Over 10 months for a substandard repair...
Discussion
Following on from my previous thread ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) it's hard to believe I'm still at it 10 months later, therefore please see below for an update / rant 
After the 4th set of repairs in April the car still wasn't right so got an independent assessor organised by the insurance company. He agreed with absolutely everything I pointed out which was good. By the time he came out and the report was filed it sat with the repair garage / insurance for ages. I was told beginning of June they would have parts in and it would take 5 days. Hmm, I'm driving from Aberdeen to Download Festival and away 5 days so rather than put miles on my car, I thought I'd book it in so I had the courtesy car the day before I left. Booked it a week in advance and the day before I was due to collect I decided not to phone to double check the courtesy car was ready as I trusted surely they couldn't get something that simple wrong. But yeah, I turned up, no car, waited ages and told they had 2 out the back had no tax and one with a broken windscreen. I said it would take 2 seconds to get the car taxed at the nearby post office. Ended up late for work that morning. Next day I was due to leave at midday so asked them to have a car ready for that morning. Right up to the last minute I chased them and they made no effort to get a car ready, so off down the road I went in the Abarth, fearing the worst it would get stuck and / or damaged in the muddy Donington fields, luckily the car managed fine the whole weekend.
Back home and a week later I dropped the car off (20th June) for its "5 day repairs". Here I am now in August and finally expecting the car back tomorrow or Tuesday. The car was ready a couple of weeks ago but the inspector arrived late, and when he did he failed the bonnet alignment again, along with some screws that weren't painted. So the garage didn't bother with a proper quality check after a 5th set of repairs and were happy to let it sit. Car now has to get a complete new bonnet after they repainted the old one. I'm just so fed up of driving about in a Hyundai i10 which is a chore to drive, plus I saved up and bought the Abarth from new, yet out of the last 10 months since my accident I have only had it 5 of those, so although I'd make money on the resale with lower miles on it, I will lose more in depreciation which is harder to take given I've not even had the car for much of the last year.
And that's not all! My white Esseesse wheels have been in my garage and in anticipation of getting my car back and swapping the winter wheels, I started to clean them so I could get them waxed. After power washing one it seemed there was a rough finish at the back and almost like rough paint peeling. Really pissed off now as I thought they had done an ok job on the damaged wheel (which was wrong 1st attempt at repair). Cleaned the 2nd wheel, all ok, got to the 3rd and again more peeling at the back which shocked me, as only one wheel was repaired...it turns out that during the 2nd attempt at fixing the damaged wheel and colour matching, they actually repainted the rear passenger wheel to match the off colour one, and completely lied to me about this. Comparing all 4 wheels you could tell 2 were a different finish and different paint thickness, along with the paint peeling in the wheel nut holes (which the two originals didn't have). Sent off an angry email to insurance with pictures and took the wheels to the garage last week. The guy just didn't give a crap and made lots of excuses, including:
- Your car is a 10 plate? Oh the original wheels would have faded so a colour match is difficult (even though they have only been used for 8000 miles)
- That isn't peeling paint, that's brake dust (upon inspecting the peeling paint)
- We only can use the same garage for wheel painting, we don't do powdercoating (upon suggestion powercoating all 4)
- Oh we can't replace these two, we haven't been paid, we just had to get you a new bonnet and sticker (I reminded him that's their fault as they have taken 5 attempts to repair a light front end collision!)
- Paint thickness on the original wheels is different (even though it isn't)
- I wouldn't be fussed (upon asking if he would accept that if it was his car he worked hard for and waiting 10 months to get back)
- We are going out our way to help you (more excuses)
So the wheels are with them since last Thurs, tried calling insurances that day and Fri but no answer. I mentioned the lack of help from the garage and attitude and demanded they replace the two wheels that were painted, or worst case the have all 4 shotblasted and powercoated. I'm fearing that despite my complaints, they will just send them somewhere to be shoddily painted again and I'll keep sending them back. Here are some pictures of the wheels:
Peeling Paint on repainted wheels (not present on originals which have had the nuts removed several times)
"Abarth" writing is noticably less defined on repainted wheels
Rough paint finish coming off one of the repainted wheels
One of the standard wheels showing clearly where brake dust is removed and not paint!
Peeling paint and damage on one of the repainted wheels
Tell tale sign of a crap job - overspray same colour as the car!
One of the large flakes that came off when powerwashing
More flaking paint
I was going to go to trading standards, but their website refers you to consumer advice which isn't really helpful for this issue. How can I take this further without having to go through legal battles? All I want at the end of the day is my car back and in it's original condition, seems like a complete chore and I'm being made to feel like it isn't a priority and they aren't taking me serious, even after 10 months!
After the 4th set of repairs in April the car still wasn't right so got an independent assessor organised by the insurance company. He agreed with absolutely everything I pointed out which was good. By the time he came out and the report was filed it sat with the repair garage / insurance for ages. I was told beginning of June they would have parts in and it would take 5 days. Hmm, I'm driving from Aberdeen to Download Festival and away 5 days so rather than put miles on my car, I thought I'd book it in so I had the courtesy car the day before I left. Booked it a week in advance and the day before I was due to collect I decided not to phone to double check the courtesy car was ready as I trusted surely they couldn't get something that simple wrong. But yeah, I turned up, no car, waited ages and told they had 2 out the back had no tax and one with a broken windscreen. I said it would take 2 seconds to get the car taxed at the nearby post office. Ended up late for work that morning. Next day I was due to leave at midday so asked them to have a car ready for that morning. Right up to the last minute I chased them and they made no effort to get a car ready, so off down the road I went in the Abarth, fearing the worst it would get stuck and / or damaged in the muddy Donington fields, luckily the car managed fine the whole weekend.
Back home and a week later I dropped the car off (20th June) for its "5 day repairs". Here I am now in August and finally expecting the car back tomorrow or Tuesday. The car was ready a couple of weeks ago but the inspector arrived late, and when he did he failed the bonnet alignment again, along with some screws that weren't painted. So the garage didn't bother with a proper quality check after a 5th set of repairs and were happy to let it sit. Car now has to get a complete new bonnet after they repainted the old one. I'm just so fed up of driving about in a Hyundai i10 which is a chore to drive, plus I saved up and bought the Abarth from new, yet out of the last 10 months since my accident I have only had it 5 of those, so although I'd make money on the resale with lower miles on it, I will lose more in depreciation which is harder to take given I've not even had the car for much of the last year.
And that's not all! My white Esseesse wheels have been in my garage and in anticipation of getting my car back and swapping the winter wheels, I started to clean them so I could get them waxed. After power washing one it seemed there was a rough finish at the back and almost like rough paint peeling. Really pissed off now as I thought they had done an ok job on the damaged wheel (which was wrong 1st attempt at repair). Cleaned the 2nd wheel, all ok, got to the 3rd and again more peeling at the back which shocked me, as only one wheel was repaired...it turns out that during the 2nd attempt at fixing the damaged wheel and colour matching, they actually repainted the rear passenger wheel to match the off colour one, and completely lied to me about this. Comparing all 4 wheels you could tell 2 were a different finish and different paint thickness, along with the paint peeling in the wheel nut holes (which the two originals didn't have). Sent off an angry email to insurance with pictures and took the wheels to the garage last week. The guy just didn't give a crap and made lots of excuses, including:
- Your car is a 10 plate? Oh the original wheels would have faded so a colour match is difficult (even though they have only been used for 8000 miles)
- That isn't peeling paint, that's brake dust (upon inspecting the peeling paint)
- We only can use the same garage for wheel painting, we don't do powdercoating (upon suggestion powercoating all 4)
- Oh we can't replace these two, we haven't been paid, we just had to get you a new bonnet and sticker (I reminded him that's their fault as they have taken 5 attempts to repair a light front end collision!)
- Paint thickness on the original wheels is different (even though it isn't)
- I wouldn't be fussed (upon asking if he would accept that if it was his car he worked hard for and waiting 10 months to get back)
- We are going out our way to help you (more excuses)
So the wheels are with them since last Thurs, tried calling insurances that day and Fri but no answer. I mentioned the lack of help from the garage and attitude and demanded they replace the two wheels that were painted, or worst case the have all 4 shotblasted and powercoated. I'm fearing that despite my complaints, they will just send them somewhere to be shoddily painted again and I'll keep sending them back. Here are some pictures of the wheels:
Peeling Paint on repainted wheels (not present on originals which have had the nuts removed several times)
"Abarth" writing is noticably less defined on repainted wheels
Rough paint finish coming off one of the repainted wheels
One of the standard wheels showing clearly where brake dust is removed and not paint!
Peeling paint and damage on one of the repainted wheels
Tell tale sign of a crap job - overspray same colour as the car!
One of the large flakes that came off when powerwashing
More flaking paint
I was going to go to trading standards, but their website refers you to consumer advice which isn't really helpful for this issue. How can I take this further without having to go through legal battles? All I want at the end of the day is my car back and in it's original condition, seems like a complete chore and I'm being made to feel like it isn't a priority and they aren't taking me serious, even after 10 months!
Edited by Mouse1903 on Sunday 11th August 20:09
Could you do this:
It feels like the current bodyshop clearly can't do the work, and so there is no point in trying to make them do it.
- Find a bodyshop that you trust and that is willing to do the job
- Get a detailed written quote for every single thing that needs doing to put it right
- Offer to the insurance company that if they pay up in line with the quote, you will take responsibility for the quality of work - in other words, it would be a full and final settlement
- Get the car sorted and start enjoying it
It feels like the current bodyshop clearly can't do the work, and so there is no point in trying to make them do it.
dm46 said:
I think the op is the customer from hell.
I'm sorry for offending you, I assume you work for JM Accident Repair or Nationwide? I think the majority of people would agree I am being very patient given the fact it's over 10 months since my accident and after 5 repair attempts they are still trying to fix it. But then if you drive a lardy Mk4 Golf you aren't going to be too fussed about what your car looks like I suppose.I finally got hold of my insurance yesterday. No shock to find out they won't replace the wheels or powdercoat all 4, but simply paint them. Once again I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and instructed that all 4 must be sandblasted to ensure an even finish, and the paint must be strong enough to be powerwasher, just like the original coating was. I have a feeling they will make another mess of it and the saga will continue.
We had Nationwide crash repair of Baldock (large national chain so assuming same as yours) repair the door on my wifes Seat Leon after someone drove into it. To this day it still rattles, the paint spray isn't perfect and 3 of the 4 otherwise mint wheels came back with huge gouges out of them - it was a real struggle to get them to admit liability for the wheels and pay up for refurbs. They refused to admit anything else was wrong with the repair though.
If anything happens in the future we now know not to go anywhere near the insurance recommended bodyshop!
If anything happens in the future we now know not to go anywhere near the insurance recommended bodyshop!
I feel for you OP... Back in 2011, Dad had a bad prang (non-fault) in our Sports Transit that resulted in £10k worth of repairs.
It went to one of those repair centres you mention, and the repair was poor. In fact, it was so poor that after their 2nd attempt, we part-ex'd it for a new one.
No car is ever the same after any repair... get rid, move on.
It went to one of those repair centres you mention, and the repair was poor. In fact, it was so poor that after their 2nd attempt, we part-ex'd it for a new one.
No car is ever the same after any repair... get rid, move on.
dm46 said:
I think the op is the customer from hell.
What, because he expects a reasonable quality of service via insurance approved repairers?I wouldn't deal with a repair that poor on a £1000 snotter, let alone something worth more than buttons and fluff. Methinks the only reason you may have to be dismissive of the quality of service he's receiving is if you're responsible for it- in which case, you should be ashamed of the poor quality of the service you provide. If not, then I struggle to see why you object to someone expecting a reasonable service?
Mouse1903 said:
I finally got hold of my insurance yesterday. No shock to find out they won't replace the wheels or powdercoat all 4, but simply paint them. Once again I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and instructed that all 4 must be sandblasted to ensure an even finish, and the paint must be strong enough to be powerwasher, just like the original coating was. I have a feeling they will make another mess of it and the saga will continue.
This is part of the problem, the insurance company can tell you nothing about how the wheels will be done, just that they'll "have them painted". Even if you insist on sandblasting etc and even if they say yes, when it gets to the repair shop you're at the mercy of the garage.I'd do what other posters above have said (except dm46) and insist on another repair centre or something. Enough's enough.
As s
t as this garage looks and as frustrating as it may be, I don't believe there is anyway the insurance company can charge you for using your own garage provided you get 2 or more quotes in my experience.
Considering what you'd heard about this garage beforehand, why on earth would you go through with them?
t as this garage looks and as frustrating as it may be, I don't believe there is anyway the insurance company can charge you for using your own garage provided you get 2 or more quotes in my experience. Considering what you'd heard about this garage beforehand, why on earth would you go through with them?
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