Quality of collision repair?
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 178
Likes: 21
From: Orange County, CA
GLA250 4Matic, 911 Carrera S, R1250 GS Adv.
Quality of collision repair?
I ran over a rock in the middle of the road in rural Montana - the sign said to watch for falling rocks, but I couldn't avoid this one. I then drove back to So. Calif. with no problem. Once here I drove my '05 230K over to the dealer expecting them to maybe repair the steering rack and the under-car plastic shielding. But, NO, they sent me to a M-B "approved" body shop for a repair estimate. Well, the body shop said they would have to replace the left frame rail because it was severely dented (plus the fuel tank, floor, muffler, etc., etc.). That meant the radiator, engine, dashboard, seats, etc., had to be removed first. All of this is necessary to bring the car back to the condition it was in before the "collision". My insurance will be paying out close to $15K total.
This is my first "at fault" claim ever, and I'm still in shock as to the cost of the repair - the car ran fine, but of course it wasn't "right" and might have some future issues. If it was all my own money, maybe I wouldn't worry about some of the undercar dents or would suggest just pulling them out and spraying some rustproofing there.
Anyway, the work is proceeding and should be completed in a couple of weeks. The body shop's doing some of it and they're having the dealer do a lot of the mechanical and alignment parts of it. I'm not exactly sure how this affects the orig. factory warranty (til. Jan 09).
But, here's my question: what should a smart consumer look for in order to judge the quality and thoroughness of these repairs? What would separate a M-B quality job from the average body shop job? I guess I'm the "quality control" guy here and I don't know much about it.
This is my first "at fault" claim ever, and I'm still in shock as to the cost of the repair - the car ran fine, but of course it wasn't "right" and might have some future issues. If it was all my own money, maybe I wouldn't worry about some of the undercar dents or would suggest just pulling them out and spraying some rustproofing there.
Anyway, the work is proceeding and should be completed in a couple of weeks. The body shop's doing some of it and they're having the dealer do a lot of the mechanical and alignment parts of it. I'm not exactly sure how this affects the orig. factory warranty (til. Jan 09).
But, here's my question: what should a smart consumer look for in order to judge the quality and thoroughness of these repairs? What would separate a M-B quality job from the average body shop job? I guess I'm the "quality control" guy here and I don't know much about it.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
What seperates the MB approved body shop from just any shop is the dealer gets a kick back, haha. I would have them put it on a lift and show you what was done, one item at a time and see if any of the repairs are noticible and look like they were done in a sloppy manner. The last thing you want is people coming to look at your car when you want to sell it or trading it in and they say the car had major work done. Also drive it before signing off and listen for unusual noises and really drive it, turn the steering wheel lock to lock while driving like in a U turn, go over the nastiest speed bumps you can find, see if it pulls one way or the other, put a fat guy in the back seat, etc.... It should feel like a new car.
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From: San Diego, CA & San Jose, Costa Rica & Stuttgart, Germany
1959 220S / 1979 230 G / 2002 A210 AMG / 2003 C320 SC / 2004.5 C320 SS / 2005 ML350 SE / 2008 smart
where (what MB body shop) are you getting the work done at ???
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 178
Likes: 21
From: Orange County, CA
GLA250 4Matic, 911 Carrera S, R1250 GS Adv.
The body shop is Class Auto Center, Long Beach. It's one of very few in So. Calif. that has the necessary equipment and training to be "approved" by M-B. They tow my car across the street to the dealer to have the complex mechanical portions of the work done. I guess there's a difference between an excellent repair job and a mediocre one, and Class ought to be able to do an excellent job. They have a good reputation so I'm optimistic.
