davidlmed

Hey guys I need help.....I had an accident about a month ago. The insurance company recommended a body shop locally so I took it to the company they backed. Well went to pick it up today and there is over spray on the car drips in the paint, they didn't buff out any of the scratches. The interior wasn't even cleaned (the dust was still over everything). I found easily 20-25 spots of scratched/runs/or just shoddy paint. They replaced the front bumper but put the cracked grill back in. I called the insurance and they are going to "check" on my car. They vouch for the shop and will warranty/guarantee all the work for the life of the car. I almost choked this lady when she asked me if I wanted to take the car or have them try again. It’s a 09 and I got it in Oct it was pretty much brand new.

Now I have never dealt with anything like this so here’s my question. If they don’t fix the problems this time can I have it taken to a Lexus body shop to be repainted. I have USAA and they are usually great but just not sure how to go about this. I'm in the Army and my persuadtion skills are usually evolve my rifle in someone’s mouth....and I don't think I can get away with that here. I just want my car back I've been driving a Sebring for the past month. Thanks for any help guys; I'm completely shot out on this one!!!

tC_demon

Oh wow...sorry to hear that. You should go to the dealership you bought your car from and ask the service dept which body shop do they do business with and go from there. I taken my IS to the body shop the dealer deals with in my area...All but good work from them (they clay bar the whole car and wax it too), they also do work for the mercedes benz dealer in the area.

acefalcon2

iTrader: (20)

get the insurance to redo it and the body shop too....

Andre

Initial_K

iTrader: (2)

You should check out yelp for autoshop reviews before taking it to any shop. Some shop will do a piece of crap work just to collect insurance money.

syzygy

Insurance companies have a vested, profit-inspired interest in "backing" the cheapest body shop around. The cheaper the body shop, the smaller the insurance payout, the greater their profits.

Unfortunately, "cheaper" body shop tends to translate into shoddy work.

I never use a body shop recommended by any insurance company, period. It makes no sense.

Here in Texas, I received recommendations of high quality body shops from my Lexus dealer along with various other CL members who live near me. The body shop I ended up going to happened to be one of the more expensive shops, and for good reason. Their work was absolutely impeccable.

ColtM4A3

There is a lot of truth in this post. Insurance company's do have good working relationships with the reputable shops as well, but you won't know their motives until after you get your car back. For now I'd recommend finding the shop that you want to handle the repairs and ask them for advice on how to proceed.

wednesday

Not sure where you are in Florida but I did not like Lexus of Tampa Bay's body shop. They left overspray on my car and there were drips, a piece that they didn't buff out and the interior was filthy and greasy (even the new headliner they had to install. I also noticed after driving the car home I was missing the locking lug on my rim.

kuuqi

yeahhh when i had my car done the first time (understand its also my first car), i asked all the people i know to see where they took their cars to (everyone i know is pretty much a car-person so to speak). eventually they all pointed to one of two shops and i chose the one that was more local and now that im in my second accident (hit and run), i'm going back to him only.

Initial G

iTrader: (38)

You should take the car to a bodyshop whose work you are familiar with. Don't always trust one a dealer deals with. Good luck.

CLIS250

iTrader: (4)

insurance should cover a redo for the job. make sure you pick another shop this time! good luck.

kevintq

iTrader: (5)

dude that blows!... try taking your car to a diff body shop like a lexus contracted shop.

LEXtegra

Kinda figured you were in the Army when you said you have USAA. And yeah they are a pretty good insurance company. Especially for military personnel that move every two/three years all over the world. That's a big NOGO what the body shop did. You did the right thing by calling them back. Wait until they send their rep to check it out. I'm sure if its that jacked up, they will square u away. Ask if they have any other recommended repair shops and then ask around after you have that list of shops to see which one has a good reputation.

Feirax

iTrader: (1)

Good luck. I had went through a similar nightmare (12 visits back to bodyshop over 2 months, hood wouldn't close, they scuffed my passenger mirror, scraped my rims, they cracked the plastic under the wipers when taking the car apart, mounted my directional tires backwards, gave me the car back without the under car body panels, without a working headlight, bad wheel bearing, mud/salt in my rear seat, scraped my wood center console, missing covers in the engine bay and more..). Anyway, I picked this shop because it was the one my local Lexus dealer used and they'd said they always had good experience. Maybe they never had any serious repairs, or got better service, dunno. Insurance company told me that I had to settle it with them hence all my return trips. Ended up taking the car back less than perfect (bumper isn't bolted to underbody panels because it doesn't reach, hood is crooked still) but most people don't notice unless they look close. Anyhoo, good luck and I feel your pain.

IS-J

iTrader: (1)

Same with my g/f IS at Lexus of pembroke pines. Horrible job on her bumper, it's turning yellow...

*Batman*

I would insist to the insurance company on taking it to the JM Lexus paint shop in margate. JM Lexus paint shop is the best in my opinion and the car will come out looking like new, and to the point that no one can tell if it is painted.

The JM Lexus paint shop is the only one in the state which has a certificate of excellence from Lexus themselves.

I had a deep scratch on my front bumper when my car was less than a month old. I was in the left lane on the highway and there was a chair in the middle of the lane (this is the kind of crap you deal with in Miami). I swerved to avoid it but the leg of the share hit the corner of the bumper and left a deep scratch and knocked out the parking sensor.

As you can imagine I was bitter because I had a brand new car and had to go to the JM Lexus paint shop. After these guys did it, I had it inspected and they could not tell the front bumper had been painted.