Body shop did terrible work. I had to bring my car back to fix the repairs which were done shoddily.
My car had been hit in the rear while it was parked, and needed huge repairs on the trunk, bumper, taillight, side, and also a small scratch on the spoiler. The girl in the body shop was nice enough. She couldn't find my information, though, even though I'd scheduled an appointment and my insurance company had contacted them previously and coordinated a rental car to come pick me up after I was to drop off the car. She eventually figured it out after about 15 minutes. She wrote down everything I mentioned during the inspection. I was careful to watch this. Also I asked for a quote on fixing a couple other parts of the car that were unrelated to this accident and she added that to the work order. She gave me an estimate and I left the car there.
About two weeks later, when I got the car back, some of the repairs were obvious, but I've never had a car need body work before and I thought maybe this is normal. Call me naive. It was blazing hot outside and I could hardly see in the sunlight. But I took possession of the car and at that point saw that the actual cost was almost $1000 more than the estimate. But my insurance company was paying it, so I didn't get mad.
The next day when the sun was hidden in clouds, I could see all the flaws. The sheet metal had been formed sloppily and a crease in the edge of the metal was visible - literally, there was a dark triangle of empty space where it should've been flush with the rest of the body. So literally, there was a hole in the back of my bumper. Plus the paint was warbled in a few spots, and there were rough areas and wavy lines along the top of the trunk (you could feel with your finger and see it was not straight). The trunk itself was crooked, not set level. The new taillight wasn't set level either, and there was a lot of space between it and the body - good thing there was the pristine other taillight to compare it to. I could stick my finger inside that space and also see the back of the taillight housing, it was so big. The side of the car was still bowed out from the impact, although less-so than when I brought it in. The scratch on the spoiler was still there, with no attempt to repair it. So really, looking at it and comparing the pristine side with the injured side, it was ENTIRELY obvious that repairs had been done. They had my car for almost two weeks, and this is what I got. I felt stupid taking my car off their hands. And stupid for putting it in their hands in the first place. Plus I never was given the quote I'd asked for during the inspection.
I took the car back and showed the girl these flaws. She agreed that the repairs weren't done well enough, and didn't fight me on any of them. I left the car, got a new rental, and returned back in about a week. There were still flaws in the repairs, though different ones this time, and less of them. The worst was the dark triangle on the bumper which was smaller this time but looked like someone had tried to spackle over it with something and then paint over it. I pointed out these new flaws to the girl and she brought the body shop guy over and I talked with him. He tried to tell me that the dark space is because it's sheet metal being bent, so there will be a crease. I knew this was a load of crap because sheet metal was used to make it during manufacturing so obviously it could be done correctly. I had to kind of argue with the guy which was displeasing. But after what had happened last time (and multiple people telling me how unacceptable this is), I wasn't going to be intimidated. Finally he said he'd see what he could do, but it would take a few days. I agreed. I also asked them to check the alignment since it was hit while stationary, and she said she'd have someone check it to see if it needed an alignment by driving it and seeing if it pulled to the side at all.
So I left in that same rental car (good thing I didn't give it up), and then they called me back within 1 1/2 hours and said it was ready to pick up. ?? So I went and got it, and lo and behold the dark triangle was gone! That area is still the one place that looks a little odd, definitely looks repaired, but with everything else looking better, you'd have to know to look right in that spot to detect it. And by this point, the girl was starting to get snippy with me. So, I said "good enough" and took my car back. And when I got in my car and started driving, I realized that the odometer was at the same mileage as when I left it there, so no one checked the alignment. It figures. And they left all kinds of sticky tape residue on the back doors, which still doesn't want to come off. And the trunk lock sometimes won't open unless I fuss around with it for a while. Grr.
I will never take my car in to them again. I wish I'd looked on Yelp first because it's so clear that they're not a good place to go for pretty much anything. read more