I backed into a car parked close behind me, and because the damages were so little it was less expensive to pay for the repairs out of my pocket than for the owner to go through my insurance. (keep that in mind if you get in a minor fender-bender; call your insurance first and inquire about this before having them do the repairs). Anyway, the owner got 3-4 quotes from different repair shops, and Collision Center of Rancho Cucamonga (CCRC) was the cheapest. I know that cheapest isn't always the best, so I contacted CCRC and spoke to Carlos V. to get an idea if they were honest. He was nice and made me feel comfortable moving forward with them. However, once that happened communications with Carlos were very frustrating. Since I was paying the bill I wanted to be kept in the loop on the repairs to keep them from getting far beyond the quoted price. Every time I called he would tell me that he would get back to me later on that day or the next. That didn't happen. The owner was even given a link to some online tracking system to keep us updated on the progress. Waste of time as it was not updated. After a few days in their shop I called (again me calling them on not receiving an update as they had promised) and was told that there were a couple extra parts needed ($110) and some paint damage which came to between $900 & $1000 extra. I asked Carlos to send pictures of the paint damage. Well, it was a small spot (size of half a dime or less) that was rusty (indicating it probably happened before this fender-bender) and was positioned underneath a headlight where it was not be visible anyway. For this they were going to charge me close to $900!!! Glad I asked to see pictures. Fortunately, Carlos backed up on taking advantage of me and offered to reduce their hourly rate which would ultimately save me around $100 for a nearly $3000 bill, and I provided a small bottle of touch-up paint ($20) for them to use on that spot. I was thankful to be able to avoid that HUGE and unnecessary markup, but now feeling low confidence in the honesty levels here. Finally, after the car repairs were completed, again I called them and discovered that the owner was there at the shop to pick up the car but they would not release it to him until I paid. And, the bill had risen significantly! Wow, surprised, not so much now. I asked to see the updated invoice and discovered that a calibration which I was hoping could be avoided (quoted originally at $500) had risen to nearly $ 900. The original quote showed $500 and the final included a markup of 20%. I asked Carlos why the 20% was not in the original quote and the reply was it was a mistake. Oops, oh darn, guess the quote being artificially low, which is why we went with CCRC in the first place was just a mistake, and the charge for the calibration (which Carlos told me probably took 30-60 minutes to complete) was only $900 ($400 above the quoted price; those are high-end lawyer rates). Carlos again dropped their labor rates, which dropped the overall price another $50. This was nice but doesn't begin to touch the huge increase. And, to call the owner in to pick up his car but not inform me that he was coming and that he would not be able to take possession of his car until I had paid, felt like a planned extortion. The owner was irritated at this and I don't blame him. Bad business! This wasn't the worst experience I've ever had with an auto shop, but I wouldn't use them again. Please be careful. read more