PROS:
1. Good Customer Service -- Owner Jose Gomez was…read morequiet, friendly, polite, and relaxed. As we got to know each other, he showed a good sense of humor. He instilled a sense of trust.
I was referred to Domi by a long-time friend, a car guy who has trusted Domi with his cars for years. I went to Domi for an estimate, telling them I wasn't sure if or when I'd do the work. I called Jose 8 months later to see if he'd honor the original estimate. He would! He could have argued storage (for my new part) or rising costs (for the other parts, labor, inventory, or shipping) but he didn't.
2. Proximity to auto body suppliers --Body shops abound in SF's Bayshore-Bayview area, an industrial area. Unlike Daly City and the SoMa districts, AFAIK, this area's always been zoned for junkyards, now called "dismantlers," so old auto body replacement parts are just down the road.
3. Great work -- The work was superb -- almost flawless.
In bodyshop work, even if the replacement part is new, what I believe expends a shop's labor budget is the color-matching and feather-edging during the painting process. Domi did a great job here. I bought my car new ten years ago but I've been accident-free. And always parking it outside must weather and fade even the best-maintained factory paint jobs like my car's. So a shop's painting with the dealer's official new-car color may not cut it. As soon as I saw Domi's finished work, I said, "Perfect!" Yes, an auto body guy I know inspected the work. He stooped low, his head down, squinting into the angled sunlight and did finally did point out a small flaw or two, only visible to the trained eye, but, hey!
4. Diligence -- When inspecting my damages, Domi was one of the few shops that took the time to lift my trunk liner to more thoroughly inspect potentially affected areas. They were able to quickly remove and re-fasten the little, crappy liner fasteners--something I've never been able to do. They also found a pool of water in the jack compartment near the wheel well and vacuumed it up. They told me to monitor it in the future in the event I had some kind of exterior leak. I also found out later that during the job they had Armoralled all four of my tires, without even telling me! What part of body work is that!? Thank you, Domi!
5. Timeliness -- The work was done on time as promised.
6. REALLY inexpensive -- It was hella cheap. I'd received estimates from no less than ten body shops, and of the legit body shops Domi's was the lowest -- in fact about one-third the charge the bigger, famous shops had estimated -- but still higher than the roving, mobile auto body guys who work in the street with no place to paint. Because Domi's charges, unlike most of the other body shops' estimates, were under the threshold required by the DMV and my insurance company for reporting, I could pay for this out-of-pocket without involving my insurance, which might have taken away some of the insurance discounts I've worked for years to maintain. I usually NEVER do anything without insurance because having the insurance handle accidents (what we pay them for) essentially guarantees my protection and satisfaction. But I trusted Jose and it paid off.
7. Domi provided my transportation the day I dropped off my car and the day I picked it up. I listed this last because I'm not sure if they usually do this.
CONS:
Because of a laid back, friendly nature, Domi had an informal air, making me a bit guarded at first. When they did my repair job they weren't accepting credit cards, which also gave me pause. But I went with my gut--and I'm a paranoid guy. The terms were debit card, half in front, and half upon completion of satisfactory work.
While the southeast sector of SF is close to Many Things Auto, it's not centrally located. If I hadn't been able to get the two rides, it would have been inconvenient taking the bus to and from the Avenues.
I never got the chance to try "Smokin BBQ" next door to Domi!
