Gripe about body shops

Swollkat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Posts
77
Reaction score
0
Location
Riverside, CA
Why do most body shops do a crappy job putting your car back together? Either they forget parts, half-a$$ the job and use random screws, or they can't color match the paint so now you have a two-tone. Oh and you might as well add two more weeks to whatever they quote you because I've never received my car on time. My favorite is when they use whatever is lying around to hold your bumper covers on. I've had plenty of experience with these shops from little independent ones to chain shops. If at all possible I will strip the car down to minimize the damage they do. You would think that with all the money they get from the insurance companies that they would want to do the best job they can.

Anyhow this past weekend I was replacing my door actuators and part of the install involves removing the metal window tracking, so I noticed my passenger side had a rubber insert in the guide while the driver side didn't. Well a couple of years ago a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the freeway hit my driver's side and destroyed my side mirror and shattered my window. A body shop in Moreno Valley with a good rep got the job. Well obviously when they replaced the window they must have removed the previous guide that I'm pretty sure had a rubber insert. How hard is it to put that ish back? No wonder I've heard a grinding noise whenever I roll my window down. Now I have to pay $30 bones to get a 12 inch strip of rubber. I will not even bother going back to the shop. Ahhh!!

When they say after an accident your car will never be the same it's the damn truth!

If you have any horror stories please share or if you can actually shine some light on this subject then by all means do.
 

6genaccord

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Posts
1,018
Reaction score
7
Location
NY
oh do i have a story for this thread... too much to type and I get way too pissed off when thinking about it right now
 

nexTOme

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Posts
7,501
Reaction score
15
Location
CA
you're from riverside? another batmobile? :slap:
my car is the so-cal ninja approved, the one and only batmobile....:darryl:

hahaha

well....as far as my stories go..........

crossmember was bent, shop told me they would get it done within 4 hr if i bring it early.....so next saturday (my only day off) i got there even before shop opened....dropped it off, handed over the key, then they told me....well you know what? we cant get started on your car because we have other cars to work on.....

wtfudge? well whatever, as long as it gets done before 2 (when they close the shop), im fine....then i left to get other things done with someone else who gave me ride.....came back around 1:30pm, saw my bumper cover being removed....what the fudge? long story short, i got my car back around 4.....

hahaha

second story......i left my mugen spoiler to get it painted....they told me, yeah 3 days more than enough.....well since i work everyday cept for saturday, i cant come and pick it up, so i gave them till saturday, which is whole freakin week....

1 week after, i went, told me all these BS like they lost power for whole day.....im like whatever, you're not getting n e tips....haha

2 weeks after, i wanted to call before i go.....he doesnt pick up....call after calll after another, his son picks it up, telling me his dad is out of country because of family emergency......fudge you and your shop! :bash: he told me my spoiler was done, and his dad will deliver it to my house as soon as he gets back...im like...no, i dont trust you and your BS!

3 weeks after, i called in the morning with caller id disabled, he picks it up, told me they just put on clear coat....WHAT? i thot it was done? :slap:

i rush to the shop, they hung it so that it can dry.....im like.....i dont freakin trust n e of you...i want my spoiler back, and im not paying you n e more (i still owed them money).....i hung it across passenger seat->left rear seat using ropes and crap.....took off, and never looked back.....



thosoe bastids :darryl:

hahah
 

Swollkat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Posts
77
Reaction score
0
Location
Riverside, CA
you're from riverside? another batmobile? :slap:
my car is the so-cal ninja approved, the one and only batmobile....:darryl:

Haha yeah my Batmobile was created in December 1998 in the Bat cave of the Ohio Honda production headquarters. nexTOme why can't there be more than one in SoCal? LOL
 

pyaarawala

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Posts
4,087
Reaction score
2
Location
long island, NY
Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead leaving my whole car at a shop. I'd tell them to take everything off in front of me, or I'd do it myself. Unless of course I was getting the whole car repainted.
 

Quicksilvercord

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Posts
1,237
Reaction score
0
Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead leaving my whole car at a shop. I'd tell them to take everything off in front of me, or I'd do it myself. Unless of course I was getting the whole car repainted.

And there going to listen to you do this....right.

Honestly I've never had a problem with the body shop that I use and they do damn good work.
 

MikeyMike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2006
Posts
3,222
Reaction score
4
Location
914 Yonkers NY
i work at a body shop.. REAL body shops make a reputation by their work. 1/2 *** shops dont do everything right. Time=Money. the less steps you take the more money goes to the shop.. your insurance wants to fix the car for as least amount as possible, and shops want to fix it for as much as possible. so if they get paid to do more then they are really going to thats where they make their money
 

MikeyMike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2006
Posts
3,222
Reaction score
4
Location
914 Yonkers NY
IMO the biggest scam is not taking things apart to paint, IE taking headlights out when doing fenders, bumpers should always be done OFF the car. taking door handles/door moldings off.. when you dont do that, the quality of the job is deminshed because down the road the 1st place that the paint will lift is where it was taped around a headlight or over a molding etc.
 
Back
Top