I have delayed writing this review for a month because of embarrassment (mine). I know that you will question this review, but I really don't work for Certified Collision, I am just a customer that found CC through Yelp. The bottom line is that this was one of the best customer experiences I have ever had - unbelievable!
Someone ran into the rear of my wife's Toyota RAV-4 at a stoplight. The good news is that it appears that no one was injured. The bad part was that my wife had to put up with the driver's yelling and inability to produce an insurance card. It turned out that the woman did have insurance, however it was with a company that I had never heard of. We contacted the insurance company and they gave us the usual problems: go to their body shop about 45 miles away, they were not going to pay anymore than their adjuster (who never came out) wanted, no rental car (call our own insurance company), and a load of continuing nastiness over the next two weeks or so. In the meantime, my wife was upset about the accident and the disruption in our lives.
I researched auto body shops in the San Fernando Valley and carefully read the comments, especially on Yelp. I came up with a list of potential shops to get estimates from and the next morning, we drove from Canyon Country to Sherman Oaks. What I expected was to spend an hour getting a written estimate but that didn't happen. They said that they had done work for this company before and called them. Within 15 minutes, we had been taken to a nearby car rental and had rented a SUV. Since the insurance company was still fighting about the rental car, Certified Collision said that they would pay for it and bill the insurance company. We then left our RAV-4 and drove home. In about nine working days, we got a call to pick up our car. I'm not exaggerating, it was far better than it had been before the accident. From the driver's door back, the Toyota looked new. The paint job was perfect - just like the factory. They installed a new rear door, bumper, etc. and everything was perfect. We didn't pay a penny and drove a new SUV while the RAV-4 was being worked on. This was enough for a good customer experience but is not the end of the story.
The embarrassing part: The night before we went to Certified Collision for an estimate, I worked on the front brakes. The pads were still good but my wife complained about brake shudder. I knew that meant the rotors needed turning, so I pulled them off and took them to Pep Boys. As always happens to me at Pep Boys, they "forget" to call you when the rotors are ready. I called before they closed and yes, they were finished. I decided to replace the brake pads, since they don't cost much and I had the brakes apart. Pep Boys had only the "premium" ceramic pads in stock. I didn't like the price but brought them home to install the brakes. Before I make a fool of myself, I should say that I have been working on brakes for 50 years - all types - car, airplane, motorcycle, and bike. I pride myself on being able to replace front pads in 30 minutes, including jacking up the car and putting away the tools. It was about 10 pm when I began work in the driveway. I brought out a light and started reinstalling the parts. I couldn't really see well and was working somewhat by touch. When I finished, I test drove the car around the block. It did not sound good so I re-read the instructions. It said that it would take 1,000 miles to bed ceramic pads and don't do any emergency stops for the first 100 miles. The noise seemed reasonable under the circumstances and the brakes worked OK. The next morning we drove directly to Certified Collision, primarily on the freeway. My wife commented on the brake noise but I told her she didn't know what she was talking about and if they were making noise at 100 miles, I would pull them apart for an inspection. Just before we were to pickup the finished RAV-4 at Certified Collision, they called and wanted permission to work on the brakes. They said there was metal-to-metal contact and they needed fixed. Of course I didn't believe them but asked my wife to have them save the parts. What I had done was to FLIP one of the inboard brake pads inside-out so that bare metal was rubbing against the brake rotor. No wonder there was a noise! How could I have done this? I think I was tired, working late at night in the dark, and had not used the correct brake pad. Certified Collision replaced both front rotors and the front brake pads. How much did they charge? Nothing! -0- Nada! This came directly out of their profit. I would have been happy to pay $600 or $800 for the work, but we were never charged! How many auto body shops would do this? I believe that you would be crazy to go anywhere else! read more