superjimbo

Hi All,

Well, as some of you may know, I hit a curb last week and needed to bring my car into the body shop to get it repaired. My car is at a shop called Collision Consultants on La Cienega (I incorrectly named the place my car was at in my last post) are they any good? I would prefer to have my car repaired at Honda World, but since my car was towed to this shop right after the accident, my insurance company is telling me that it would be a big hassle/expensive to move the car to another shop at this point in time. First of all, can anyone speak up about Collision Consultants? They seemed like a good shop, but I want to be sure. Secondly, if Collision Consultants isn't a good shop, should I make the effort to get my car to Honda World? Or, as a third option, should I have my car taken to Miller Honda? They're right around the corner whereas Honda World is quite far from me (I'm in west la). Any advice? Thanks everyone.

Jim

Dinnyin

Isn't Miller Honda on the Blacklist? If not they should be.

**Jay-V**

Marco's Auto Body in Pasadena Not too far from West LA.

I think Miller Honda sublets their collision repairs to an independent body shop (not sure though).

Or Silver Lake Collision Center in Hollywood (323-663-8076). Tell them Jay with the blue S2000 sent ya

r_duff

Is that the shop with yellow and red letters, right off of la cienega? I visited that shop several times when I was an ins. adjuster. Their work seems decent to me. Ask you're insurance company if this is one of their 'direct repair shops' If so, its good, because your ins. company should guarantee their work. If not, I'd still give them a shot.

Also, keep in mind, its not the SHOP you take it too, its the guy whos actually fixing your car. Sometimes you get a good bodyman and painter, sometimes you get a lousy one. You really cant tell just by 'shop reputation.' Your only consolation is to make sure the shop or insurance company GUARANTEES your satisfaction.

superjimbo

Thanks the replies, everyone.

Yes, they're in a yellow building with red letters - so you're probably thinking of the right shop. Anyhow, I went by this afternoon to check out my car for the first time since the crash on thursday. They let me know that all of their work is guaranteed. So if I'm not happy when I get the car back, I can have anything fixed/replaced. They seem like a very professional shop and the two guys I've been working with have been understanding and easy to work with. Although, as r_duff said, the quality of the work will depend on the specific technician working on my car, I feel relatively good about their abilities. We'll just have to see how everything turns out in the end, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

One question for any of you who have had your car in the body shop: How long does it usually take. Here's what needs to be fixed (as of now): rear quarter panel needs to be replaced, outer "skin" of drivers door needs to be replaced, rear wheel needs to be fixed/replaced, upper and lower portion of rear left control arm snapped and needs to be replaced, front bumper needs repainting, front brake assembly appears to have some minor damage, underbody plastic up front needs to be replaced, and a few other scuffs, etc need to be fixed. Of course, the length of the repair is all going to depend on how busy a shop is, but I'm just curious how long this stuff usually takes. They're saying it should be done by around 1/12/06. Does this sound reasonable?

Jim

r_duff

2 rules of thumbs for repair times:

1) figure about 1 week for every 1000 dollars. Very very rough estimate.

2) look at the total hrs on the last page of your estimate. Figure a shop will work on your car 4 hrs/ per day. Take the total # of hrs (include refinish, body, frame, mechanical times) and divide by 4. Thats the total # of business days they should need to finish your car.

Always figure in room for parts backorders, redo's (as in paint), supplemental inspections from insurance companies, frame machine cue, etc.

superjimbo

Thanks for the great info, r-duff. Given what you said, the time frame they gave me seems pretty spot on. Man...it's gonna be a long month...I miss my car already.

r_duff

good luck to ya!