After a relatively minor accident where some one went into the back of me on oct 2nd I have just collected my car from a well known BMW body repair centre.

On the estimate was the following -

New boot lid
2 new clusters
1 bumper
1 bumper rear panel
1 real panel for lights boot lock etc
Lower bumper trim and anc items
Jig rear chassis rail

When it went in there was a very small crease in the rear right hand rail, between the fixing bolts for the bumper. and a very small crease in the spare wheel well. They said that the repair was really easy and that it would take approx 39 hrs of labour.

Well i went to pick it up last night and the bloke took me outside and told me they didnt fit the main rear panel because it wasn't as bad as they first thought. No probs i thought! Until I started looking. the cluster is not sitting true in the hole and the gap is bigger between the boot lid on one side at the bottom. I pointed this out to him and he appologised and asked me to re book the car in, They have now had it for nearly seven weeks for **** sake.

So this morning I got up with the intention of servicing my car, got it up on the ramps and thought i would have a look underneath, This is what i found -

1 bumper mounting bolt missing
2 bumper bolts loose
rear panel has been hammered back and exposed metal rusted - It will rot away in a year or so - this was due to be replaced.
Chassis leg still kinked
Boot floor creased
Over spray on underneath of car, susp, tyre sidewall
Light cluster sitting 4 mm low on rhs with a 4mm gap at the top
The list go's on and on.

I have tried two times today to get in touch and they have said the bodyshop manage wil contact me but he hasn't

The prob is my hire car came through a company called centris and was a 1.8 alfa V nice but are they obliged to give me another car or is it down to the dealership now, they only have ford ka, I do approx 400 miles a week.Do I need to inform my ins co. Do I have to use this dealership for this corrective work or can i use someone else.

I am so pissed off it's unreal, I feel like telling them to write it off or somthing

 

I'd definitely contact the insurance company and tell them. You don't want the place paid until this is all sorted out.

 

I had a similar experience after I reversed my Carina E GTi into a post, the bodyshop quoted:

Rear tailgate
Rear windscreen for new tailgate
Spoiler for new tailgate
Boot floor straightening
Rear bumper
sundry parts
fitting
spraying

Came to just under £1500, ins. co approved the repair. They pulled the dent out, gave it a skim of filler and sprayed over it with an aerosol. I complained to the ins. co. who said they'd investigate but nothing ever came of it. Luckily it was a company car so I didn't really care, but if it was my car, I'd have chased it up [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

 

Call insurance , and tell them you are not taking it back there , ask for another bodywork repairer,,,,,,,,,,,

Bloody cowboys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

yeah, all too common. insurance company first - let them kick some *** - thats who you pay...

 

You should name and shame these b'stards

 

Well I have just come back from the bodyshop and made them put it on their ramp and have a look at the crap job that they done.

The person looking at the car admitted that the job hadn't been done to the required standard and that they could re book it in. He even later admitted that it didn't look like the jig had been used as the crease was still there and in the boot floor. He has even said that the new back panel needs to be replaced as well funny how it was him that told me they didn't have to use it after all.
I walked him round pointing out all the faults and made him write it all down. Then we started to discuss why,how these didnt get sorted and he had to keep going to see the bodyshop mgr as he was already busy with another customer. I asked if the ins co was liable for the hire of another vehicle or them and he said the Ins Co. Which I think it is totally wrong so I then said that I had already spoken to then and that they had said that you had already submitted your bill for 2.5k for completion.I offered to ring them there and then to sort it out and all of a sudden he was offering me a courtesy car at there expense and not a ford KA.

They have prov booked it in for the 6th but am not sure what to do. Should i let them carry on with it or ring insurance co and report them. Am i allowed to take it else where

I would like to name the company but I dont know if I am allowed to on here

 

If i where you i would take some pics of what they have not done and present this to the insurance company with the quote they gave for a start... Report it to the insurance company and ask them if you can use an alternative insurance approved repair centre...!! If they let you then tell the new company your recent problems so they dont try it on to...

They are just trying to make as much money as possible by not putting the new parts on and invoicing the insurance campany for the work..!!! the insurance company will not be happy about this..!!

You have to ask yourself what are these guys like at this garage can they actually repair the car properly...

Dan

[Edited by dhorwich - 12/13/2002 5:49:56 PM]

 

Just an idea,If by chance you are in the AA or RAC or similar contact them & see if they will inspect the car before it goes in, even if you are not a member they may do it for a fee which I would ask the Insurance company to pay & deduct it from the garages bill, then get it reinspected when it comes back by the same inspector.
Also suggest you take pictures with a digital camera & you can email these to the Insurance company on Monday as I smell dare I say fraud.
I personally would also Insist that it is put right by another repair shop as I would have absolutely no faith in them. I have previously done this with a major service **** up on a lease car & it was sent to another dealer & the lease co sent the service bill to the original dealer, they could not argue as they did not want to loose the lease companies business & yes it was a big bill!!!

Stuart