What is it about bodyshops

[poggy]

Unless I have been really unlucky, most bodyshops seem to be useless.

A few years ago I had the side of our BMW sprayed after it was scuffed against a post. When I went to collect it the side was covered in deep scratches from the power polisher.

Last year my wife reversed into a wall and damaged the Ulysse, not massively but it meant a new rear light and quarter body panel. When I collected it the boot was hitting the light because it wasn't fitted properly and there was a bolt missing.The paint was layered so looked terrible. The interior trim was broken and covered in grease. The window trim where they removed it was bent and had to be replaced. The fuel filler pipe was only done up hand tight so you could undo the bolts with your fingers. The new rear panel wasn't fitted properly and came away after about 2 hours. Basically they had to do the whole lot again, the second time was almost perfect except they forgot to put some bolts in the boot hinge.

Today I went to collect the Volvo after having a new wing (somebody reversed into when parked). First the wing was loose at the top, I found there were some bolts missing. The wing doesn't line up, because they didn't fit it properly. The indicator was loose, the guy even admitted the brackets had broken off and he had tried to glue it twice (there was even glue on the lense). The arch liner was outside the wing rather than inside and they lost the headlight interior cover. Then when I drove down the motorway the trim along the bottom of the car started to fly off (about 8ft long).

Anyway I told them it was a crap job to collect it and give me a courtesy car, so they are picking it up tomorrow to do it again.

The thing that really annoys me, is that they obviously don't check cars before they release it. Even the guy who does the valeting must have known it was a rubbish job. If I did that to our customers we would be out of business in about 6 months.

Is it just me being unlucky or has anybody else had trouble with bodyshops.

Andy

 

[Alex]

Never had any problems with the ford/vw bodyshops I've used. But I've only had minor things done, and never any paint work.

Unlucky, hope they do a good job second time around, although it shouldn't have come to that.

 

[Helz]

The car industry are coming in for a lot of scrutiny today, there was some report out about rip-off mechanics as well

 

[gaz.d]

big bodyshops tend to get the cars in and get them out as quick as possible

ive always used smaller bodyshops, cause i have found in most cases they take care and pride in there work, although it may take a little longer it is worth it

if it goes through insurance im guessing there is little you can do to choose a bodyshop

 

[Liam]

Yeah I agree with Gaz, this crash repair centres which unfortunately the insurance companies favour are mostly ******, a kind of battery farm for crash repairs, just churning out rubbish and not caring.

I also assume some of the technicians (can I call them that?) can't be that bothered either so this only compounds the problem.

If they can't do the job right first time then after two goes I'd either take it elsewhere or ask for the work FOC.

Liam

 

[poggy]

It is a huge bodyshop and is part of a Ford dealership. I won't say who yet until they have had a chance to fix it.

i'll let you know in a couple of days. I only had the choice of two garages in the area because of the insurance. Either the one I went to or the one who fixed the Ulysse. I thought given the Ulysse problem I would try this one, big mistake.

Andy

 

[Big Black Stilo]

A certain Merc dealer local to me did an insurance job on me ibiza when someone reaer ended me, it was a mess (the list is long). couldnt be arsed arguing as the car wasnt worth much. Two years before that i reversed into someone by accident and did the same level of damage on the same car (apart from the damage the other crash did to the front). Took it to a local body shop and it was like new and couldnt see any proof at all. cost me £120 and it was well worth it. no damage to the car, nothing fell off and the sucker was red and the paint matched and was the same quality finish as the rest of the car.

Recently took my mrs peugeot 306 in and he has done wonders with that to! infact my mrs did the same thing twice in a week and charged her half price the second time coz she was crying! She scraped the rear door going into her drive smashing the colour coded trim on the door, foobah the paint and crumpl the arch. The only thing that wasnt replaced was the door sking which has 2 marks in it and wasnt worth doing.

Both cars were in less than 2 days

I think Gaz is right, big repair centres and dealers dont give a ****, dont get me started with Direct line accident management. Little places do give a **** as they dont have the time or money to get it wrong.

 

[Samtimmons]

I have to say that in my (Singular) experience of a body shop, the work was fine, slightly more epxensive than I thought, but looked grea..

The interior was covered in paint dust though, and there were some chavvy kids (nephews of owner i think) outside in overalls who opened my door as I was driving off and went "Spin It!!!" Tossers....

aside from that

 

[tstaboy]

Big repair cenres are given a certain time to repair the car which is not long so they rush everything

 

[poggy]

Forgot to mention it cost the other people's insurance £700 and has been in since last Tuesday. The insurance also paid £50 a day for a Ford Focus Auto. It's no wonder insurance costs so much.

On the subject of the Ford Focus, what were they thinking when they designed the Focus Estate 1.6 auto. It has only got 3 gears plus an overdrive and the gear selector is about 14" high and sticks up way too high. It was a top of the range Ghia and doesn't even have ABS or disc brakes on the rear. The dash is also really cheap looking as well. The Fiats I have driven have a lot more design and style as well as equipment. It cost as much as a Stilo Abarth which is amazing.

I am in a moaning mood today

 

[poggy]

You have to laugh. The garage collected the Volvo today to fix the problems. I get a phone call this afternoon to say it is ready and they would like to drop it back.

Anyway the driver turns up and I ask if I can check the car over. On first glance the top of the wing doesn't line up at all. The driver agrees and is appalled it hadn't been done. I then check the trim on the sill, after lightly touching it, it falls off again. Not a good sign.
I finally check the inner wheel arch liner and bumper which had been loose due to three fixings missing. Slight improvment, now there are only two fixings missing.

The good thing is the indicator has been replaced and is now solid.

Based on this I reckon another two trips back to the garage and it should be OK again.

I give up with garages.

Andy

 

[Ben R]

It sounds like you 've had some bad luck. What you have to remember is that some of these bodyshops are like factories where everyone is on a riduculously low wage not that I'm excusing poor workmanship but I am a bodyshop technician & work in a VW dealer albeit a very small one where there are only three of us so it's easier to keep an eye on things. I hope you get your car sorted though & perhaps you should consider sending them an invoice for wasted time & trauma caused by them not doing a good enough job.

 

[Neofolis]

I had to take a company Vectra to a huge Renault franchise twice for front end damage, both quite severe, the first after hitting a deer at about 60. Both times the job was immaculate, the used orignal Vauxhall panels, not cheap repro's and the paint finish and panel fit were indistinguishable from the original.

I guess it depends a lot on where you go, there are good and bad in both large and small bodyshops, but the smaller places that don't do insurance work and get most of their business through reputation are more likely to take more time and care.

There is a one man band body specialist near here who is excellent, has been doing it for over 45 years, but there's no way I could afford his rates.