I bought a 2012 TL AWD about 5 months ago, and a little over 1 month ago, an idiot backed into the car in my girlfriends driveway. Here are some pictures of the damage from that idiot:





I thought the best place to get the car repaired would be my local Acura dealer. Over a month and $8200 later, I received the car, picked it up late last week. I've been noticing little details that bother me about the repair.

The very first thing I noticed was the gas door wasn't aligned as well as it was from the factory. Then over the next couple days I noticed some more defects. I can see some very minor deflection where they joined the new quarter panel to the old one above the LR door. The gap between the trunk and quarter panel on the left side is not nearly as tight as the right side. The gap between the quarter panel and the chrome roof molding looks excessive. Then just last night, I noticed the tail light was pushed into the quarter and actually lifting the paint. Below are pictures of everything. I included a picture of the gas door however it doesn't really look bad unless you saw how it looked from the factory.






Would you accept this as a dealer quality repair if it were your car? At first, I thought to myself "wellit got hit, it will never be perfect again", but now I'm starting to think that they just did a shitty job. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

 

depends on how they fixed it....

was it hammered out?
or was it cut out?

 

Take it back .

 

i can tell that it was hammered out. hammering metal is an art. it's also very challenging to work with.

 

It was cut out, it wasn't hammered out. I saw it a couple of times during the repair and it was a whole new quarter that they cut in. The seam is above the left rear door where they joined it to the original quarter.

 

You can actually see a little bit of deflection in the reflection of the paint from where they joined it to the original quarter panel.

 

Did you pay out of pocked or have insurance take care of it? If insurance, I'd give them a call and tell them it's not up to pre-accident condition. Have them re-repair it. Or total out the car if it'll be another $8k to re-repair.

IANAL. YMMV.

 

The other guys insurance paid for it, I didn't pay out of pocket for it.

 

 

Since it was cut out would you expect this quality of panel alignment?

 

For $8250, NO.

 

That is one shitty job for $8250.

 

Gaps between the trunk and metal trim are

 

The insurer paid top dollar for this work, and you didn't get top dollar quality in return. I know what you're saying about the car never being the same after a hit like this, but this would not be acceptable to me. I'd take it back. (BTW, the gas door alignment should be an easy fix, I think. I believe the tab that holds it on has elongated holes so that it can aligned perfectly with the body cutout). Sorry this happened, and good luck.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'm glad it's not just me who thinks the repair was subpar at best. This was my first post on Acurazine and I appreciate the feedback.

 

I wouldn't even call the dealer again - I'd call your insurance company directly and ask them to come out to inspect the work. Let them call the dealer. They will see the poor quality. Heck, it might even be fraud if they charged for a $2800 panel and really hammered it out. That's easy to see/feel in person, especially if you know what to look for. And as others have said: $8,000 for that? Whew. BIG profit margin.

 

My insurance company didn't pay for it, the other guys insurance paid for it. I called them and they told me that it's up to me to work it out with the shop. They said that they would only get involved if they were billed for something that wasn't completed or replaced. The quarter wasn't hammered out though, that I know for sure, because I saw it right after they had installed the new one.

 

The trunk area looks awful and way off. Sorry this happened to you.

 

Dealer should fix it.. What I've heard in the past and have employed as well is even if the other party is at fault, I've let my insurance take the initial claim and so I can go to a body shop of my choice and can deal with my own insurance if I'm not happy. Your insurance company will then be compelled to fix it properly and then properly bill the other party.

My local body shop has a lifetime warranty on labor though. Go back to the dealer!

 

If you were to sell the car (not saying you should), most buyers wouldn't notice it. And no one is going to check out the car in the parking lot and grimace at the extra few millimeters of gap. Truth is, we're way more critical of our own car that anyone else is. But if it's going to bug you (which it definitely would me). I'd give pushback to the shop, even to the point of exaggerating action by the insurance company if the work isn't done to a higher standard.

That's something I'd literally notice every time I went out to drive the car. Like a big scratch or dent.

 

I dunno... that trunk/panel gap on the left is pretty big. Is it getting a proper seal compression and keeping water out?

FWIW, I'd ask about that gap and start thinking it was in an accident if I was looking to buy that car. Even in a parking lot. Would get me second-guessing quality and magnitude of the work done.

 

Quite possibly. But you know what you're looking for. I'm amazed at the bad decisions people make when buying a car. Two examples that come to mind:

An older guy I used to drive to work nearly every morning when I was doing Uber, bought his daughter a 2001 Ford Taurus with 180K miles for $2100 when she went off to college in Arizona. What the hell?! For $2100 you could get a decent used Civic or Corolla which would be WAY better than an old Taurus. Well, nearly ANY car would be better. There's little argument that the older Ford Taurus is a warm heaping pile of horse I couldn't help but chastise him a bit. I guarantee she's going to get stranded on the highway or something within the next six months.

Also, my sister in law needed a car and found a 2005 Nissan Altima at a used car dealership for $3900. First, it looked like The previous owner apparently never cleaned the interior. Second, it has over 200K miles, which even for a Nissan is pretty damn high. Having owned two Nissans, I consider them be a significant notch or two behind Toyota and Honda in terms of reliability. Third, and worst, the 2.5L in that generation of Altima is prone to a series of engine problems including catalytic converter failure and oil consumption. Well, despite my recommendations, she purchased it anyway. 6 months later she seized the engine when the oil got too low. Not to mention the series of AC and electrical problems that she had before that. I fixed those, but I couldn't fix a seized engine.

Long story short, people are idiots. You don't need to know cars to do a little bit of basic research about a large purchase.

 

Yes it is keeping water out. It was pouring rain when I picked it up (which made the initial inspection of the work very difficult) and the trunk space was not wet. It has rained since I picked it up as well and I have not noticed any moisture in the trunk.

 

I would take it back and see what they say...especially because insurance paid for it.

 

Well they said they're going to fix it, how I do not know... will have to see. I have a feeling to fix the panel gaps between the trunk and quarter, they're just gonna shift the trunk lid over a few mm. I'll post some updated pics when I get it back for some unbiased opinions.

 

Most repairs have a warranty on the work they do, especially dealerships (sometimes a few months to a few years). Question for you, did you inspect it once the vehicle was delivered to you and say something? I would have mentioned it on the spot before I drove the vehicle away. Definitely take it back and get it done correctly.

 

Looks like the half ass repair I got my old prelude, As Bettty White's son said