I spoke up about the bumper and it turns out a clip had broken off, so they fixed it while I waited - it still bows out a bit, but better. What can you expect when they repair a mangled bumper to appease insurance?

And this gap is really tight between the bumper/fender:



And there's a new 6" ridge of some unknown substance on the rocker mldg directly below where they refinished the door:




I thought it was pooled up clearcoat, they said "No way, we didn't do that and it's not clearcoat" but they took the liberty to "enhance" the appearance and buff it without my approval and burned through the paint and put touch up on:




Now I know that ridge of unknown substance was not there prior to bodywork because the same rocker mldg was replaced 3 weeks prior. What I think happened was the adhesive spray from the newly installed part melted when they used a hot spot light on the door during the refinishing process and the substance pooled on the rocker mldg.

This was a good shop that I've lost all respect for. They're too busy for real customer service and I'm sorry I went there. They treated me like another one of those women who come in and say "Oops, I hit a pole" and I'm far from one of those. My car needs some TLC, it's one thing if I was the one who caused the accident or burned through the paint with a buffer, but I wasn't, instead I avoid all the potholes, wash it with the two bucket method followed by hand polish/wax and make sure to park away from pine trees and idiots.

 

My greatest frustration is paying good money (here, insurance money) for incompetent work. It's tough to find a good body shop that will treat your car with the care it deserves. Maybe you can ask around and get some recommendations to find someone who can finish the job competently. Good luck.

 

The total cost for ins was $2800. I paid $40 extra for an OEM headlight and $700 for paint correction on the pass door where there were scratches since I bought it.

I have a 2nd post work appt next week for them to take the bumper off and realign and come to a conclusion on the 6" ridge and polisher burn mark. They tell you what you want to hear on the phone, but when I get there it's a diff story. I'm contemplating whether I should go or pay to have a better shop finish the job.

 

Hate to be a sexist pig, because you're obviously a very capable woman, but I feel as though besides the fact that what you're experiencing is business as usual in the auto repair industry, it happens more frequently when the customer is a female.


Edit: from past experience with friends I've coached, they contacted their insurer on the poor quality of the repair work done to their vehicles and the shops were forced to fix whatever was wrong. Maybe that could also work for you, if dealing directly with the shop is difficult.

 

I realize these things and I try to have good/informed communication and be easy to work with. I'm accustomed to a greater level of customer service/workmanship and a good relationship with the shops that touch my cars. I bring in kringle, donuts, chat about electric car events, whatever, and in turn I get quality - this repair shop was new to me and I still brought a kringle, explained I plan to keep the car for a long time and I take pride in my things and I still got burned - or my paint did, literally.

Today I found a great indep auto body shop that I wish I had gone to in the first place and their estimate to pick up the pieces was $600 and that would be out of pocket.

I think I'll face the bulls at the offending shop one last time on Monday and see if we can come to some kind of resolution, otherwise I'll put in an insurance complaint and see if I can have it resolved at a diff shop.

Or I could eat a bunch of fiber bars and fart storm in their shop, but that would move me from the "Oops I hit a pole" customer base to something completely different and not necessarily better, depending on who you ask.

 

On occasion I have to park outside and in the AM I often find neat bugs on my car:


Saw this i8 near my house, Qdoba of all places:


Kinda bummed I missed out on a good autox event over the wkend, have a helmet but still saving for that s2k


Waiting to hear/see how the 3rd visit to the auto body repair shop went...

 

Hey, some serious persistance with the A/B shop has paid off...I now have a bumper and rocker molding that resembles gleaming perfection at no charge!

I'm thankful that the accident was minor, cosmetic and no damage underneath bumper, but at the same time the tarnished carfax still burns. Happy to have it back, gonna be a good day!

 

Decided not to drive the TL on the salty roads this winter and picked up an 04' 160k Forester XT that came in on trade



Haven't decided if it leans more towards dorky/cool or lezbaru. Some tint would be nice. Has heated seats and doesn't need a thing mechanically right now

 

Carrie Lynn has one too hahahaha, granted yours is nicer and I suspect was more expensive too.

 

"Lezbaru" ROFL.

 

The Forester had to go, the engine was smoking on several occasions and I had enough. An enthusiast picked it up despite the CEL and everything I told him about it. A leased base Jetta became a better/cheaper option than owning the Subie.

I still enjoy walking up to this thing..

 

Nice ride, still no plans on the lip kit?

 

No, not really, but I'm listening..Which one would you suggest? I like to maintain an OEM plus look.

 

There's only one option really besides the Ron Jon who I heard went out of business plus his kit had fitment issues from what I heard.

The part numbers below are OEM. Since we have the same BWP, here they are.

08F01-TK4-230A - SPOILER, FR. UNDER *NH788P* (BELLANOVA WHITE PEARL)
08F04-TK4-2B0 - SPOILER, SIDE UNDER BODY *NH788P* (BELLANOVA WHITE PEARL)
08F03-TK4-230A - SPOILER, RR. UNDER *NH788P* (BELLANOVA WHITE PEARL)

I was on the fence about this mod too but I have no regrets whatsoever.

 

Nice looking TL. Always wanted a white one but here in Canada I could only find graphite luster metallic with a 6 speed manual transmission. Highly recommend the OEM kit it looks great especially on a white TL. Jealous. Also aeroflowdynamics makes side skirt lips and front lip for the fender. On the pictures on their website it makes the skirts stick out quite a bit but talking to them you can install them more conservatively and it looks superb. I know it is personal preference but on a white TL looks killer. I will be getting the skirts next year and I will try to find someone in Canada to wrap them in carbon fiber.