I do not recommend Kirmac Collision. They are efficient at what they do - but no more than that. They do not follow up or care whether their customers are satisfied with the work that they have done after they have been paid. They are busy and I presume all from ICBC claims. My whole ordeal took place over 7 months. No thanks to Kirmac. But THANK YOU TO BEN AT H-TECH MOTORS and West Coast Frame and Alignment.
If you have time to read further, this is the story...
I unluckily got into an accident last Halloween. A car swerved into my lane, hit my car and forced me right over a curb and into a street sign. The car straddled this curve so it could not reverse or move forward. When a tow truck came to get it, it had to pull it over the raised curve scraping the whole undercarriage. I had decided to have it towed to Kirmac in East Vancouver as it was located close to my home. There it was also inspected for my ICBC claim.
#1) When I met the individual inspecting the damage on my car at Kirmac, he led me to my front license plate. He flat out stated, "This is a bullet hole." Not in a joking way, might I add. I should have left then and there. I said, "There is no way that it is. Why and how?" "There is a clean hole that goes straight through the plate". I responded, "That must have been something on the street sign that I hit. Like a bolt or something protruding from the post." The individual did not apologize for making such an accusation, and in my head I was thinking, "Am I being too sensitive?". I let it go but after the other experiences that followed at Kirmac, I should have followed my gut.
#2) Kirmac repaired my car quickly and the desk staff was very friendly and helptful. BUT, A MONTH LATER, I started hearing creaking under the car when braking and accelerating my car. I took it to my trusted mechanic (whom I will YELP about later), and asked about it. He looked under my car but recommended that I take it back to Kirmac. He said my car was too new (around 30,000 km) to have such issues so it may be related to my last accident.
#3) The manager of Kirmac (Khong?) is very confident, but you have to carefully listen to his words. When I went to see him regarding the issues that I was having, he introduced me to the mechanic at Gord's Autobody (Kirmac outsources to the shop across the street). I went for a drive with the mechanic and I explained the issues that I was having. He agreed that there was an audible creaking. He went to the manager and they secretly had a conversation. The manager then came to me and stated that because the right side of my car was damaged and repaired, maybe the other side needed to be fixed for "balance" BUT ICBC won't cover that because it was not the initial point of contact in the accident. I would need to pay for a new part and they would repair it, so I paid for the part and guess what - the sound reappeared in days. In fact, the creaking was getting louder and more frequent.
#4) Two weeks later (when I had time), I returned to state that the problem was not repaired. The Kirmac manager, Khong, met me again and introduced me to yet another mechanic but this time stressed the phrase "customer pay" when talking about potential repairs. I rode with this other mechanic and he stated the sound he heard was definitely related to my accident. He was going to look under the car, talk to Khong, and find the source of the creaking. Three hours later, I returned to get my car. The mechanic stated that he found a nail in my tire, it was getting flat and the pressure was causing the car to make the creaking sound. He insisted my car was fixed.
#5) I drove my car around and the sound was still there. I returned to Kirmac and the manager stated that he could not do anything about it and that it was unrelated to my accident. I get the sense was that ICBC was not going to pay Kirmac anymore to fix my car...so it was not a priority to find out what the problem was. He did not give a shit anymore.
#6) I talked to my own trusted mechanic (BEN AT H-TECH) and he recommended that I go to a Frame and Alignment Specialist as the creaking in the undercarriage still persisted. I later brought it to Westcoast Frame and Alignment, they easily found a loose bolt and found the issue immediately. In fact, the job was so "easy" that they did not even charge me! THANK YOU WEST COAST FRAME AND ALIGNMENT!!
Kirmac - no thank you for 7 months of stress. You even stated to my ICBC adjuster that there was nothing more that you could have done. WRONG. You could have taken the time to look for that loose part in the undercarriage. If you did or even cared to, you could have fixed it as easily as West Coast Frame and Alignment did. Customer service means a lot to many. Kirmac has none...H-TECH MOTORS and West Coast Frame and Alignment do. read more
