I can understand your frustration on this matter Johnm. We always strive to give the best quality of work and products/parts available, the first two are easy as we have ultimate control over these but parts are a very different matter.Several of our customers are in the fortunate position to devote conciderable resorses into their project cars and rightly expect the best possible service, but however hard you look the quality of standard minor parts is pretty average to dismal. We either have to supply what is available to us or specifically re form, or re chrome many parts which would not pass the required standard, frustrating for both us and the customer. Unfortunately manufacturers now have become used to producing the items we require at the least possible cost to them, and hang the quality.
Despite protestation from the biggest supliers of panels, it is our opinion that due care and attention has not been applied to ther products, for example rear saloon wings being short by 10-15mm front wings requiring us to remove the spot welds to set the wing gaps correctly, floor panels 20mm too narrow, etc etc, the list goes on and on. It makes our job as a bodyshop very difficult and frustrating to have to accept this lowering of standards. The net effect of obtaining the correct/demanded level of finish is that labour costs rise, just to rectify someone elses failings and short comings.
I really do not know how this can be resolved, if we refuse to buy the products offered then they will be lost for ever, if we complain, and believe me we do constantly both to each other and the suppliers, we are met with indifference,and contempt. The trouble is where else can we go. One solution is for a select few traders to club together and commission new tooling from Hungary where the costs are a fraction of those in Britain yet the quality is exceprtional. The down side of this however is the financial commitment required by the traders, who will not see a return on the invetment made for many years. As an example of costs for tooling, I enquired two years ago about producing new boot lids, the cost £30,000 for the tooling alone.
I think we need to think hard about this issue and how to resolve it, I feel it will be a difficult to attain as ousting the 'bad' traders from market place.
A point in case as to the cost of doing a job is a situation we encountered recently, asked to source and fit a new set of timber to a traveller, we gave our price, only to have the job taken from beneath our feet by a company prepared to do the job for £1,800 less. I assure you we were not extortionate, but cannot see how the company could undercut us by this massive amount. I suppose we may see this car in the near future, for rectification work.
