Yah the first bodyshop would not touch it. Said they had 10 hours alone in disassembly of front bumber (which seems a little long )and would not do a repaint on it, said too much involved removing all the fenders etc. and like you said would not hold up like factory. I don't understand why if the shop does all the proper steps but, I'm no expert. Especially paint, I could never do what you did ,don't have the patience. Mechanical no problem , paint I run the other way. I'm glad it turned out for you.

 

Apparently the after-market paint they use is just more susceptible to chipping from impact? I don't know why - if they remove the panels and bake the paint before reassembly seems like it would be the same. I do know that at one point I had to have my hood repainted and sure enough within 3 months I was seeing gravel pecks which the factory finish always protected against.

Another problem I had - especially at the most expensive body shop - is that I keep my car immaculate. It usually has more coats of Zaino than I can count and almost every day gets at least one more coat of something. When the owner saw that my finish had been detailed out and leveled to that degree - he said he would be afraid to touch it since he could never get it back to that level of reflectivity for what insurance would pay him. He has been painting cars for over 30 years and said he had never seen a car on the street with that much shine! When I told him it was my DD for the previous 7 years, he looked at me like I was lying!

 

hire a lawyer sue them

 

The first bodyshop must be scared of a little work and overexaggerate the complexity of taking apart a C5. I took my WHOLE C5Z apart in 10 hours before I had it repainted... minus doors. They came off at the body shop, but all fenders, weatherstripping, moldings, etc.

A good body shop won't be afraid of tackling a full disassembly/re-paint. Getting ins to pay for it will be another story though...

Aftermarket paint, which will be the same as the OEM will hold up better and look better if the body shop does a good job. Add a few extra coats of clear and it will look MUCH better.

Almost fully disassembled here. It's not tough to do...

 

Almost fully disassembled here. It's not tough to do...

Thats what I thought. Ten hours to remove front bumper/grill etc. a little exaggerated. Since they didn't want to do it had to name some reasons..

 

Sorry to hear about your fun on the road. We have a lot of road construction going on near my home (expanding road from two lanes to six lanes). It's been a 3 year project which is about half way done.

I can't avoid the road as it's a main artery through the area and even though my Vette is not my daily driver, I still try to pick and choose my times to drive through the mess.

There are many small pebbles and rocks that get shot around, etc. I was stopped at one of the intersections when a dump truck shot by me in the left turn lane. I then heard and felt a thump on my driver's side door. Sure enough, when I got home I had a nice black mark on the door. It buffed off, however it's just another reminder that we drive on public roads and anything can happen.

Earlier, I had stopped at a different intersection on the same stretch on a beautiful sunny day. I was driving the verte top down when I noticed a gray-brownish cloud of dirt coming at me. A road grader was smoothing down a large plot of land next to the road and it was very windy. The guy behind me got a good laugh when I jumped out of the Vette and put the top up just before the dirt cloud passed over. I'm glad I did, because the outside of the car got covered. I would have been really pissed if I would have gotten that dirt inside the cockpit.

 

 

Man I am getting nothing but pure hell from insurance co. and the company who first admitted it happened now saying no way it could of. I guess they don't realize the amount of pictures taken.

 

Let's see the pictures

 

 

 

Wow, sorry for the horrible event there. Hope the insurance agency takes care of that.

-Alex

 

They probably had a change of heart once they found out you were driving a Corvette. Now they are acting dumb. Provide copies of the picture to your insurance agent and make them work the claim. That's what they are paid to to. Sometimes they forget that and we need to remind them. The last time I spoke with my agent was when my premium was due...

 

I hope you are dealing with your insurance company otherwise that is like throwing yourself into the wolves den! You will not win this way, you don't have the legal team your insurance company has.

I also hope you have a police report.

 

What a nightmare to go through. Sure hope you get the car repaired OK and that your insurance company makes the trucking company pay.

 

Ok, it's officially in the shop.My insurance is taking care of claim and going after trucking co. I provided pictures and have to do a detailed explanation recorded over phone. Have a deductible but will hopefully get that back and it's falling under comp. so, it will save me a few dollars. Sorry but,I will have to wait to post pics once all the red tape is taken care of. Bodyshop is taking pics of entire process. I talked with bodyshop and we're thinking of the two black stripes down it. Will cost me extra so I think I may leave chip in rear glass and have it done. A few yellow coupes in this area and I might as well take this time to look a little different. I was amazed at the cost of paint alone, bodyshop refers to it as "liquid gold". I hope all turns out well as I know a repaint can devalue price of car let alone the accident report. But hey, who wants to get rid of their vette anyway? My vette should be on my lift for the winter as planned for my new clutch which I've had for months now and some interior mods but, stuff happens.. I guess I can wait a few more months. Bodyshop estimates having it up to six weeks because of holidays.

 

And still no pics for us....

 

Shortly , got an e-mail from another member saying I shouldn't post until claim is paid and definately don't show trucking co. I can see why on trucking co. , wouldn't slander them anyway as accidents happen. A little unsure why not on my car though. But I will post some pics hopefully within a few days when I get a little more info on the claim.

 

Dude, you are waaaay to nice. If it were me, the pics showing the trucking company name and logo would be the first ones up. The way they are treating you, and their poor quality control that allowed this to happen in the first place. I don't understand you, you are getting screwed really bad and being way to nice about it. Your car is out of commission, it's not worth nearly as much as it ever would have been, getting repainted and will never be as good as factory paint, you are paying out of pocket, etc.

I would post the pics and their name and phone number. It's not slander, it's an informed warning to other consumers about something that happened to you.

 

Wow that sucks.. Ive had a few mishaps similar to that but my god a shop charging 10k to fix that is appalling and worse yet the insurance adjuster going along with it..

It amazes me that somehow adjusters time after time over inflate repair cost... I m sorry for the rant but as i see my premiums go up year after year for because of incompetent shops and adjusters

And as far as quality of the factory paint Ive laid better down with a spray can in my dusty **** garage...