Just picked up car from body shop - Seriously P.O.'d
- Thread starter Cheetah
- Start date
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
Cheetah said:
That's not how we do it. Our DRP's just don't try ripping us off like alot of other shops. Their work has to be good, or they'll be re-doing it until it's right. If it keeps happening, their off the program. They aren't the best out there by ANY means, but they do nice work. If I needed my vehicle repaired, I personally would take my vehicle to a non-DRP shop that I know will do a *perfect* job and will do the repair in a reasonable amount of time. Most people aren't as picky as me and their levels of acceptable are far from perfect. I'll pick every little thing apart.
David Fermani said:
I understand this perfectly, it's a seperate incident and a new claim. It would be sad if it came down to actually having to file, any reputable shop should take care of it on their own.
My car's not at a shop recommended by the insurance company, but I have faith in this particular shop to stand behind their work and take care of any issues. One thing I've wondered about is if I did go to a shop recommended by the insurance company and I wasn't happy with something, how well would they back me up if I was holding the work to Autopian standards.
The lady I talked to did say that they would take care of it but she was a receptionist and not a mechanic or manager. It was 5pm so all persons of authority were already gone. We'll see on Monday what happens. Having not paid the $500 yet I have the upper hand so I'm going to stick to my guns and demand that they pay for the rental also. If they don't agree I'm walking. I can use the $500 and get it fixed somewhere else.
Sorry to hear that, but to be honest with you, I think if you going to get body work done there isn't no possible way to make your car like it was before the incident but they are ones that can get pretty dang close. I think a good way of finding out first hand is just asking people and the BBB. If your going to bring a car into a shop and expect what you had before the incident I think your exaggerating a little. That is my opinion anyway.
Yea, that's a good point too.
This was the first time I've had body work done on a car of mine. But it's a new bumper. All new parts. Shouldn't I expect that it would look somewhat like a new bumper? Shouldn't I expect that they can install trim correctly? It's only plastic trim. It wasn't a custom molding or a panel that had to have dents removed and then repainted. How hard can that be from a high end place?
So whenever I take my car to a body shop I should expect new damage and sub-par work?
I could probably even live with the crack in the bumper because it's not too noticeable but the thing that gets me is that the work wasn't checked by someone when it was finished or that they gave me back the thing thinking I wouldn't say anything. Suppose you had an expensive designer pair of eyeglasses and you needed one of the lenses repaired. How would you feel if when you got them back the new lense didn't quite fit and you could see a gap between it and the rim and also the frame had a new crack along one side? That's how I feel.
This was the first time I've had body work done on a car of mine. But it's a new bumper. All new parts. Shouldn't I expect that it would look somewhat like a new bumper? Shouldn't I expect that they can install trim correctly? It's only plastic trim. It wasn't a custom molding or a panel that had to have dents removed and then repainted. How hard can that be from a high end place?
So whenever I take my car to a body shop I should expect new damage and sub-par work?
I could probably even live with the crack in the bumper because it's not too noticeable but the thing that gets me is that the work wasn't checked by someone when it was finished or that they gave me back the thing thinking I wouldn't say anything. Suppose you had an expensive designer pair of eyeglasses and you needed one of the lenses repaired. How would you feel if when you got them back the new lense didn't quite fit and you could see a gap between it and the rim and also the frame had a new crack along one side? That's how I feel.
xtremeclean
New member
velobard said:
Not very well at all. I had this to happen to me about 2 years ago when I had to have my vehicle completely repainted due to a hail storm and it was not finished to autopian standards but according to them it looked great. I called my agent and told him that I was not happy with the job, so they sent out their adjuster to look at the problem. I called a couple of days later and they told me that I was getting what I (they) paid for and that there was nothing they could do. The shop that did the repair is suppose to be a high end shop and a DRP shop also, but from their work you cannot tell it.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
velobard said:
There's a difference between industry standards and Autopian standards. I think 99% of shops in the country don't deliver Autopian level quality. If you find one that does and they work in a realistically timely manner, make sure you go there. The insurance company wants your car to be repair properly and will pay for extra things if the shop will do it and if your vehicle warrants it. I won't pay a shop extra on a 99 Escort that's in bad shape, but I will on 06 Corolla that looks nice.
David Fermani said:
And what percentage of DRP shops would you say deliver those standards?
I'm still PO'd about an issue from when my car was in a different shop a few months ago. My car went in the shop in October and in the course of painting they removed the interior door panels. They apparently laid the panels face down for an extended period of time and when I picked up the car I noticed indentations on both front door handles. When I talked to the shop about it they said since it was padded foam under the vinyl it should recover it's original shape. I told them I didn't appreciate coming in to have damage fixed to the exterior only to find new dents on the interior. It's been 4 month now and yes, the dents aren't as bad but they are still there. Perhaps in the coming months they might finally recover, but they guy in charge of the shop made it very plain that he didn't want to do anything about it. I have considered even possibly filing a claim on that, but for now I'm just stewing over the damage.
As it is, I still have to take it back and gripe about a couple other things that should be considered warranty issues with the paint peeling along the edges of the tape line around the doors. I've held off on that a little because for the moment that's my only running car and even if I can get them to agree to fix the problems (visible even with the doors closed) I'll bet there's no way they'll agree to pay for a rental. It wasn't a DRP shop, but because of overlapping paint warranty issues from a previous repair they did for storm damage last summer I was pretty well stuck having them do that repair as well.
The last time I picked up my car from that shop, while I was inspecting it a young guy from the shop walked by and made a comment that it looked as good as I could expect for a 6 year old car with 100K. It was apparent that the shop manager must have passed along the pressure I was putting on him to do a good job that time around, but the snide attitude of the other guy was out of line and spoke volumes about the shop. My car looked great before the damage and all I had been asking for is for them to do the job right after obvious problems from the first time they worked on it.
Dang, bud, sorry to hear how the body shop deal went for you. I got your message about putting off the detail till you get your ride back (again). Frankly, because body shops are such a crapshoot, this is why I did not personally recommend a shop to you, as I didn't want the potential bad work of a body shop reflecting back on me.
So why is it that the standards of auto repair are so low? I used to be a professional musician and now I do it on the side for fun. When an instrument is taken in to be repaired it comes back in better condition than when you brought it in. I'm an engineer now and when we need repairs to computers or equipment they come back in perfect condition. No scratches, no short cuts, no skimping on parts. And computer equipment and sensitive musical instruments are not trivial. I recently moved back from Japan where I was living for 4 and a half years. My friend there had her car crunched by a truck backing up. The body shop there took 1 month to fix it but it came back perfect. The new parts and body work were perfect. There were no scratches or scuffs, no swirls or new damage and it took exactly as long as they said it would. The car was returned very clean, came with a bouquet of flowers, candy and about 5 minutes of bowing and domo arigato's.
Junebug
JAFO
Better call Maico! Sorry, just had to rub a little salt on your wounds. I've had good and bad luck at shops. When I worked at one back during the Carter administration (worst Pres we ever had!) Cars were made out of metal thick enough to actually be straightened and filled, now with these beer can bodies it's call Matel and glue another fender on. OK, I drive an 06 Toyota, airbags out the wyzoo and it'll save your butt in an accident, but - throw it away after that bump-up. Maybe that's why insurance cost so much. Beemer guy, I think we're alike, you picked your car up on Friday and you half to stew for 48 hours before you can talk to someone about fixing it right. That would really torque my wrench too. Good luck man, I hope they get it straight.
They make Autobody products to patch and fill urethane and other plastic bumpers these days. I've used them and have seen other shops use them as well and if done right the repair is as strong as the rest of the panel and invisible.
The question here is can these people even do it? The repair process is sort of the same as when repairing sheet metal.
The question here is can these people even do it? The repair process is sort of the same as when repairing sheet metal.
Well, while I'm here steaming the weekend away I thought I'd take a pic of the damaged area. I know the damage isn't huge but still, that's a 2 inch crack in the plastic plus and you see through to the other side so there's possibility of rust creeping in. Imagine if it were on your door panel or hood? Wouldn't you be upset? And there's a 5 inch hairline crack present too that you can't see in the picture and lots of spider web looking lines around it. I thought I didn't have before pics but actually I have lots. Being an Autopian I take many pics of my car. I just didn't have any that focused on that area but when blown up it's clear that there wasn't any damage beforehand. I know I'm probably making a big deal of this whole thing but after I get them to fix it and declare victory maybe somebody with a similar problem someday will read this thread and be inspired. :chuckle:
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imported_SHICKS
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Cheeta-
Similar experience to yours. My Fiance got into an accided with my "Mint" 4Runner. $8k damage to the front. I never thought they would get it right. Well the shop fixed it 99.9%. I had to bring it back for a broken power steering hose, not found in the original inspection and a few other small things, which is common.
The bad part is that they put a very decent scracth in the door. I asked them to fix it. They said OK, we can touch it up or paint the door. My fear was the door would look repainted unless they bleneded the whole side., something I was not interested in. The touch up job looked like a 3rd grader did it! I buffed it out the next day, and the scratch is still there. I had to walk away at some point. I knew it would only get worse. I was stuck in a bad situation, since they would do anything to fix it, but I feared they would make it worse, so I left it as is.
Steve
Similar experience to yours. My Fiance got into an accided with my "Mint" 4Runner. $8k damage to the front. I never thought they would get it right. Well the shop fixed it 99.9%. I had to bring it back for a broken power steering hose, not found in the original inspection and a few other small things, which is common.
The bad part is that they put a very decent scracth in the door. I asked them to fix it. They said OK, we can touch it up or paint the door. My fear was the door would look repainted unless they bleneded the whole side., something I was not interested in. The touch up job looked like a 3rd grader did it! I buffed it out the next day, and the scratch is still there. I had to walk away at some point. I knew it would only get worse. I was stuck in a bad situation, since they would do anything to fix it, but I feared they would make it worse, so I left it as is.
Steve
That's a bummer. I'm thinking the same will happen to me. I'd be happy with 99.9%. I'm thinking that I would allow them to just do a touch up if they offer it instead of a real repair because the gouge is in a non-conspicuous area. When I went in the first time for the bumper assesment guy who looked at it seemed to have no interest in explaining to me what they were going to or answering questions I had. He literally took 10 seconds to look at the damage, ignored my questions, walked inside and printed out the work order in a real rush. I'm hoping he's not the guy who I'll talk to on Monday.
I've got all these new supplies that I've bought just before being rear-ended that are just sitting there begging to be used. Wolfgang sealant, aquawax, collinite, natty's blue, some pb clay, cobra mf's. I was planning to use them after RAG did his thing on my car but then I got rear ended and then I had to wait 1 month to bring the car in and now I have to bring it back again. Aaaaagh!!!!!
I'll do my best to represent all of the autopians on Monday.:hifive:
I've got all these new supplies that I've bought just before being rear-ended that are just sitting there begging to be used. Wolfgang sealant, aquawax, collinite, natty's blue, some pb clay, cobra mf's. I was planning to use them after RAG did his thing on my car but then I got rear ended and then I had to wait 1 month to bring the car in and now I have to bring it back again. Aaaaagh!!!!!
I'll do my best to represent all of the autopians on Monday.:hifive:
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
velobard said:
Alot have to do produce a realistic level of quality that doesn't equate to an Autopian show car level of quality. There can sometimes be a big difference on some repairs.
velobard said:
If that happened at a DRP shop, it would all be fixed without question! It doesn't matter if the vehicle has 20,000 or 200,000 miles. They need to take care of your car, perform a quality repair and warranty it(usually lifetime). If they don't and the insurance company gets wind of it, they won't be a DRP much longer. That's one benefit of the DRP program.
I'm going to go to a DRP next time for sure. While waiting for 4 weeks to take my car in I was all worried that they were going to do something I wasn't happy with. One day I would be "No. They're a quality high end shop. Everything will be fine." Then the next day it was "But what about all the horror stories I read about? What if that happens to me?" I did that back and forth every day for a month until I got the car back. Then as we're walking toward the car to check it out my eyes were fixed on the rear bumper and my wife says "the front bumper is cracked." Man, that was a sucky moment!! I could have saved all of that stress if I had gone the DRP route. Live and learn.