Problems with Toyota collision, need opinions..

Alright, so I had repair work done by a toyota collision center nearby to my house. They repainted my door, and replaced the entire fender on the drivers side. The fender came out really nice, but the paint on the door looked really blotchy. The painter saw it too and agreed to repaint it. They repainted it and when I went to go pick it up, it still wasn't as good as I hoped. They told me to call Geico and tell them I wanted a brand new door instead of the "like quality" door they gave me. Now I'm waiting to hear back from the insurance rep tomorrow.

While the truck was sitting in my garage, I noticed a few things. Number 1, they put my bed on crooked. It sits high on the driver side, and slants towards the passenger side. Number 2, they got overspray all over my drivers headlight and half my hood. You can't see it, which is why I didn't point it out when I was originally there, but when I swipe my hands across it, you can really feel the roughness. I know it's overspray because my passenger headlight is smooth as silk. I thought maybe it's dirt so I washed it and still rough as hell.

This will be my 3rd time going to the collision center, and I have been more than patient. How should I approach this? Do I demand a new headlight and for them to repaint my entire hood? I just keep finding problems after problems. I expect a perfect job after giving them over $5,000. They can't even put my bed on straight

 

I would ask to talk to the manager and calmly explain all of the issues and ask for him a solution. Be sure to remind him how much money you spent and that this is your 3rd time in. If his solution does not meet what you think is acceptable then got on the phone with Geico and Toyota. Ask him for his regional managers contact information.

 

Definitely take it back and have Geico deal with them. I had a similar issue on my wife's minivan. I did not even take it from them - I just told the workshop manager I will leave it there until it is done right. I did that two times. After the third time that he called me to tell me it is done and I can come pick it up, and after my insurance guy got involved I was satisfied and picked it up.

 

If they replaced your fender the should have blended the paint into the hood to do it correctly and depending on the color they may not need to. Also, is this shop one your familiar with and had work done there before or is it a Geico direct repair shop that Geico referred you too? Overspray isn't a big deal to remove, some clay bar should take care of the overspray, but all this stuff should be fixed by the shop. You mentioned you been to this shop 3 times, do you mean 3 times to correct these issues or 3rd time using this shop? I work at a body shop so I can give you some good advice!

 

Old No. 7 is right on. I grew up in a family collision repair business that I now manage that focuses on quality and customer satisfaction. Overspray is not a big deal to remove, but it still shouldn't happen if they mask the car properly. I'm not really sure why they want you to ask for a new door.. sounds like they don't know how to blend the paint properly. Did they put a used door? And why was the bed off? New bedside? New bed? Man, without knowing all they did it's difficult to help, but if it were me, I would seriously consider taking it elsewhere. The insurance should be willing to get the vehicle right, no matter what it takes.

Sorry you have to deal with all this.. have you heard of any shops that do great work nearby? I would bring it by their shop and just show them the issues and get their opinion. We get a lot of people that come to us b/c insurance "made" them go somewhere else and we have to clean up the mess that some shoddy repair shop did..

 

If they told you "like quality" door, that usually means they put a used door on. And if the used door was garbage and wasn't preped correctly it will show in the finish work. My guess on the bedside is they must have either replaced or repaired the bedside if your bill was $5k and they probably had to either set the box back or removed it completely and didn't get back on correctly.

 

Yes, the door is a used door. The rear fender is what was replaced (I guess I should have said bedside, lol) with a brand new one. The paint on that turned out great! The door, not so much. They want me to ask for a new door because they are saying they can't work with the door to make it perfect, and it may have had the imperfections already in it. They did have the bed completely off at one point.

Yeah this is one of a few shops that is on my insurances list of approved places. I never had a bad experience with them until now. They painted some of my buddies cars in the past and they turned out great. They are a reputable shop, located conveniently next to the Toyota dealership too lol. I'm gonna go in tomorrow and see what they say.

 

That shop needs to request a new door for you, that's their job, not yours. If the used door was no good to begin with then they should have delt with that right from the beginning. My shop always has the customers best interest at heart. We are on the customers side and not the insurance companies side. At this point, if they have to get a new door, then you might be looking at repainting the side of the truck again for color match. Although it doesn't hurt to voice your opinion with your claim rep at Gieco, but again, the shop should technically be doing that for if they are a good shop! Might not be a bad idea to ask the Toyota dealer who they recommend!

On a side note, what color is your truck?