Z06Electron

OK so i took my 03 z06 to them back in January to have an insurance claim turned in for acid water spots on the car and for the smell as my home is in a new housing track and a mouse got into my A/C vent while it was in my garage. Originally I took it to them because I have seen online pictures of the work they do, and because they have worked on vettes only for a long time. Originally my insurance company was not going to cover the cost of the needed wet sand and buff to get the water spots out of the car, because they had been quoted $500 by other detailers (body shops wouldn't even do this job) and Corvette Specialty wanted $1000 to do the same job, because according to Mike and Laurent it would take them 4 days to do the job properly. They assured me that they knew what corvette owners were like and that it would be perfect when it was done. So they had the car for about 2 months and we fought with the insurance company to get it taken care of, which I appreciated. Well to make a long story short I called them last week to find out when the car would be done and they told me Next week. I called monday Morning and they still hadn't started yet, but told me the car would be ready wednesday. OK so then the 4 day job now became a 2 day job? Well when i went to pick up my car today it still had wax residue all over it. Swirl marks, and water spots all over the hood. I could have probably done the same job myself with a handheld buffer. Then they got wax crammed into the stainless steel inserts on the car, which anyone with those will know what a PITA it is to get wax out of there. You just don't wax over those period. I then told the shop that they should have been removed before the waxing( They sell new ones for $25, so maybe $12 cost?) and Mike told me that they are adhesive and cant be re-applied( I know I put them on) and the insurance company wouldn't cover it. They never called me to tell me this and they decided that it would be a good idea to argue with me over a $12 cost part when the total job was over $2000, including a $100 battery that magically happened to go bad while they had it.

I didn't pick up the car and i'm giving them an opportunity to fix the problem. If they couldn't have done the job properly then fine, let me know that up front. The thing that really pissed me off is Regis called me on Wednesday to tell me how "awesome the car looks" "like it has a new paint job" and then arguing with me over a $12 part. This to me shows a lack of pride in your work. I would be embarrased to give a customer their car back in that condition, especially after I told them it looked brand new.

The car has 11,000 miles so it's not like I took them a 75,000 mile commuter and told them to fix the paint for $1000. I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome.

rihwoods

I've heard good/bad about them...never consistant "good".....but the "bad" was truly scary...

Rich

X-ZZ4

I have lots of experience with Corvette Specialty....so much that I consider Mike a friend. In fact, the reason my Corvette Forum name is "X-ZZ4" is because they installed the ZZ4 crate motor in my old '84 Corvette.....and did a good job in doing so. I also bought my '99 from them......and because of my relationship with Mike, I got a very fair deal......not a "dealer deal" by any means.

With that said......I have ZERO respect for Regis. He strikes me as a total "used car salesman" type of guy.....and I just bypassed him and went straight to Mike in my dealings.

I would encourage you to talk directly to Mike to resolve this. While late model cars doesn't really seem to be their specialty ( my C5 went to A&A and OCC for work), Laurent normally does excellent work in the body shop. Feel free to PM me if you want......I'd be more than happy to call Mike for you to help resolve this if necessary.

Z06Electron

I picked the car up yesterday in noon sun. I could see some haze, but they told me it was from the waxing causing static and dust. When I got it home yesterday and put it under shop lights, they had gotten the water spots out, but the paint is still scratched to hell from the wet sander. I'm going to try and fix them myself, otherwise it'll have to be back down to the shop.

I'll keep you posted on if I can get them out. Mike told me yesterday when I picked it up that if I see anything I don't like to bring it back down.

Mike is the one who was dealing with my insurance company. The thing is he should have inspected the car RIGHT BEFORE I picked it up.

Z06Electron

No luck with the buffer. Looks like hell under the shop lights. I'm calling the shop Monday.

meaniam

wow to bad my pops used them on his 92 when he wrecked it. they did good work so i saw them on my 06 and didnt feel comfortable with them so i left. and glad i did. i will let them know if you want that this is posted and they should care what others thought. they are and will be at super chevy show all weekend.


this is unacceptable

RedRiderZR1

Sorry for the long post, but I had to put my .02 in.

My Horror story with Corvette Specialty. I took my 90 ZR1 to them. They apparently do a lot of work on them. Had 9 there when I took mine there. Have to keep in mind there are not a lot of places to take a ZR1 to. Anyways, I took it there for them to look at a miss I had. They took it out back and said I had leaking O-rings in my plug holes. They quoted me $800 dollars to fix. I didn't have enough money at the time so I said I will bring it back when I had the money. They brought the car out from the bay and it hardly ran. There was no way the car was driving out of there. Don't know what they did but they messed it up.

I told them that they messed it up and I couldn't drive it out of there. The owner came out yelling at me its MY fault and that he wouldnt do anything. It almost came to blows. He finally had one of his guys take it back and within minutes it came out running the way it came in. I'm thinking they crossed wires but who knows.

Never again will any vette of mine ever go back to that shop and I tell others to stay away. Oh and it wasn't O-rings that caused the miss. It was a $35 coil pack. Saved $800 that day.

X-ZZ4

You sure you're talking about the same shop?

I have a hard time believing Corvette Specialty (in Corona/Riverside - off the 91) has had 9 ZR-1's there ever.....much less at the same time. And Mike is the owner.....and I absolutely cannot picture him yelling at someone......

RedRiderZR1

We are talking about the same place.

Well I didn't count them myself, But I saw 3 and that is how many one of the guys told me was back there. Maybe there was maybe there wasn't. As far as the yelling part OH YEAH there was yelling. I didn't go there first. He started yelling at me, and some words were really flying. To do that to customers doesn't bring in the business and is unheard of. Never have I had that happen before. Oh well

Y2YELLOWCOUPE

they worked on my 2000 vette they worked on some wiring inside my dash and fixed a rip in my seat and exchanged my rims for crome. they didnt put my dash together right to this day it has gaps in it, the seat never looked right and the rims have small pits and they wouldnt exchange.west coast on the other hand i had a pitting problem with a lic. frame and they replaced it for me they came out and did the swap for me the two places dont even compare. West Coast all the way!!!

Y2YELLOWCOUPE

when it comes to taking your money there nice as pie but when you have a problem with there work dr. jeckal

X-ZZ4

Surprising to me. Perhaps a side I've never seen.....

rihwoods

..GM dealers are worse...drive a C3 into one,and they will be looking up books trying to figure out what it is...

Was in one for an oil change in Virginia once...this kid runs over looking for a place to plug in one of those computer code deals...


Rich

pcfred

Sorry Steve but there's some things you may not know about CS. I had a similar experience with them a few years back with my '82. After entering the business I started getting a bad feeling but went against those feelings and dealt with them anyway. . .bad, very bad choice. I personnally know other folks that have had very bad experiences with them.
I see they now have less Corvettes and have taken on a variety of classic cars.

X-ZZ4

I certainly could be wrong.....and I won't doubt the more and more people who are posting their problems.

I haven't been up there in over a year. Last time I was there they still had nothing but Corvettes and it looked to me like their sales side of the business was really taking off. Too bad to hear all the bad stuff.....

But like I said.....I always thought they were more of a "classic" and "restoration" specialty type shop. I didn't have them do any performance stuff to my C5 (went staight to A&A and OCC for that)......so maybe I got the vibe too and didn't even realize it.

Z06Electron

Does WCC do body work?

c5coast

I don't believe WCC does body work. Jack's Corvettes does restorations, may want to check with them. I've had good experience with Corona Auto Body on other cars. Not sure how they do with vettes.

dcolehome

I was checking to see if Corona Auto Body was any good with Corvettes as like the post above, we've had nothing but good results from this vendor. They did a great job on my Wife's Acura and their office is clean and professional. Many of my employees support their work and was why I used them on the Acura.

I'm sending Corona Auto Body a Corvette friend who recently had an AH ding his door while he watched it happen in horror. $1200 was the estimate and AAA and the AH are stuck with the bill. I'll follow up with feedback once I see their work.

2FAS4UU

Z06Electro, Really sorry to hear about your plight brother, I have had several interactions over the years with CS, primarily with Luarent and Regis, and have had mixed feelings and experiences with CS. All smiles if your going to spend money with them and other times being stand-offish if you are needing maybe just some info, weird. After them charging me $350 to do a quick flash on the computer to supposedly get rid of the security/not starting issue, I was later informed by a former employee that the charge for this was excessive, but at the time I didn't know what was a 'standard' charge, and I could not afford to have AAA ramp truck it all the way to my friends shop (Chuck) at Coast Corvette in Anaheim by Disneyland. I'm not trying to totally bag on CS, but they do have some history. On another note, I wish I had met you before your ordeal, because I certainly could have helped you out with doing a color sand and buff on the Vette. There should not be 'Any' sand marks showing after a correct buffing procedure, sounds like they threw a 'quickie' on it. Good luck, brother.

Wildmanht

Wow! The original post was 8 years ago.. Holy Necro Thread Batman..