Vette Fetish

I'm not sure where I should post this question but here goes. On April 4,2011 my 73 Vette was vanddalized to the tune of $6244.62. We had her towed to a bodyshop where we had had some work done previously on our Z06.We had no problems with the work completed on the Z so we didn't hesitate in taking the 73 to this shop.

Now here we are September 7, 2011 and our Vette is still in the shop.The paperwork states that the job will take 75.5 hours, less than two weeks.

I gave the guy $1600.00 so he could order parts needed.Hubby and I kept after these guys to get this Vette completed. Finally a few weeks ago they agreed to get us a rental car for our inconvience. We didn't need the rental but took it thinking his having to pay for the rental would get him to moving on the job. Hubby and I have visited this shop at least once per week and yesterday when we stopped to look at our 73 she had come out of the paint booth and looks AWESOME! We were told we would have her back Friday.I gave the shop owner an additional 3 grand yesterday in hopes the Vette would actually be ready on Friday. We still owe $1142.62 according to the bid amount we were stated when we hired this guy to repair and paint the 73.

Do you think we are wrong to think that we have paid him enough, since he has had her for 5 months? After all we have lost the whole summer as far as being able to enjoy this Vette? I'd appreciate everyones opinion please. Thank you!

MelWff

why are you paying him anything prior to completion of the job? Isnt your insurance company involved in this? didnt the insurance company send an adjuster to the shop to come to an agreed price for the job?

garage-ghost

Unless a time limit was set in a contract... You still owe him the $1142.62.
Pay it, and be happy you got a good job.

fauxrs

Its hard to answer without more information.

• What was the scope of the vandalism damage?
• Did the shop promise completion in less than 2 weeks?
• What sort of parts did they have to order with your initial payment? How long did it take for those parts to come in?
• how many hours have actually been expended?
• on your many visits what was his explanation?
• did he ever promise a finish date on those visit dates?
• why didnt you pull the vehicle out and take it elsewhere when the time got to be excessive?

If youve gotten body work, interior work and some paint for $5700.00 it sounds like youve gotten a fairly decent deal (not knowing what the scope of the vandalism damages were).

As far as missing a summer of enjoyment, thats irrellevant in my opinion.

Easy Mike

Yes.

Not applicable unless a specific time was agreed upon.

Come Friday, you owe him $1142.62.

PhilaScott

What the Agreement/Contract doesn't say is "estimated job completion date" nor does it have a per diem penalty for late delivery. Be thankful the guy did a nice job and be nice because the first time a rock kicks up or you get a chip or something.. you'll be back asking for help.
The price you were quoted sounds pretty reasonable. I'd show my appreciation -- rather than try to short the vendor based on "a perception" of what you agreed to. Who knows.. if you wanted it back in two weeks they might have charged you 2x as much. A deal is a deal. You made a deal that was missing some parameters. Learn from it and next time you'll know. Hope the car looks great!

Dose11

I have to go with previous statements...unless there was a time frame given you have no leg to stand on. They said it will take 75.5 hrs to complete...they never said when they were actually going to be spending those 75.5 hrs to complete it.

Sucks but shops get to cars when they get to them.....after the insurance claim cars that is.

clay9_24

Just remember a labor quote is not consecutive hours. 75 hours of labor quoted does NOT mean 75.5 total hours divided by 8 hour day equals 9.5 working days later your car is done.

Much of the painting process, once they are that far is simple 3 to 4 hours then let sit for 24.

6200 bucks for some sort of damage repair and paint sounds pretty cheap to me.

vettebuyer6369

Not to be too blunt, but this is one reason body shops don't want to do business with Corvette owners. Honestly, the entitlement that goes into thinking you "have paid him enough" is a little staggering.

There is no correlation between the bid amount and the amount of time the car has been in the shop. If you owe remaining amounts on the agreed price, you owe it. More times than not, owners end up paying more than the agreed price due to all the inevitable problems in doing Corvette body and paint.

Secondly, your statement about the amount of hours is how the hourly shop labor charge is calculated. Are you under the impression it was going to be 2 weeks from the point it was towed in? Did you have a conversation with the shop owner? Did he promise it in June so you could enjoy your summer?

Sounds like you are thrilled with the work. Pay your bill. Don't be one of "those" Corvette people.

Vette Fetish

First off i am going to try and answer everyones question.
Damage to the 73
front bumper replacement
both front fenders were repaired
nose spoiler replaced
both door skins were repaired
both rear quarter panels were repaired
spare tire carrier was repaired

As far as a set time for completion of the job, We were told the 73 would be completed by the 3 rd week in May. Then we were told it would be completed by June 9th. Then we were told it would be completed by July 29. Then we were told it would be completed August came and went.
The 73 had been dismantled of all parts which needed to be replaced and all four tires were removed as the 73 was placed on snap on body jack.

There was no interior damage.

When I stated that the paint job looks AWESOME I was refering to the color match and the overall appearance at this time. Keep in mind the 73 was still not completely put back together.

Do you all still think I owe him the whole amount? I am NOT one of those Corvette people which have an entitlement issue...My other car is a 2008 BMW Z4 3.Osi. Seriously.

redvetracr

which make you one of those BMW people.....

spedaleden

My thoughts are if your happy with the work that is being done, who cares how long it takes, just make sure the body shop keeps making progress. My body shop had my car 6 months and he had it in the paint booth a lot of the time, due to drying time. Fiberglass will shrink over time, it is important to let sit in the sun (best) or paint booth as much as possible to dry.

Most shops that know final payment is coming will finish car to get payment. Don't know to many people that would pay for something in full, if they can't take it with them.

My 2 cents

LancePearson

I have a long career in business behind me and the one thing I would never, ever do is pay the full price for a service job until the job was done completely to your satisfaction. Progress payments, yes, full payment until work completed as agreed, NEVER. Why? He who has the money has the incentive for the service to be completed. Once you pay your leverage with the contractor is over even if he were your brother in law or best friend.

Perhaps you could have been wiser in putting a to be completed date by in your agreement but don't compound it by removing the guy's incentive to finish and do it right. Many jobs are 1/3 labor, 1/3 parts and 1/3 profit. So, you pay for the parts as they go, the labor as they go and the profit at the end in the last payment AFTER you are satisfied.

If you haven't covered the progress payments issue then it's just as open to your interpretation as his.

Here's the secret: He who has the money has the leverage even if he has your car. To get the profitable part he needs to finish. Don't make it easy for him to prolong and put off finishing by paying him too much.

Lance P.

Mike Ward

Ouch. You may have just hung yourself.

LancePearson

what exactly is an "entitlement issue?"

zwede

Difficult considering she's female. I think the word you were looking for is "hanged".

As for the 5 month in the body shop... my experience with body shops is to take any time estimate they give and replace "weeks" with "months" to get in the ball park. As long as the job was done right, pay your bill and be happy.

The opposite would have been much worse: Car back early, with crap paint/body work.

PhilaScott

Ok.. so after hearing the update from the subject Corvette Owner (well.. the BMW owner) it does seem that there has been a slight shift in what she/they originally "agreed to" with this body shop. Sounds like the delivery date shifted. How it got from May to Sept is my question.
What caused the date to shift each time? Was it problem getting parts? Did they lose their best body guy? What exactly was the reason for the delay. And when that delay occurred did you have the option to say... we're outta here?

With respect to breaking the $6k down into payments.. the 73 is worth more than what is owed.. so the guy with the Car will always have the mechanic's lien leverage. if you withhold payment I suspect that "you ain't getting the car back".

I go back to my original advice which is try to end this amiably; dont burn the bridge but go into the NEXT contract eyes wide open and write the contract with specificity with respect to the delivery dates and add a penalty for non-performance if the other party goes for it.

Good Luck.

LancePearson

If you have the rest of the money and only a little needs to be done you have the leverage...don't pay it and be nice about it but insist he finish the car before payment and it will get done. He's had five months....the agreement is open enough for either side to interpret it and most mechanics aren't going to go get liens when they can simply finish it and get more money instead of spending money. I don't agree with that course you recommend though the amiable part I sure do. Smile when you say: no more money until car is done..it's been five months.

Lance P.

Bugman Jeff

The shop doesn't need to give you the car back if you don't pay. It absolutely sucks that you didn't get your car back in a timely manner, but it sounds like they did quality work. I can't picture any shop owner willing to foot the bill for a rental when all they need to do is finish the car(which they'll be paid for). Since they offered you a rental, it seems that there may be circumstances beyond their control causing the setbacks.

As an aside, we've got a Cobra kit at work with a lein on it that's been there since before I started. It's there because once the car was finished, the customer came in and decided he shouldn't have to pay the full agreed upon cost.

sweeet76

Everyone keeps telling her to be happy that the job was well done. Does anyone settle for anything less when they buy or pay for something to be done. When was the last time anyone paid for a service and accepted crappy job.