While driving my black 06 Infinity G35 coupe home from a short trip out of town, some nut decided to pass me on the grassy shoulder on the left side of a two-lane highway, then swerved right to run me off of the road. He then slammed on his brakes, got out, ran back to my car and installed a softball-sized dent near the driver's rear quarterpanel. I also bent a rim in the process - tire lost air about an hour later - and ripped some stuff off of the undercarriage.
(I did not stay and ask for insurance information, which Infinity Auto (my insurance company) was not happy about. Crazy person + my child in car == Not Sticking Around, thank you very much!)
My insurance company told me to take the car to Caliber. (I knew I had the right to choose my own shop - should have gone with Herb's!) They had the car for a week. While the car was in, I told them to fix some recent hail damage on the trunk lid, and pointed out broken rocker panels and a few other issues. All of that except for the hail happened when I was forced off of the road.
When I picked up the car, I found that:
0. The bumper they installed is from the a base model G35, while my car came with a sport bumper. (They look very, very different.) This may contribute to #2.
1. They charged for a front-end alignment, which makes sense because they replaced the bent rim. The car pulls so hard to the left that I have to fight the wheel over 30MPH.
2. There is an inch gap between the driver's headlight and the new front bumper. I pointed this out, and the rep said that, since they had to use aftermarket parts, they couldn't correct that. Come on: buy a @#$@!! part that FITS. I would have happily paid the difference for an OEM part if necessary.
3. The front end hops like it's on a pogo stick. I guess they had the local elementary school shop class do the alignment and balancing.
4. Would it have been so hard to clean the mud out of the carpet that got there when I was changing the flattened tire after being run off of the road?
5. The didn't fix the hail damage on the trunk. Apparently, they "don't do that." Would've been nice to know during the estimate. Herb's does that all of the time. Now I'll have to pay another $500 deductible to get it fixed. The estimator said "no problem" when I asked about getting it fixed at the time of the estimate.
6. The paint on the new parts is not blended at all. They are a completely different color / finish than the rest of the car. It looks like I polished half of the car and sandblasted the rest.
7. Apparently, while installing the new, poorly-fitting bumper, they scratched up the driver's fender. It's white - as in PRIMER white - on the outside corner by the bumper.
8. The rear panels they installed were for a G35 without rear-wheel steering. My car has rear-wheel steering. The rear exhaust surround is completely different than the stock one.
9. I have yet to be able to find the key for my wheel locks. They say that they put it back in the car. If so, it must be taped to the drive shaft. That would explain why I can't find it, and why the car twists like a rubber band when accelerating.
10. They "left me a voicemail" on Monday saying my car was ready. This was late enough in the day that I couldn't make it there to pick up the car. As a result, I was stuck paying for the rental car for another day. I guess they told my insurance company that the car was done before they told me.
The worst part wasn't even that the shoddy work. It's that they were completely unapologetic and unwilling to work with me.
In short: AMATEUR HOUR, all the way around. In the future, I'll shove the car off a cliff rather than let them touch it. read more