theft device. Even if you steal the key you won't be able to put it in the ignition. You should patent it.

 

It would be cool if you could make it Rob

 

I have read all 11 pages in this thread thus far. I agree that it is fraught with unrealistic or uncommunicated expectations. There was an expectation of a newish car using a mix of 30+ year old parts, some new, and some rebuilt. I could not follow the specifics of exactly what components were to be of what vintage though. And, the whole discussion of $17,500 $24,000 or I guess the added up number of $41,500 for the car before the work leaves me believing there were some substantial duscussions outside what we have seen posted.

Count me with the people who believe that the whole story is not being told here. But, absent the inital statement of what should have been delivered and for what price, that Ed says is lacking above, it is impossible to tell what is being debated in terms of final price.

How the paint got through is a valid concern.

I think the whole discussion of Fit and Finish is missing one substantial fact: Out of the factory in the late 70s and early 80s Ferraris were not perfect in that area! My largely unmolested 400i of similar vintage has some of the parts, seams, and joints do not match up perfectly. One could pull all the parts off and fit them perfectly and the hand labor to do that would be a huge commitment. If I ever hit the big time, paying Ferrari to do that through the Classiche program may be a fun exercise--but it would be from from cost effective versus the market value of the car unless something substantial changes out there.

Reading this thread reminds me that my 400, and all the others remaining, are an increasingly unique beasts each day they survive. As such, they warrant a high duty of care.

I suggest the take away from this discussion is that written estimates with clear totals and specific methods of addressing over-runs should be insisted upon by both parties as early in the process as early as can be defined and agree too.

-sc

 

If both Rob and Dave are going to the same event I suspect that at least one bottle of wine will be involved.

-sc

 

When I first read the initial post with the link to the eBay ad I was tired and entirely missed the whole point being made here.

Having now followed the progress of the thread with a mixture of immense sadness and incredulity I wonder how (and why) a so called "expert in the field" can still be in business if this is the best level of work that this shop can turn out.

This is a very long and complex thread to follow so I may have missed the answer to the question I pose here but is this a one off situation or are there others who have experienced poor workmanship at some or all of the levels encountered with this car? Conversely there should be others who have used this shop who can vouch for their integrity and quality of workmanship - I don't recall reading anything either way but this is a small community and we need feedback either way.

If this a one off the shop should make amends and correct the problems fully at their own expense - a decent company is often judged by its worst product so not putting this right will no doubt prove very costly in bad publicity and lack of future business. If they regularly turn out work to this level they are obviously incapable and probably won't be around long anyway so asking them to rectify the problems would be a total waste of time.

We all know that there are three sides to every story but in this situation the evidence is clear for all to see - whoever worked on the car and, even more so whoever oversaw the project and allowed a car to be returned to a client in this condition either didn't know what they were doing or simply didn't care - to me the whole thing smacks of a shop on the verge of going bust.

 

In Ontario a shop is allowed to go up to 10% over on a detailed estimate or overall budget without discussion. Anything else must be discussed and approved with the customer.

Gerrit
ex-11966

 

$91K spent on a 400 = as good or better than new in body, trim and interior in my mind.

 

VERY well done sir, well done. Clearly you understand what has and is happening here.