On a 98ES300,
do you have to remove the lower body panels just behind the front wheels to replace the strutts?

The reason I ask is that I took this car in to a non dealer mechanic who replaced the strutts.
The next morning, I took the car out to the gym and returned home about 1 hour later.
I looked at the car and realized that the 2 lower body pannels were missing on both sides.
I thought, maybe the mechanic just forgot to put it back on.
Well, I called him and he said that they didnt have to remove those and that they never touched it.

I dont know what to belive.
Could my luck have been that bad that someone just stoled these 2 body pieces from the car?
The only place that it could have happened was at the gym that morning because we park our cars in the garage at night. And no, I didn't run over anything.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

You don't have to remove any body panel/plastic trim piece to replace the struts. Are you the original owner? I'm asking this question because sometime the bodyshop forgot to put the plastic cover back on when they're replacing the fender..

 

WT-i

Yes, I am the original owner and there has never been any work on the body of the car.
I wash the car myself every weekend so I know that the parts were there.

Can't belive that people steal parts of cars.