is it commom to pay for body work/paint before seeing finish

[tashakes]

Absolutely DO NOT pay until the car is done.

He has possession of the car, and has the right to keep it until final payment is done. And if you do not pay it, he can sell the car on a lien sale, so he has absolutely nothing to loose and is risking zilch.

He is so full of shit asking for payment up front that I would make him fix every single thing before picking the car up.

This is unbelievable from any type of reputable shop. He seems to be scrambling for money if he needs to be paid $3K up front.

And follow the suggestion given before, pay with a credit card so at least you have some recourse. AMEX is best for customers disputes.

[1971Ginger]

.

Absolutely DO NOT pay until the car is done.

He has possession of the car, and has the right to keep it until final payment is done. And if you do not pay it, he can sell the car on a lien sale, so he has absolutely nothing to loose and is risking zilch.

He is so full of shit asking for payment up front that I would make him fix every single thing before picking the car up.

This is unbelievable from any type of reputable shop. He seems to be scrambling for money if he needs to be paid $3K up front.

And follow the suggestion given before, pay with a credit card so at least you have some recourse. AMEX is best for customers disputes.

im an idiot for giving into his stories about needing money as i am anxious to get my car done. ive so far paid him for all but about 600 so id say I f-d my self.

Im now offering to help sand the car to.get it painted and ready for Legends of The Autobahn.

[alpinaguy]

Oh Dude! Did you just state that you have pretty much paid him in full and it is still NOT PAINTED???? I hope it works out. I feel bad for you. Good luck!!!!!!!

[fourtii]

Why don't you post some pictures showing the amount of work that was involved with this repair. New parts, old parts that required hours of metal work, previous dents all over the body. Used parts supplied by you that required hours of blocking to make right.

Tell the whole story, before you bad mouth the guy who held your hand through the whole ordeal and got you the insurance money. In the beginning they weren't going to pay you at all. I think you got a bargain as I have been monitoring the progress from the beginning. A little trust goes a long way...he is not going to run off with your money and would like to finish it as fast as you want it back. You wouldn't find a more qualified person for the job in No Cal than him. I've known him for years, he has been doing 2002's since the 70's.

All that's left to do is polish and put it back together, what is there not to see at this point?

[1971Ginger]

Why don't you post some pictures showing the amount of work that was involved with this repair. New parts, old parts that required hours of metal work, previous dents all over the body. Used parts supplied by you that required hours of blocking to make right.

Tell the whole story, before you bad mouth the guy who held your hand through the whole ordeal and got you the insurance money. In the beginning they weren't going to pay you at all. I think you got a bargain as I have been monitoring the progress from the beginning. A little trust goes a long way...he is not going to run off with your money and would like to finish it as fast as you want it back. You wouldn't find a more qualified person for the job in No Cal than him. I've known him for years, he has been doing 2002's since the 70's.

All that's left to do is polish and put it back together, what is there not to see at this point?

just to tell the whole story, ive not bad mouthed anyone nor named any names. ive put out a question to ask other people who were in the same boat as me. i did say my car was dented comming in and looks much better now, but i thought i was dealing with a shop that would care for my car to the point where i wouldnt have to stress over the eventual turn out of my car, especially after getting an initial estimate. ive been without my car for over 3 months (due to.accident/long liability battle) and im anxious to finish the repairs, after seeing how much of a run around the insurance gave me, i hoped the body guy would make the paint process a breeze. i came with my wallet open and paid nerely half the initial cost before before paint hit the car. i did all i could to get my car back.

I am getting a good deal, but if a "good deal" means a incomplete paint job I will be fixing later, then tell me upfront and I will purchase the materials needed. I do not want cut corners, I thought I had expressed that.

Although I did not want a concourse paint job, but I did not want something with drips, runs or imperfections or paint id have to fix in 5 years. This is why I requested we use the best paint available and came to check the car over before paint hit the car to go over all damage repairs that were done and what had to be done.

i appreciated all the body shop did for my through the process, he knew that and Im pretty sure he got annoyed of hearing me say "I appreciate it" after each visit of seeing my car. but having to come point out obvious imperfections on the car ( that were not addressed on multiple visits) is not right. Also having parts missed off the estimate such as the grills damaged ($617) or the H4 headlight that. These are all costs that were missed and had to be fought for. i havent mentioned any used parts supplied are part of an estimate and were thus agreed upon in the recipt written by the owner. Any hours were quoted and have/will be paid for.

Ive also tried contacting the body shop multiple times today so arrange a time i can come and volunteer my time to help sand and reassembld.the car back to shape.

Like i said, the body shops help in the accident was appreciated and thus i made sure to invest additional funds with him to bring my car to the level ive seen him do. This is why im asking others if the experience ive had is common. Now it will be interesting to seehow my car turns out knowing that.the owner will be reading this and will be under the impression he is being bad mouthed, hes not. if anything i want to go around shows telling people who painted my car. search my recent posts about people looking for shops in the bay area, i even tried to bring him more business.

[tashakes]

Try to work it out as best as you can since you are already all in. I made the mistake of paying for my paint job in full before being completely done because I too wanted to have the car already. After promises of polishing and sanding and what not, it still did not come out like what it should have. I will never do it again. Take your time and make sure the job is done to your satisfaction, it seems like the shop has been there for a while and at least that is good.

[hankster]

Ginger, I know what you are going through. My car was at the same shop. I was bumped a number of times for money and received sub-standard work in the end. I met another fellow at the Brisbane show who experienced the same thing. Long story short, my car is now at another shop being completely redone. It has been a very expensive learning experience.

[1971Ginger]

Ginger, I know what you are going through. My car was at the same shop. I was bumped a number of times for money and received sub-standard work in the end. I met another fellow at the Brisbane show who experienced the same thing. Long story short, my car is now at another shop being completely redone. It has been a very expensive learning experience.

thank you for speaking up, I needed somebody else to bring up their experiences so we can help others.

i hope the owner will finish my car to satisfactory conditions so that i can close this chapter and start a new one with my car back in my hands.

as they say fear for the worst, hope for the best.

[oldguy]

One way to speed up the get my car finished process is call the insurance company and tell them, this guy took your money and has not fixed my car yet. Unless you have signed some "I'm using my own shop, I don't want your warranty" form, they have to warranty his sketch work.

All that guy was doing was going down the list of customers trying to find one that would let him float his payroll. Since your job only has $600 left on the ticket, there is no incentive to work on it. It will always get pushed back because he needs paying jobs because he's floating his payroll. It becomes a dead job. Lots of work required to finish it but he doesn't have the capital to commit guys over there to finish it.

Call him and demand he set a reasonable completion date. If he can't do that, begin filing fraud charges with your insurance company and your credit cards because he's never getting it done, no matter how nice you are.

There is absolutely no reason a body shop can't commit to a date. If he starts telling you how impossible that will be because he's a master craftsman and he's making it "just perfect". He's jerking you off. Tell him, even Michelangelo had to stick to a schedule. Make him fix the headliner as well, there is no reason you should be up there sanding on your own car doing labor for him. That's what your paying way to much money for. Make sure you explain how you are not paying for runs, drips, overspray or dented/scratched items and will not sign off on substandard work. Might as well do it right the first time because you will be making him do it a second time on his dime.

Don't let him wear you out for more money, make him finish and stick to a schedule. In the end, he'll probably try and turn that $600 left into $1200 due to "cost overruns". It's BS. Don't let him. If he scratched your strut tower bar, give him a link as to where to get a new one. Act like it's normal. If he tells you, I ain't fixing that, take it out of the final $600.

[alpinaguy]

+1

[lilmo]

Sadly, it's my experience that insurance claims and restoration work just don't go together. They should, but they just don't. Two totally different animals, even at the best shops.

Good luck though. Try to be pleased with her when they are done!

[LimeySteve]

The shop we use has 2 shops, 1 for accident repair & a Hot Rod/Custom ,resto paint shop 2 locations = great service & we don't pay until it's finished , any imperfections even scratches after the event are handled at no charge to us.Professional.