Hey everyone, just need to vent some frustration.
Took my car to Longo Collision center because my pearl white gs was hit on the passeger side fender & bumper. First of all I had to go through some crap from the insurance company because I wanted to take it to a dealership for repairs but I expected the best repairs from Longo as opposed to a mom and pop shop. Anyways took it in on Jan 28 and spoke to 2 of their contacts given to me and asked on a couple of occasions if when repainted the color difference was going to be very visible. Everyone I spoke to said "No it wouldn't, although with this color the difference is always visible even on the new cars" I understood but reiterated that as long as the difference is not out of the ordinary. So they replace the front bumper and repair the passenger side fender. After 2 weeks of repairs I went to pick it up. Because it was raining that day and I was in a rush to return the rental I just gave it a quick inspection and took off. The next day I check it and found 3 things
1. On the passenger side where the damage was caused the base of the fender was still visible. They look like black stains
2. the drivers side fender was not painted so the color match is extremely noticeable. They didn't even attempt to blend the color in with the hood or driver side fender.
3. They damged the leather on the drivers seat.
So I call Steve (Manager) says bring it in and they will take a look at it. So I take it in and no managers available only the estimator who handled my case. He took a look at it and he says that the difference between colors is normal and it is exactly the same as the rear bumper. I don't agree so he proceeds to polish both the front and rear of the car and says "see it is the same thing" I tell him it is much more noticeable in the front. So he then says well we just went off of the insurance estimate to paint one side. He said that they will see what they can do with the damaged side to try to get rid of the black marks, and see what they can do with the leather (probably just fix it half *** by glueing it) but in regards to the drivers side color mismatch he can only try to contact the insurance company to see if they will pay for the repair.
That bull**it. Everyone I spoke to at longo said the difference was not going to be visible and on either side.
Now he said that he will talk to steve and call me today. If I would have known this was going to happen I would not have driven 35 min from Riverside to get it fixed there I would have taken it to a local shop.
Sorry for the long story just extremely pissed off

 

Picture does not do it justice. the color difference is much more visible in person.

 

I feel for you.

That is obvious. I hope they will work through this and you'll walk away happy.

The damage I had on mine was repaired very well. The only way I can tell is by looking at the difference in orange peel.

 

What the hell? the difference is not even close to being "normal". A bad paint shouldn’t even be visible in a picture. Let alone be that Obvious.

You did the right thing, kudus to you for not letting them attempt to pass it on you as if it was normal. I hate how these sales/estimators try to rip people off when they men perform a half-*** job.

Big for Longo.

My LS just came out of the bodyshop that it has been in for over 2 and half months, and you cant even see the difference in color. (btw, i do recognize white is the hardest color to match, but that paint job looks really bad).

 

I would not use Longo for ANYTHING. I bought my car from them, it was supposed to be a certifed use car.... found out two years later that they put the WRONG SIZE tires on the car. Found out when the car lost control on a turn, but is was too late to prove they did it. As far I am concerned, anyone should avoid LONGO at all costs.... it is a crap-sack place to do buisiness with.

928

 

it looks likes theres no pearl in the bumper paint they used the wrong paint code?

 

Try explaining that to the estimator. He insists or at least thinks he will convince me if he continues to insist that the difference is "common for this particular color" BULLS**T Anyways was supposed to get a call yesterday but never did (not surprised) so I guess I will have to call them today.
I also bought my car from Longo and my dumb a** recommended that my mother in law and aunt by their cars their also. But if this is not taken care of NEVER AGAIN....

 

I can't speak for the seat but I had my 98 GS 400 repainted b/c of the yellowing. I took it to the dealer and they did a fantastic job, it matched perfect. Clearly, yours is off, it seems like too much pearl in the paint. Or they painted the pearl after the white.

 

Does Longo even have a body shop? Usually, it is an affiliated shop that does all the work for the dealer. If Longo is mismanaging the process, then they should shoulder the blame for that. The quality is on the body shop and the problem is between Longo and the shop to work something out for you. It is between them who needs to pay for the rework. Trying to pass the costs onto the insurance company is just wrong.

Bottom line, you should get what you (or in this case, your insurance company) paid for. If it is not right, then Longo or the shop should fix the problem.

Good luck,

 

Wow, and I thought the dealer would be the last resort to get perfect OE quality work done. I guess I was wrong. In this world, you could only trust your closest friends.

 

Yes it's sandwiched between Longo Lexus Service Department & the Longo Toyota sales floor.

If the issue is with the quality of the repair. Your claims representative should be involved with their assigned field representative and the estimator that wrote up the work. That is the first step.

 

Thanks for all comments.
spoke to Steve (Manager) and he said to bring it in and he would repair all problems and give me a loaner vehicle. We will see what happens. I will be taking it in on monday.

 

Longo must get a lot of repair work to have its own body shop.

As for the insurance company, I don't necesarily see keeping them in the loop is a bad thing but shouldn't this be a purely Longo issue now? I assume they got (or will get soon) the $ for the repair. The insurance company has no control on the quality of Longo's shop.

 

The insurance company does have control over the body shop quality IF that body shop is on their list of approved repair shops. If the quality of that shop keeps falling below par according to the insurance companies standars then they can drop that shop from their list. This could mean a lot of lost business for that shop when it comes to insurance work.

Generally speaking, mom and pop body shops always to better work than dealers. Most dealers sub contract out to a local body shop anyway. Some have mobile body shop services where a couple guys show up in vans and do minor repairs wright no site. Few have their own body shop, but it is only as good as the workers skills.

 

I think we agree.

For repeat work, the insurance company can exert influence. In this case, I meant more along the lines of your
statement. If the result is bad, it is workmanship issues and not insurance company/payment issues.