Why we turn work away
Thin paint, failing lacquer and expectations no polish can meet. Three cars we said no to, and what we suggested instead.
Written by Tom Hartley, who has corrected more of them than he would like to count.
The car with nothing left to take
A twelve year old saloon, black, polished hard by two previous owners. Readings on the bonnet came back in the seventies, with maybe fifteen microns of lacquer left.
Another correction might have looked wonderful for a year and then failed. We fitted a coating over the paint as it was and told the owner to stop polishing it.
The car that needed a painter
A coupe with lacquer peeling along the roof edge. Polishing failing lacquer accelerates the failure and sometimes lifts it in sheets.
That is a bodyshop job. We gave them two names and coated the car six weeks later, once it came back.
The expectation no machine can meet
A owner wanted every scratch gone from a car used daily on farm tracks. Some of those were through the colour coat.
We polished one panel, showed them what one stage does and what it cannot, and they booked an enhancement instead of the multi-stage they had asked for. It cost them less and they were happier.
Why it matters
Every one of those jobs could have been taken and invoiced. The result would have been an unhappy customer and, in two cases, a worse car.
If we tell you your car does not need what you asked for, that is not a sales technique. It is the only way this works long term.
