am I over reacting on the body shop?

[68topls]

I had my 1st gen firebird in a shop. It's been there for a year. The work included replacing both rear quarters, tail panel, deck lid, door skins, assembling the front end which was entirely re-pro except the bumper and valance and putting the car in primer. At the time he verbally told me but did not put it in the contract that he would prime the floor panel and the underside of the car. The cost was $5,000 and 3 months. I put $1400 deposit down. My car had been completely stripped of everything already. A completely new suspension had been put into place with a new sub frame, and DSE quadra link kit, mini tubs, weld in sub connectors, etc. The front sub frame was removed, stripped, jigged, rewleded and painted. The place had several resto-cars in mid form and several that had been in magizines and won awards. I figured after getting the car in primer I would put all of the mechanicals in as nothing except engine and trans placement had been done (after all of the suspension work) prior to dropping it off, then remove them for the paint job and re-install.


Long story short it'll be a year next week. I visited every couple of weeks and work on my car was real slow. In april I was told it would be ready in may. In may june. In june july. Every once in a while he would call and say he needed a part. Finallly at the middle of june he calls and says the car will be done in two weeks. The speed of the work increased but everytime I came by it was always in two weeks. finally two weeks ago he called and said he needed a hood and the car wold be done friday. I showed up with a tow truck but the car wasn't done. Then last week he calls and says he's done and did I want to make a decision about having the car painted before he put on the front end. I declined to have the car painted and told him I would come pick the car up. On Tuesday I went by to pick the car up and the front end was not on the car nor was the interior primed. He mentioned he was going to do it by Wednesday. On Wednesday I go by and he's still working on putting the fenders, hood, etc, on. On Thursday I go back to pick the car up after he's called me in the morning. I arrive about twenty minutes before closing and the fenders and hood are on the car but on the passenger side of the car there is 1/8 inch gap problem that he says is caused by the aftermarket parts. As the hood and fender contours there is a slight rise in the hood about half way down. Then he basically says if I want it fixed he'll have to brake the welds on the fender and hood and align them and that will be an additional $1k. Secondly the front nose, rear bumper, fender extension and valence is not on the car. There is a guy priming my interior floor panels while I'm there. He says he's not going to put on the bumper, extensions, valence because one of the extensions he has lost, (offered to pay for it), the valence has a crease in it (which only he could see) and he didn't know he had to put the nose /bumper on. Also I'd have to pay him an additional $1k for priming underneath the car and I owed him an additional $400 because he had to re-adjust the door skins and quarter on the driver side. Keep in mind these are the door skins and quarter panels that he installed. Car will be ready Friday. I pay him $3000 of the $3600 I owed him. And told him I wanted the rest of the front end put on the car. Friday I get no call from him then I head out of town over the weekend. I was going to be gone until this wednesday (tomorrow). I get a call on Saturday. Then Monday I get a voice mail that says I owe him $120 in storage. So I call the guy and say hey I'm out of town, I'll be there to pickup the car Thursday. He says thats fine but the storage is going to continue to increase daily because it's gone. I ask him why is trying to nickel and dime me about the car and that I've been patient with him etc. He tells me he's chargin me extra because the parts I bought (new repro's) were junk and he had to do extra work on them to get them lined up right. And the front end of the car is still off because of the repro and he's not fixing that either. Tells me I should not have bought parts from a local distributor even though he recommended the place and told me to tell them I was "with him" so I'd get his discount. Plus he believes my frame is bent and thats whats causing the porblem. Then hangs up on me.

Obviously I'm steamed. Before I go in to the shop Thursday morning and act like a total ass, I want to ask "am I over reacting?". One of my buddies is telling me to go pay what ever he wants get my car and forget about it. My other buddy says go there try to negotiate and if that doesn't work just call the police, though that can be hit or miss. what should I do? Any thoughts?

[TreySmith]

Get it out of there as fast as you can.

My boss doesn't charge customers for storage, that's wrong, we do charge insurance company's though, but that's different. Repro skins suck, I was watching them weld up a Cuda and the skins don't line up very good at all so that is reasonable.

Be an ass, it helps. Don't yell at the detailer though, you may end up with half a fish sandwhich stuffed under your seat.

[ItDoRun]

This seems to be more and more common of body shops working on our cars. My car was strung out way too long and was never finished. I called up the body man and told him I would be there the next day with a trailer to pick it up...and I was. The car is now in my hands and I've learned how to do sheetmetal work. Granted, I should be driving the car by now, but at least I have control of the schedule now.

Your situation is slightly different. I wouldn't pay him an extra dime especially since he didn't do all of the work he said.

Good Luck! Keep us posted.

[BRIAN]

Remove the car but you should negotiate the price. I will guess you are at a production collision shop? Aftermarket parts do not fit end of story. They require adjustments I do not care where you get them or what stamp is on them. That is why you see such a huge premium for a rust free car or NOS parts.

He is inexperienced in using restoration grade aftermarket parts and is lost as to why he can't get them to fit. It has cost him huge time that he did not allow for in his estimate. Pay him and them take him to court. Make sure you have a paid receipt and documentation. I would first try negotiating and be happy you are out of there.

Don't let the magazine or internet hero sway you when picking a shop. Ask to see a car with welds and fitment in bare metal in person not pics. Primered cars are useless for showing work.

Also be realistic as to quality in your price range. If you are paying premium expect premium work. Budget gets budget work.


Good luck!!!

[67rstbkt]

If I can put together a car using repro panels without hardly any experince doing so, a body shop has no excuse. You are not over reacting.

[rjsjea]

Pay what you gotta pay to get the car back.....then take him to court if you feel you have been wronged.

Brian who posted above is right, budget pay gets budget work. The guy isn't making much if the car has been there a year and you have spent +/- $5000.

[Ron Fox]

Is there a list or a place to report shops like this so everyone can research before choosing a shop or restoration place?

Ron
1969 Firebird, 4-speed Coupe

[chr2002ca]

The fact that he held onto your car for that long, week after week telling you it would be ready in 2 weeks, and then has the nerve to charge you for storage really tells you all you need to know about this guy. Also, if he charged you extra money to go back and fix door skins that he himself installed, then that's just rediculous also.

I'd have to agree with others. The best action right now is to go in there, pay what you need to pay to get your car out of there(because he's charging you storage), and then file a lawsuit. If things truly went down as you mentioned, then you can definitely get some money back from him via a lawyer. I wouldn't even bother trying to negotiate with him when you pick up your car because he's probably not making much money off your car and he's not going to want to budge an inch, even if it is his own damn fault. Restoration shops already know that aftermarket panels, no matter where they come from, typically don't fit that well. He absolutely should have already accounted for that in his time and cost estimates.

[Spiffav8]

I think getting your car back ASAP is the first priority. If it where me I would go to the shop ready to pick the car up, but before taking it I would have him go over those areas in question with him. Have him show you where and why those areas are problems. I would suggest taking pictures of the car, specifically those areas in question, while it's in his shop. Get a written quote for fixing them that includes a time estimate for completing the work. This type of documentation combined with any other you might have will be useful IF you do end up in court.

As for the storage fees....is there is a written contract stating the terms and conditions of this type of charge? If not I would find it hard to believe he could enforce those charges.

Last suggestion. Be the professional...always nice, polite and respectful. Complement him on the work that you do like and show interest for future business dealings.

Keep us informed! I know many of us will be watching to and hoping for a positive outcome.

[gearheads78]

He bit off much more than he can chew when he shot a price. No way anyone can do that much work to a car pay overhead and helpers and not be upside down. The reason its taken so long is they kept working on stuff that brought in money. They were probably under water 6 months ago on yours.
IMO pay the man and get your car now. For all you know the tax man or the bank might be looking to lock the doors on the place any day all property inside included.

Chalk it up to experience that it costs more than 5000.00 to build a decent car from the ground up unless you can do it yourself. Sorry to hear this happened.