I brought my car to a shop a week ago to have some work done on the fender. As you know for the coupe (not sure about sedan) you need to remove the front bumper, sideskirt, and fender protector(black plastic piece above the tire area) to remove the fender. The genius at this bodyshop thought they could just take the sideskirt off to remove the fender. I'm guessing that they tried to pull the fender off without taking off the front bumper. So they ended up scratching/cracking the area where the fender meets the front bumper. They also put countless scratches on the headlights.

If that wasn't enough, they managed to damage my sideskirt too. The area where the sideskirt meets the fender is also cracked and scratched. After taking a closer look I noticed a ding and that the fender looked uneven. It was flaring out a bit and there's quite a gap between the fender and the door. I removed the sideskirt to see if the fender was put on correctly and witnessed the brilliant idea that they came up with. They lost the original bolts that hold the fender to the body of the car so they put in new holes using tiny screws. I also found bolts, screws, a candy wrapper, and a cigarette butt inside the cavity of the side sideskirts. Not to mention gaps everywhere. It's hard to see the cracks in the pictures but they are there.

I visited the shop a few times when they were working on my car and saw screws and bolts constantly rolling around the work area. I jokingly told the guy that he better not lose them and he said not to worry about it. While driving the car home, I noticed weird noise from the engine bay. I opened up the hood and found two bolts rolling around the engine bay! Also noticed bolts and screws missing from various parts of the car. Roughly 20 missing clips, screws, and bolts. The only thing holding on to the fender protector was one plastic screw! If you've seen the fender protector, it should have more than 10 screws holding it.

At this point, I don't want them to touch my car again. But I already paid the money and the work done on the car is crappy not to mention the above damages. How likely is the shop to repair the damages done by the install? They can always say that the damages were there prior to the install. Can I take this to my insurance company(Farmers) if the shop fails to take responsibility? But I doubt that the insurance will do anything since it's not related to a car accident. Are they legally responsible for this even if there's a clause in the receipt that waives the shop's liability of any damages done by the shop.

Cliff Note:

-Work needs to be done on my car.
-Shop finished the work (albeit a crappy job) and left my car with scratched/cracked bumper, scratched & slightly bent fenders, scratched and cracked sideskirts, scratched doors, scratched headlights, 20+ missing screws, clips, and bolts.
-Will ask the shop to repair the damages
-One unhappy G owner.

 

The biggest thing you have going for you isn't any legal clauses or insurance policies... it's that you paid for a job and you're unhappy. Talk to the owner, express your dissatisfaction, and any good shop will re-do the work and fix what they ****ed up. If they don't, then you can utilize other remedies such as the press, Better Business Bureau, lawsuits, etc. But I'd just push them HARD to fix it.

 

That's a shame jd2k1. I suggest you speak to the owner and give them a chance to correct all the problems. He may not be aware of the work quality of your job. Ask to have a different tech work on your car.The problems you have are not a big deal for a good body shop to fix. Be polite and professional but firm in your approach.

If they are still uncooperative plan your options- just go somewhere else, raise hell publicly, contact industry association, their insurance vendors, contact BBB etc. I doubt using your insurance is a pratical solution given your deductible and possible penalty for making a claim.

I can't believe that clause would stand up in any kind of court. They are responsible for making repairs properly and without causing other damage.

I just had my G in for a new bumper and some slight fender realigment due to a accident that fortunately was not my fault. I checked around carefully before selecting my shop. The shop was extremely professional when realigning my car on the rack, with the paint, and panel fitments. They had me review everything to my satisfaction at a couple of different stages. The bumper had to come off a second time to replace a couple of small cushions that were on back order when original work was completed.

G/L

 

If they had given me my car like that I would have one, not paid for it and had them re do everything, and order all the bolts and screws missing from the dealer. I had my front bumper repainted on my IP coupe and I bitched at the guy because there was overspray on the fender. Thats just me...

 

It is unfortunate that this happened to you. May I ask why didn't you inspect the car before paying or leaving? Those are very obvious damages.

 

^ +1 ...i have an IP coupe and i notice every little ding, scartch, scuff and what not on my car. It drives me up the wall everytime i see it. It should be obvious mainly cause the car is white and you knew what areas of the car was being serviced on. But in anycase you were probably in a hurry or for whatever reason just over looked it. We all make mistakes. I would def go back and press the issue with the owner and see if you can make them redo it for free.

 

Agreed, you should of inspect before paying and picking up the car. There is no excuse for their mess up whether it was pre-existing or not. they were pay to fix it and that what should of been done. End of story, be very firm to the owner and don't get push around.

~Khoa

 

I'd be PISSED....

Make sure to inspect your car before taking back from ANY services you have done to it. Even and including Valet's, Car washes, Oil & Lube services.... generally, anywhere that takes possession of your car for ANY length of time... I make each of these services do a visual walk around and sign off on an inspection report I made up and have copies of in my glove box. (probably the most important place to do this is the stealership)

If there was no damage when they took the keys I expect NO damage when returned to me...

This might be a bit ****.... but this is MY baby!

 

WOW, thats some serious damage done, looks like they tried to pry your bumper off with a screwdriver

 

^hold on...when can bumpers be pulled off with a screw driver? if thats what they did then there not a very compentent shop to begin with.

 

Be advised! lazy/useless techs (if they can even be called that) will do shortcuts if they're felling lazy. I've taken my car into my local dealership here in SOCAL and my experience are as followed:

-seat always adjust to "gangsta" lean and AC adjusted to full blast at 60 degree which wasted a quarter tank of gas in a period of 3 hours.
-car washed but might as well not even wash it because it looks worse
-last experience I went in for a window creaking and the tech that took apart my door panel pryed a screwdriver and made a big dent while attempting to take off the trim. The window switches were also damaged and had an obvious nick on it and the black became white.

So I asked the service rep to replace it and he apologized for the damage and rescheduled me. I was luck enough to catch it the second I walked into my car and upon closer inspection found more dents. Moral of the story is? As long as those guys are woking on car that not theirs, they will become careless and do sloppy work. But what keeps me going back is I do have the warranty and will not pay for work done to my car.

 

Name of the body shop. So we know not go there. Pm me if you like.

 

Name of the body shop. So we know not go there. Pm me if you like.

 

sorry for posting twice.

 

couldnt have said it better myself