87and66
Stinger Enthusiast
Story Time:
Some of you may have seen my thread in late November when I hit a deer at about 70mph. I got the car back from the body shop on December 10. They did a fantastic job... so I thought. Cosmetically, the car looked brand new. However, they took money for work that they didn't complete.
December 14, I'm in the garage looking a the car and I take a flashlight and decide to take a look deep behind the grille. (I know, I should have done this before leaving with the car. My mistake). And that's when I see it. The AC condenser and Oil cooler are still damaged. These parts were easily visible before the car was repaired. The Oil cooler was on the original estimate. The body shop added the AC condenser to the supplemental estimate after starting repair work. So they were 100% aware of the damage. They were 100% aware that they were being paid to replace these parts. And they ignored them.
These 2 parts aren't visible unless you look inside the grille with a light. I'm assuming they saw me, a 24 year old who maybe doesn't look like he knows much about cars, and they assumed I'd never notice. Bad news for them, I'm pretty mechanically inclined and cars are one of my passions. So inevitably, I noticed. There is no way it was an accident, because they were exposed the entire time the front end was being rebuilt until the bumper was put on.
To make a long story short, I contacted my insurance company and was instructed to take the car back to the body shop. The owner of the body shop, who is one of 3 people who work there, basically played dumb. They completed the repairs and the car is back to normal.
I feel like there should be repercussions for this. Hopefully Geico blacklisted them so at least they wont make any money from drivers with Geico insurance. They basically tried to steal $823.60 (cost of parts and labor). Sad part is, this shop has a perfect 5 star rating on google and that's why I went there. 17/17 people gave them 5 stars. Well, make that 17/18.
You can see the damaged (after repair) condenser in the picture. The entire oil cooler was bent in a slight U shape instead of being straight, and had a lot of damaged fins, but I couldn't get a good picture of that
Moral of the story, don't trust anyone with your car, because even a reputable shop can try to rip you off if you don't look like a car guy in their eyes.
Some of you may have seen my thread in late November when I hit a deer at about 70mph. I got the car back from the body shop on December 10. They did a fantastic job... so I thought. Cosmetically, the car looked brand new. However, they took money for work that they didn't complete.
December 14, I'm in the garage looking a the car and I take a flashlight and decide to take a look deep behind the grille. (I know, I should have done this before leaving with the car. My mistake). And that's when I see it. The AC condenser and Oil cooler are still damaged. These parts were easily visible before the car was repaired. The Oil cooler was on the original estimate. The body shop added the AC condenser to the supplemental estimate after starting repair work. So they were 100% aware of the damage. They were 100% aware that they were being paid to replace these parts. And they ignored them.
These 2 parts aren't visible unless you look inside the grille with a light. I'm assuming they saw me, a 24 year old who maybe doesn't look like he knows much about cars, and they assumed I'd never notice. Bad news for them, I'm pretty mechanically inclined and cars are one of my passions. So inevitably, I noticed. There is no way it was an accident, because they were exposed the entire time the front end was being rebuilt until the bumper was put on.
To make a long story short, I contacted my insurance company and was instructed to take the car back to the body shop. The owner of the body shop, who is one of 3 people who work there, basically played dumb. They completed the repairs and the car is back to normal.
I feel like there should be repercussions for this. Hopefully Geico blacklisted them so at least they wont make any money from drivers with Geico insurance. They basically tried to steal $823.60 (cost of parts and labor). Sad part is, this shop has a perfect 5 star rating on google and that's why I went there. 17/17 people gave them 5 stars. Well, make that 17/18.
You can see the damaged (after repair) condenser in the picture. The entire oil cooler was bent in a slight U shape instead of being straight, and had a lot of damaged fins, but I couldn't get a good picture of that
Moral of the story, don't trust anyone with your car, because even a reputable shop can try to rip you off if you don't look like a car guy in their eyes.
), I can't tell what that pic is supposed to reveal; I'd need a side by side comparison to educate myself. Those shysters love people like me; like they thought you were, apparently. Thanks for sharing. It's never too late, and you're never too old, to learn.
