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I had my Comptech Sideskirts installed by Spectrum Autobody in Arlington.... they did a good job on the skirts, but seemed to mess up a bit on some other work.
Tuesday night a hit-and-run driver smacked my left front bumper, pushing it slightly into the wheel well, ripped off some paint, broke the retainer clips, chipped and bent the bumper and scratched the headlight cover. Happy New Year to me...not!
My insurer (USAA) will cover the damage under Uninsured Motorist rather than Collision (smaller deductible), plus the car will most likely qualify for a Diminished Value claim (good since the car is a lease).
Now I need to find a great body shop to do the repair and paint.
My insurer usually works with Craftsman Auto Body around this area, but I am not obligated to use their shops.
I was referred to D&V Auto Body in Chantilly. After Google-ing their information, I came across this 2002 list of recommended shops from an Alfa Romeo forum I used to belong to:
This is for John, who asked about quality DC Area auto body shops. I
make my living renting cars in insurance replacement scenarios here; so I
cover a good portion of the northern VA area and I'm in and out of various
body shops daily. Here's a list I've compiled based on quality of work,
relatively good price, previous restorations I've seen in their shops and
ease of working with the people. Here goes!
1. WT Auto Body Fairfax, VA 703.385.0018 Talk to Todd or Mr. Jo. This is a
Korean owned shop in Fairfax that does all of my rental car repairs. They are
fast; exceedingly thorough and prices are quite good. They do quality repairs
and are good people to deal with.First rate equipment used too.
2. D & V auto body, Chantilly, VA - Speak with Rob or Vena.703.478.9431.
CAR GUYS own the shop and work here. They did 2 hit and run accidents on
Alfie, my beloved 1987 Milano Gold. Paint matching/ panel repair/ overall QC
particularly good. They can and do rust repair (a lot of shops these days
will NOT.....FYI.) They are not cheap but once cars leave their shop they
are right with a capitol R. The shop is beside their home and both shop,
work and home are spotlessly clean. Vena (one of the owners) particularly
beautiful, knowledgeable, elegant beyond belief and an absolute pleasure to
deal with.
3. Quality auto Body Fairfax, VA-591-6090 Speak with Chris. They do resto
work (saw a 53 Kaiser Manhattan that came in in pieces and left a trophy
winner.) They will tackle almost anything; and prices are reasonable.
4. Popes Auto Body, Fairfax,VA-Speak with Mr.Pope or Jasmine. This shop will
also tackle almost anything; and the owner is known to work in the shop
himself quite a bit. He's also a car collector with very ecclectic tastes.
His " collection" runs on average around 15 to 18 cars at a time. This shop
will not use filler unless they absolutely have to.Then, they seem to use it
in microscopic portions. Good shop, great people to deal with. I like a shop
where the owner will work alongside to get a job done.
These shops listed above will do a very good job on the GTV-6. I've known the
people in these shops for a few years now and their work and ethics are
honest... Hope this helps!
Don't know about body kit or turbo, but Spectrum Auto Body did a damn good job of putting my S together after my wreck. Great paint job too. No complaints from me.
Quality Auto Body (#3 on the list) has been my choice for nearly 10 years, Chris Spencer is the man... Did great work on my 73 Capri, 92 Dodge full size conversion van, 87 Delta 88, and 02 Avalon.......
As a point of reference I took my car to Rosenthal Body Shop, across the street from Rosenthal (now Tyson's Corner) Honda in Vienna.
The first question they asked me was whether I was going to file a claim with my insurance...hmmm.
After looking at the bumper from outside only, they gave me a $1,000 estimate for repair, including replacement of the headlight assembly ($520), which is scratched...they were unsure if they could simply buff out the other vehicle's paint.
The first question they asked me was whether I was going to file a claim with my insurance...hmmm.
Sure they are doing minor repair to the bumper and repainting it, but nearly five hour's worth of work? I don't think so!
Or am I underestimating the amount of work here?
In the meantime, I'm waiting for D&V to return my call.
D&V asked me the same question pretty much right away when they were doing my estimate. I'm guessing it's standard practice in auto collision industry?
Also, I'd guess that your labor estimates were "book estimates". Many common jobs have official guidelines for how long they're supposed to take, and nearly all are way longer than any good mechanic would take. For example, the book time to replace the top on an S2000 is like 9 hours, but it took Moporacker like 3 or 4 to do mine.
Every body shop follows a manual that is a guideline for getting estimates. A lot of shops ask if you'll be going through insurance to make sure they give you a quote that is high, for incidentals that may come up. It's a hassle to keep on notifying the insurance adjuster that the collision is worst than expected, get approved, and wait for a new check to be cut.
Now if it's a private party paying for the damage, a lot of body shops will work with you in terms of trying to save you money. And that estimate that you have above (f1_fanz) sounds about right. $520 for the headlight assembly and about $580 to fix the damage on your front bumper. That's about right for dealership prices.
04-17-2003, 04:01 AM
