Most motorists are unlikely to dare to carry out body work on their own, paint their car. It is customary to entrust this difficult task to professionals. However, it is not so easy for an ordinary car owner to assess the quality of work and understand that a lot of money is not wasted.
Before picking up your car from the workshop after body repair, try to remember exactly what problems you have contacted the specialists with. It is better, of course, to write it down in advance in order to check it later in stages. Body repair is the replacement (repair) of unusable body parts and painting. Therefore, it is logical to split the check of the work performed by auto mechanics into 2 parts.
Fitting quality of body parts
Go to the door and open it; the bodywork must be easy to open, close and not sag. In this case, the presence of any extraneous noise, squeaks is not allowed. Pay attention to the locks: the key should be easy to enter, exit and turn. The operation of power windows (both simple and electric) should not be accompanied by jerks, slippage. Next, go to the hood, trunk, fenders, where pay attention to the gaps between the body elements: the distance along the entire length of the mating should be the same (3-4 mm). Moreover, you need to check this by comparing on both sides of the car. Indistinct opening and closing of the hood and trunk indicates poor adjustment of the locks after their replacement (repair).
If there are decorative parts, lining on the body, then they must be tightly glued. The exception is some facing (usually plastic) parts of the radiator: here a gap of no more than 1 mm is allowed. The next step is to check the tightness of the installation of door seals, trunk. The safest way is to drive to the nearest car wash and put the car under the "shower". After that, dry the car and check for leaks in the cabin.
Painting quality
It is especially necessary to check the correctness of the shade match when only the replaced (reconditioned) body elements have been painted. To correctly assess the quality of work, check the color match by looking at the car from different angles:
- under artificial lighting;
- in sunlight;
- in the shadow.
It is necessary to inspect the car after complete drying: on a wet body, you may not notice some flaws. There are some nuances here: after painting, colors that are too saturated after 5-7 days may fade, which will lead to a visually insignificant difference in shades on parts of the body. However, over time, the color will even out over the entire surface. A good car service will guarantee the carried out body repair and painting for at least six months.
