paint problem and baking worry

You might want to push a little and see if they'll take the door off, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I live in FL and I imagine that if my car is left out in the sun on a hot day that it would be possible for the traction battery to get up to (or even above) 160 degrees. Plus, since it is buried under the seat on the interior of the car I wouldn't think that it would make it all the way up to 160 after only an hour in the booth.

 

I can't believe the baking is necessary. We've had lots of body work on lots of cars over the years, never heard of that.

 

if the car is in a stall at 160 i would think it would takes over 4-5 hours before the heat would rise that much inside of the car.

 

70C is hot, but not that hot. someone could work out how long it would take to heat the mass of the traction battery up to a dangerous level, whatever that may be.

in short, don't worry about it.

 

The last car I had painted they just used heat lamps on the area that was painted instead of heating up the entire car.

When they build the car they use an oven but they do that before they install any of the electrical or electronic components.

If you do decide to let them heat the entire car up I would make sure the 12 Volt battery is disconnected so there is no chance of turning anything on while it is hot.

 

My car had to be partially re-painted twice from being involved in a couple of accidents and I don't know what the body shop did, but isn't the paint they use for repainting designed to be quick-drying, which is why it's never as durable as factory paint?

 

Sounds to me like they're taking a short cut to save time/money. It's not that big a deal to remove the door, so I'd request they do so. I had a front bumper repaired years ago, and they removed the piece so they didn't have to put the entire car in the hot booth.

 

i don't like it, but i have no facts to go on. the problem is, every problem down the road will make you wonder. and, of course, the dealership will say it had nothing to do with it. i don't see why they can't take the door off, strip it down completely and then put it all together. it's a factory defect after all, and in the factory, they paint it before adding any components.

 

Dealers always want to go the cheapest route, so call up a reputable body shop and ask what they'd do then demand that the dealer does the same.

 

If you're under 36k/3 years I would definitely get it fixed. It's a factory defect.

 

So did this body shop actually suggest that the door not be removed? Is it a reputable, insurance company-approved body shop?

 

For a 1/8 inch spot, depending on where it was located, I'd consider having it spot sanded and touched up by hand. The alternative might well leave you with a door that doesn't match the rest of the car, particularly with metallic paint.

 

Alot of times if they are painting a door, they will aslo paint other areas around the door to blend in the new paint. And the body shops i have seen do use the heated booths to paint in.

 

Cars are very commonly baked in the paint booth when body repairs are done. Its not a big deal.