[RipRocK]

Just went to the dealer to have the hoods swapped or at least that's what I thought. Those who aren't familiar with my story and the hood, you can check it out here, http://www.honda-pilot.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1389&highlight=happy+ending

Turned out they can't just swap the hood, since the hoods are serialized as well. Besides, the demo Pilot with which the swap was to take place actually has quite a few rock chips on it.

So, I was told that I can either have the hood repainted, but will be given more attention to the finish by the bodyshop this time (wasn't that should've been the case in the first damn time??) or they can order a new hood which comes unpainted from the factory, so have that painted.

Which would you guys prefer if those are the only two options given to you? Would it be better to get the new hood and get it painted, instead of having the bodyshop to sand my current hood down to the metal and then repaint it?

Your thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated and valued. Thanks again for your time.

 

[N_Jay]

New hood

1. Less layers of paint (they will not sand to the metal everywhere)

2. Factory primer (Where they do sand the the metal they will cut through the primer)

3. Forces them to paint the edges and underside properly (as any old paint that shows through would haide this issue with the hood you have).

 

[Sage]

Gees...
What a dilema!!
I think I'd go for the new hood and have them start from scratch.

 

[RipRocK]

N_Jay, Sage, thanks, guys!

I'll call up my dealer and have them order a new hood for me. Will torment ever end? Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

 

[Tony]

RipRocK,

Take the New Hood, seems to be less to go wrong this way.

 

[seadog]

Depends on how long you think you'll be keeping the Pilot. If many years I wouldn't opt for either of the offered options. I'd be looking at a replacement Pilot!! Appears you've been back to the dealer many times on this issue. This may be a stretch but do you guys have lemon laws? Your color is probably one of the more difficult ones to match and even if they do get it close, it will age differently than the factory paint. Also, I suspect that somewhere in the fine print of that paint warranty you have it will exclude repainted areas. I believe you stated the dealer verbally indicated would be covered but I seriously doubt it. If questionable have them put it in writing if you wind-up getting a repainted hood. Course, doing a fast forward, their liability would probably only extend to another repaint of the hood. This is just a bummer of a situation over something that started out as a simple problem - easily fixable in my opinion. Good Luck to you.

 

[seadog]

I mistakenly thought the color of your Pilot was silver with regard to my above posted comments on difficulty to match.

 

[RipRocK]

I mistakenly thought the color of your Pilot was silver with regard to my above posted comments on difficulty to match.

No, that's perfectly alright. You brought up some issues I should clear up with my dealer pertaining to the warranty issues. This is just crazy.

The worst part of it all though, is that everytime I'm in there, I'm made to feel as though I should just accept whatever they do for me and that I'm making a too big a deal about this.

 

[Sage]

The worst part of it all though, is that everytime I'm in there, I'm made to feel as though I should just accept whatever they do for me and that I'm making a too big a deal about this.

I bet they do! But you're not. And you have alot of fellow Piloteers behind ya to counteract the Dreaded Dealer Demeanor. :1:

 

[foxhallow]

Serial Number

When they put a new hood on, will it retain the original serial number? If not, there might be an issue with vehicle value down the road.

Even if done legally, the value of a vehicle with replaced panels is generally less than all original. That's one reason customers have successfuly sued insurance companies for deminished value even when they use original manufacturer parts.

Since both hoods need paint, I'd stick with the original hood to keep the original serial number - unless they are allowed to transer the number somehow. If they can, then go with the new one.

Good Luck!

 

[Sage]

foxhallow...

Now that's an interesting point... I have to say I agree with you if what you say is true. Definitely worth asking about Riprock.

 

[N_Jay]

If you are going to keep the vehical more than 4 or 5 years, I would worry more about the paint than the SN.

WHen you sell the Pilot the chance of someone checking the number is 1 in 1000.
The chance of a bad repaint showing up in 5 years is about 50/50.
Bad paint will take much more off the value than a replaced hood.

 

[ncelk]

Just a thought re the hood.

If the bodyshop is going to do a good job on the repaint, then they will do a good job with the existing hood vs the new hood.

In addition, you will have to have the old hood removed (relatively easy of course), but then you have to hope that the alignment, latching of the hood and other things work out as well as the factory hood.

Also, with the vehicle being this new, I would not worry as much about the repaint. Remember, Honda actually repairs and repaints fenders and hoods and other parts sometimes before they are shipped and never declare it.

One other very peculiar thing from very anal Piloteer. Most of the Pilots I have seen do not have vin stickers on the fenders from the factory-wierd but true. If I would looking at one and did not know this, and saw a hood with no vin sticker as well as both fenders, my gut would tell me major front end damage.

The fender sticker issue is wierd. Don't know why they did that. Anyway, to sum it up, if the bodyshop is good they will do a great job with either IMHO.

Good luck-let us know how it turns out.

----------
ncelk-Tafetta White EXL

 

[regrus]

Painting the Hood is what you will end up with in either option. A replacement hood will not come painted but only with the primer coat. We both live in the same City so I'll give you this recommendation. Try to get the dealer to let you pick the Body Shop then go see Modern Autobody in Edmonton's westend. They are well reconized as the absolute best shop in Northern Alberta. If you owned a new Mercedes or a Porsche you would already know about them as those cars are their specialty.They do the Mercedes dealers work. Karl the owner has been in business for 30 plus years in Edmonton. When you are done the work will be "Factory" quality. Good Luck.I am in the insurance business and I would not go anywhere else.










I

 

[RipRocK]

Greetings, Fellow Edmontonian!

Painting the Hood is what you will end up with in either option. A replacement hood will not come painted but only with the primer coat. We both live in the same City so I'll give you this recommendation. Try to get the dealer to let you pick the Body Shop then go see Modern Autobody in Edmonton's westend. They are well reconized as the absolute best shop in Northern Alberta. If you owned a new Mercedes or a Porsche you would already know about them as those cars are their specialty.

Well, I've never owned one of those and not sure if I ever will, but if Modern's good enough for those type of cars, then good enough for me.

They do the Mercedes dealers work. Karl the owner has been in business for 30 plus years in Edmonton. When you are done the work will be "Factory" quality. Good Luck.I am in the insurance business and I would not go anywhere else.

Thanks for the great information about Modern Autobody. I never even heard of them before. I'll demand that I pick the bodyshop _this_ time since Amsterdam did such a horrible job the first time around. The clearcoat overrun on the rightside of the hood looks ridiculous. Looks almost like a big, flat air bubble.

As well, I was wondering if you can answer me on this or at least instruct me as to how I would go about obtaining this information? The question probably will stupid, but please bear with me.

As I understand it, with any repaint job performed on a car, especially on a major body component such as the hood, there inevitably is a reduction in the car's value compared to another car of the exact same condition, model and otherwise. Therefore, is there a way to accurately estimate or derive the expected difference in the market value between the two cars? I'm sure you know why I'm asking this question.

I've never kept a car for more than 3 or 4 years, max. So, when it comes time for me to sell or trade-in my Pilot, I want to protect myself or be compensated for the difference in the market value of my car and another that has never had a repaint job. Any ideas? If estimating the differences 3 or 4 years ahead is not possible, then how can I estimate the difference in the value if I were to sell the car right now? Thanks.

Go Eskies!!!!! WooHoo!!

 

[lamuncha]

Resale

This may help your resale fears. I had an tree fall across my Acura and had the roof replaced. The body shop I used sounds similar to the one recommended to you. It specilized in quality workmanship. They removed the roof at the body and welded on another.
At the end you could not tell that anything had beed done. No change in value.
The value of the sale/trade depends on a number of things, one of them how good the thing looks = how fast it can be moved. All other things being equal and no structural damage it won't matter.
Get a good shop and sleep well.

 

[RipRocK]

Just an Update On My Situation.

It turns out that the VIN sticker would not be trasferred over if I were to get the new hood painted, so, I've decided to keep the current one. I know, N_Jay, you're cringing right now. But I really don't wanna be put in a position where I'll have to defend myself or justify the absence of the VIN sticker, just in case someone asks about it.

I left a message on the service mgr's voicemail and he's supposed to get back to me on ths. The couple of bodyshops I spoke with said that they will apply a coat of paint once the clearcoat's been sanded down, whereas the bodyshop used previously which had repainted my hood said that they will just sand the clearcoat and apply a new coat of it.

Since my hood's now going to be sanded down for the second time, that was one of my concerns. If you're sanding down the clearcoat, inevitably, are you not going to sand away, even if very little, a thin layer of the paint as well? I mean, how do they know exactly and precisely when to stop so as not to hit any of the existing paint?

The service mgr was adamant that I use the same bodyshop that was used for the first repaint. I have a feeling that his dealer gets to use the shop's service for cheap and the and shop's happy because he gets referral work.

Again, your thoughts, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Sage]

Hood-winked

There's your new signature! What a mess. I still vote for the new hood, but I'm certainly no expert. And the 'same body shop' issue would scare me to death. OK - I know I'm not helping. So sorry Rip...

 

[N_Jay]

Comment on using the same shop

This is a Catch-22.
If you use the same shop you are likely to get the same level of workmanship.
If you use different shops you will have a never ending fingerpointing match should it not be to your satisfaction.

 

[RipRocK]

Re: Comment on using the same shop

This is a Catch-22.
If you use the same shop you are likely to get the same level of workmanship.
If you use different shops you will have a never ending fingerpointing match should it not be to your satisfaction.

So, I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't. Also, what do you think about the idea of sanding down the clearcoat, not down to the metal, just enough to get to the paint, then apply a layer of paint, compensating for the thin layer of paint that may've been sanded away when taking the clearcoat off, and then reapply the clearcoat?

This is what I was told would happen with a couple of bodyshops I've spoken with. What the bodyshop that did the bad paint job did was just sand the clearcoat off and just reapplied it back on, never applying any paint at all.

Would you still just get the new hood and get that painted? Is it given that no matter how well my current hood gets repainted, it'll never be as good as the one that'd get painted ordered from the factory? Thanks again.