Trying to find a place to get my new steel Bronco body primed and painted. It's a bare shell, on a rolling cart, doesn't even need any masking off - just clean, scuff, and shoot. Single color. About as easy as a job as you could ask for - and I can't get a single place to reply to any of my messages. There's no parts that need to be removed. There's no parts that need to be replaced. There's no parts that need to be ordered, or test fit, or modified. No insurance paperwork to deal with. No paint that needs to be matched to other paint. No plastic, or urethane, or SMC crap to have to add flex agent to.
Just brand new, all steel, complete body. On a cart. I'm ready to drop it off, got cash to spend. Can I get a response?
Apparently not.
Sadly all skilled labor is in short supply. What if I said you could have a $100k-$200k job a year if you are good at science, math, can work rotating shifts, be on time, and be drug free? You'd think those jobs wouldn't exist. They can't find enough people to fill them.
Yes even body shops get to pick and choose jobs they want now. Most just want cookie cutter insurance work because of profits.
I feel your pain. My very simple insurance claim is going over 30 days tomorrow. It's being billed at $6000 for something I could've done for half that in a weekend with OEM parts. No paint required too!
If you have a Maaco nearby, I bet they would do it.
All the small shops near me have closed up or shifted to insurance work only. The sketchy dude on the rough side of town no longer takes walk in work: he only does Amazon and other last mile delivery vans. Says there's more work than he could possibly do since the drivers crash frequently and the work pays handsomely.
This isn't new though. I've been unable to find painters for over a decade now.
In reply to earlybroncoguy1 :
Paint it yourself. Practice on a big cardboard box. Until you can paint without runs.
NOHOME
MegaDork
11/1/22 7:51 a.m.
Nobody wants to paint cars anymore. Especially collector cars because we care too much and keep the cars too long; who wants the liability for that?
If you are building this up, you might not want it painted just yet. If this is one of those body-in-a -box deals to replace the original rusted out body, I bet that it wont go together without a few surprises that would be made worse if it were final painted. The sad reality of this game is that everything has to go together and come apart three times before it stays together. Shiny paint does not help.
In your shoes, I would buy a gallon or two of epoxy primer and paint the bare metal myself. Impossible to screw up and it is going to get sanded and sealed before paint anyway. At the point it is coated in epoxy so it wont rust and you have time on your side.
Yes. We are currently scheduling for February. Our shop was built to handle 100-150 cars a month, we're currently pushing out 200-220. Parts back logs are atrocious, we have cars that have literally been here for 4 months + waiting on critical parts. to make it worse, we are fixing cars tha 2 years ago would have totaled and rightfully so.
If you want your car, don't get in a crash. It'll be fixed (values through the roof) but it's not going to be fast. And rentals? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Body shops and finding the right labor pool is a challenge. I took my Accord in once and my first thought was the constant smell of paint, even in the office.
My buddy took Auto Body classes in the vocational school we went to and he determined that he wasn't fast enough for insurance work - you gotta be fast and he knew he wouldn't make it so he became a carpenter.
@bobzilla
Crazy! What happened that nearly doubled your throughput? Other shops closed during 2020? They're fixing that many cars that would have been totaled before? Both of those things? More?
FWIW, my friend's E63 wagon got hit by some stoned kid on a bike recently. Damaged the bumper and hood. His preferred shop had no problem fitting him in for a cash deal (I think he is irrational about not using his insurance).
NOHOME
MegaDork
11/1/22 8:56 a.m.
Datsun310Guy said:
Body shops and finding the right labor pool is a challenge. I took my Accord in once and my first thought was the constant smell of paint, even in the office.
My buddy took Auto Body classes in the vocational school we went to and he determined that he wasn't fast enough for insurance work - you gotta be fast and he knew he wouldn't make it so he became a carpenter.
All part of the new workplace reality where, if a person works hard enough, fast enough and long enough, the boss can get another new Ferrari. Finding skilled, reliable people who will buy into this business model is getting harder.
In reply to bobzilla :
Same here. Largest shop on our area and we are inundated with nondrivers and backlogged work.
It's not like we're making more money either, it just feels like every repair we touch ends up a catastrophe, due to parts, lack or techs, etc.
AnthonyGS, tell me more about this 100K position?
My wife's car was at the body shop for over 3 months earlier this year, waiting on parts. Her car (Jaguar F-type R) isn't a high production model either, which made it worse.
The owner is an acquaintance and shared horror stories with me regarding lack of parts and lack of labor. The worse part is his cash flow crunch. He orders all the parts needed for a repair and gets 90% of them. That means he has to pay for the 90% but can't actually repair the car because of the missing 10%. Lots of cash out the door and not as much coming in the door. :(
NOHOME said:
Datsun310Guy said:
Body shops and finding the right labor pool is a challenge. I took my Accord in once and my first thought was the constant smell of paint, even in the office.
My buddy took Auto Body classes in the vocational school we went to and he determined that he wasn't fast enough for insurance work - you gotta be fast and he knew he wouldn't make it so he became a carpenter.
All part of the new workplace reality where, if a person works hard enough, fast enough and long enough, the boss can get another new Ferrari. Finding skilled, reliable people who will buy into this business model is getting harder.
How is this a new workplace reality? That's been the reality forever unless you're in a startup giving out stock options. And even then, it's more an outlier than a typical success story.
birdmayne said:
In reply to bobzilla :
Same here. Largest shop on our area and we are inundated with nondrivers and backlogged work.
It's not like we're making more money either, it just feels like every repair we touch ends up a catastrophe, due to parts, lack or techs, etc.
AnthonyGS, tell me more about this 100K position?
Nuclear power plant operator. They pay you while training you. The entire industry is in a staffing shortage. Currently lots of growth planned, but honestly growth potential for any individual is unlimited right now. There are not enough qualified reactor operators in the country and many of them can retire any day. Sr operators, shift managers and plant managers make very high salaries. The industry may see lots of growth due to small modular reactors being developed now too.
Keith Tanner said:
NOHOME said:
Datsun310Guy said:
Body shops and finding the right labor pool is a challenge. I took my Accord in once and my first thought was the constant smell of paint, even in the office.
My buddy took Auto Body classes in the vocational school we went to and he determined that he wasn't fast enough for insurance work - you gotta be fast and he knew he wouldn't make it so he became a carpenter.
All part of the new workplace reality where, if a person works hard enough, fast enough and long enough, the boss can get another new Ferrari. Finding skilled, reliable people who will buy into this business model is getting harder.
How is this a new workplace reality? That's been the reality forever unless you're in a startup giving out stock options. And even then, it's more an outlier than a typical success story.
The workplace dynamic is the same but shifting for the worse to benefit the top more. The business model lately is "you're lucky to have a job." The reality is poor management is lucky to have employees. My wife worked in one industry for over 20 years and will never return to it for this very reason. Heck, I won't let her.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:
Keith Tanner said:
NOHOME said:
Datsun310Guy said:
Body shops and finding the right labor pool is a challenge. I took my Accord in once and my first thought was the constant smell of paint, even in the office.
My buddy took Auto Body classes in the vocational school we went to and he determined that he wasn't fast enough for insurance work - you gotta be fast and he knew he wouldn't make it so he became a carpenter.
All part of the new workplace reality where, if a person works hard enough, fast enough and long enough, the boss can get another new Ferrari. Finding skilled, reliable people who will buy into this business model is getting harder.
How is this a new workplace reality? That's been the reality forever unless you're in a startup giving out stock options. And even then, it's more an outlier than a typical success story.
The workplace dynamic is the same but shifting for the worse to benefit the top more. The business model lately is "you're lucky to have a job." The reality is poor management is lucky to have employees. My wife worked in one industry for over 20 years and will never return to it for this very reason. Heck, I won't let her.
The view from inside a small business: with the same management and business model, it's getting harder to find people to fill entry level jobs. It's not the jobs or the business that changed.
Where are you located? Brent has a paint booth and ready to go.
docwyte
PowerDork
11/1/22 2:21 p.m.
Yes. The shop I use, that I called to schedule a simple paint job on (I have all the parts already) put me out in February. So I called in late September thinking I was being proactive in trying to get my car into them in November/December and was totally shocked. I did keep in touch with them to check on cancelations in their schedule and got really lucky. They had a cancelation for this past Monday so I was able to bring my car to them 3 months earlier than planned.
As far as why, I think it's the same for any small business. It's incredibly difficult to find and retain good staff. Add in what others have said about lack of parts and more work as cars aren't getting totalled and it's a tsunami.
Yes. Got rear-ended on May 15th, called a dozen shops on the 17th, and the EARLIEST booking date I could get was July 20th for a drop-off date. We had to drive our SUV with a stoved in and inop hatch for 2 months because it wasn't considered a driving hazard by their insurance. WE finally got the car back fixed September 8th, after a part they found post-breakdown needed replacement and was backordered. So, the whole process for a minor-to-moderate fenderbender through insurance was almost 4 months.
In reply to mfennell :
D.) all of the above and the following: demand is up. Parts have been an issue for almost 2 years now. When your normal job that took a week now takes 2 months to complete, you end up with more cars partially done at a time. Then, like this past month the stars aligned and more parts arrived and we got out even more cars.
The business here has been a continual growth for the last 10 years. They're the only BMW/Mini certified repair facility here and that alone would make the month. But we are also part of a ford store and a progressive shop as well. IT's crazy at all times.
dyintorace said:
My wife's car was at the body shop for over 3 months earlier this year, waiting on parts. Her car (Jaguar F-type R) isn't a high production model either, which made it worse.
The owner is an acquaintance and shared horror stories with me regarding lack of parts and lack of labor. The worse part is his cash flow crunch. He orders all the parts needed for a repair and gets 90% of them. That means he has to pay for the 90% but can't actually repair the car because of the missing 10%. Lots of cash out the door and not as much coming in the door. :(
That's exactly the reason I stopped restoration work. I was earning a good income doing a job I loved but my cash flow stank.
I started accepting work I knew I couldn't get to right away to use the deposit to cash flow me until I received the final payment. I was solidly in the black but the shop was filling up with cars.
I tried to carry myself over using credit cards but that interest cost could take all my profit. I tried to get a bank loan but they wanted to see at least 5 years of receipts and the banks that only wanted 2 years wouldn't consider me because I hadn't banked with them.
I finished 1 high dollar job. Collected payment. Paid off the parts bills and decided to really crunch. Before this I put in 10-12 hour days. Now I spent nearly a month without leaving the shop.
The wife brought me down sandwiches and bowls of soup. When sleep overcame me I just rolled on a blanket and went to sleep. About once a week I'd go up and shower. At the end of the month I collected my last payment and stopped.
A week later I was working for Clark Forklift.
golfduke said:
Yes. Got rear-ended on May 15th, called a dozen shops on the 17th, and the EARLIEST booking date I could get was July 20th for a drop-off date. We had to drive our SUV with a stoved in and inop hatch for 2 months because it wasn't considered a driving hazard by their insurance. WE finally got the car back fixed September 8th, after a part they found post-breakdown needed replacement and was backordered. So, the whole process for a minor-to-moderate fenderbender through insurance was almost 4 months.
that sounds legit. We had a mustang GT here waiting for 7 months for one specific frame rail. Engine/trans and front clip out of the car for 7 months. On a 2020 GT. Someone was paying payments for 8 months without a car. Insanity
Well the body shop hasn't been honest the last two weeks. Word for two weeks was just waiting on the upholstery shop. It turns out they ordered, received and can't find the seat airbag... car was supposed to be ready any day... what ever happened to being honest up front?
I bet they haven't driven, aligned or even ordered the bent tie rod either. I bet they try to align it with the bent tie rod and send it..... I could probably do better installing a new tie rod in the same exact number of threads without an alignment rack.
What makes you feel all warm and fuzzy is when the manufacturer says "no inventory, none in transit and none currently in production" for headlights on a 2 year old vehicle. Apparently the plant that was making them now makes something else and they didn't make sure they had inventory nor someone else to produce them. Current estimate is 9-12 months.
In reply to bobzilla :
That's what happens when you shut down the world for about a year.
