* QUALITY OF WORKMANSHIP: 5 of 5 stars
* CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: 5 of 5 stars
* COST AND VALUE: 5 of 5 stars
* OVERALL: 5 of 5 stars
A local car wash (Mission Car Wash, Santa Rosa, CA) put a large, loopy scratch on the driver-side front door of my new, shiny black Acura. After two unsuccessful attempts to buff out the scratch on site, the manager--to his credit--offered to pay for repairs and suggested I get estimates from detail shops. I visited Auto Sport Detailing (Santa Rosa, CA), but they wouldn't touch the scratch out of concern they might burn through the clear coat. They referred me to EuroCal Auto Body (Santa Rosa, CA). While I was very pleased with the customer service and confident they could do a great job, EuroCal's proposed course of action--removing, repainting, and reapplying clear coat to the door and adjacent panels--was a bit daunting, and the car wash manager balked at the estimate.
At that point, a friend recommended I get a repair estimate from Sichel's. Eddie Serrano thoroughly examined the damage and patiently addressed all of my questions and concerns (and by then I had many--a $31 car wash was rapidly turning into a four-figure repair fiasco). He was confident that a less invasive approach--color-sand and blend-polish the door and adjacent panels--would be just as effective and significantly less expensive than what EuroCal proposed.
While inspecting the scratch damage, I also pointed out that the Acura dealer had improperly installed the side door moldings such that the rear doors, when opened, were catching on the moldings of the fronts, and that the passenger-side rear door molding was starting to come loose. This is clearly something I could have the dealer repair at no cost to me...if they weren't ~600 miles away in San Diego. So I asked Eddie what it would cost for him to reposition them. He replied that it would take about two hours' labor (or about $185) to do all four, but that I should make the dealer fix their mistake when I had the opportunity. As a interim measure, he offered to reaffix the molding that was starting to come off, free of charge.
The manager at the car wash approved Sichel's estimate (which was 35% less than EuroCal's) and paid them directly--not a dime came out of my pocket. The car was in the shop for about a day. When Eddie called this morning to let me know it was ready for pickup, he said he "had good news and bad news". The good news was that 1) the scratch was gone, 2) he decided to reposition all four moldings free of charge, 3) they hand-washed and waxed the entire car. The "bad news" was a body shop joke, as there was none :-) When I arrived to pick up the car, Eddie thoroughly reviewed what they did. I couldn't have been more pleased. The scratch is completely gone and the appearance of the sanded/polished panels is indistinguishable from the rest of the car, right down to the slight "orange peel" texture of a showroom finish.
The scratch repair workmanship and excellent customer service alone would merit a 5-star review in my book, but Sichel's went far above and beyond: They didn't try to sell me anything more than I absolutely needed, they spared me weeks of frustration with catching rear doors by fixing the moldings for free, and they hand-washed and waxed the entire car (not just the repair area), also for free. It looks as good as it did when I drove it off the lot in April. Eddie even told me exactly how and what he uses to maintain the exterior of his cars, and where I can get the supplies at or near the prices he pays.
I don't have kids, pets, or plants, so my car is very much my baby. I am so glad I trusted it to Eddie and the folks at Sichel's. read more