A friend of mine is getting jerked around by a local body shop. They really do great work on all types of cars. They did some nice work on a 70 stingray. Beautiful! Here is the story...
A good friend of mine got into a very miner fender bender. Just a scratch is what it looks to me, but he now wants to have it fixed. He has a base 07 1lt with rear wide body conversion. He has it about 3 years now and did a lot mods. Super charger, cam, ARH, meth and the list goes on. He brought to this local body shop 5 months ago and told the owner what he wanted. ZR1 fenders and the front Z06 nose and side skirts and spoilers.. The owner promised him the world and he would have it back in a few weeks. Well low and behold its 5 months. From the start guys claims he is getting the ZR1 fenders any minute now. Every time my buddy goes in to see the progress on the car, its still apart and covered. He claims the parts are at the ware house and he sending someone to pick them up or he is going. The same BS every day.WTF. Is there a problem out there getting the ZR1 fenders? Why can't this body shop get them? Have you guys who did the ZR1 conversion have a problem finding them?

My honest opinion...I would only take my Corvette to a Corvette body shop. When I had my 02(ARTIC WHITE) I had the rear half of the car painted. For some reason the rear half of the car was slightly off color. So everytime looked at my 02 I didn't like the way it looked. I brought to a body shop in Babylon L.I. Professional Choice. They matched the white color perfectly! I got what I paid for. No BS Just the right job.

Any feed back would be appreciated. Thanks.
Paulie B

 

I think you answered the question in your second sentence. I have seen and heard of shops doing the similar thing ... putting of actually doing the repair/job. I understand parts being on back order, but I expect to be told that and given a realistic estimate as to when it will be in and the job completed. If I walked into a shop and found my vehicle cover and was told for the 2nd or 3rd time 'the part was in the mail' or 'the part just came in and I just need to get it picked up from the warehouse' (um, how many times can a part arrive), I'd be pulling my vehicle out of that shop and looking for a better one ... just my .02

 

Why in the world would they take it all apart before actually having the replacement parts right there in the shop? I would demand it to be put back the way it was when it was dropped of and get it the hell out of there.

 

Sure hope your buddy did not pay up front.
All to often body shops float money from an incoming car to finish another already in the shop - that's always a bad sign that they don't understand how to manage their shop.
I would say its ultimatum time, if he miss' the date this time pull the car out and be prepared to bring the local law to do so in an orderly manner.
Some of these guys get our cars and we feel like they are holding us hostage.

 

I would have a long time ago had the car put back as it was when it came in and went else where.
He may have to get an attorney involved to get this back as it was.

 

Because those parts are gonna end up on e bay or craigslist.

 

I would not like it. But sometimes good shops do bad things. My brother had his 71 Jag 2+2 in a recommended shop for over 2 years. Came out like this though.

 

Yeah, I've been there. Just tell them that it's been months and if they don't start work on it by the end of the week that he needs it back. The car doesn't need to be there for them to receive parts. Not the type of jerking around that I like hearing about.

 

Thats what I told him.
Thanks.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it!"

 

the paint shop may have a legitimate issue getting the fenders. I would show up unannounced and ask the manager to include you on a conference call to his parts supplier right then and there.
See what happens then.

 

Exactly!!!!




You cannot get Z06 CF fenders, and would wait forever. ZR1 would be in the same exact boat.


IF you want the cheap aftermarket crap, well that can be had.

 

In stock here


http://www.performancecorvettes.com/...rs-OEM-GM.html

 

I would go get it and take my business elsewhere.

 

When I had my '69 Vette repainted, the shop disassembled the car and painted everything despite the fact that it wasn't a color change. It came out like a blue gem, but it took 8 mos. Body shops will frequently back burner a project/hobby car and concentrate on insurance work on people's DDs, which is the heart of their business. I'm not sure pressing them will do anything but **** them off. I had a pal who turned his '69 Mustang fastback over to a body shop to fix any physical problems with the body and repaint. They had the car for 2 1/2 years. Every time he called they'd tell him about something they had just discovered which was going to increase the price. In the end the car came out beautifully, but I'm betting that Miracle would have had it back in a week.

 

Before its to late.
Reason I say that is a guy in my office had a 70 Charger being restored in Fallbrook, CA. The shop disassembled it and it sat...and sat. They kept telling him they were ordering parts. After 6 months no parts had gone on the car. Worst case senario, the car disappeared from the shop. He sued, the car was recovered at the shop owner's alternate storage facility....missing a lot of parts. (Mopar parts are expensive to replace). His first instinct was to remove the car after 2 months but he waited. I'm sure you will not be faced with this but it can go south in a hurry. Good luck.

 

I'm local to you and know 99% of the shops that work on corvettes.. I can tell you that their calendars and ours are 2 different things.. Most are honest, but since you didn't state what shop not much I can say.. I PM'd you my cell if you want to chat..

 

When I took my hood in to get painted I was told 2 weeks, well that turned into 3 months.
But after 2 weeks was up I showed up to his shop every Friday after work only to get a new excuse every week. Well once he got it done I told him because it took so long I wasn't paying the original price he quoted me, and he agreed. So original price was $600, I only paid $300.

 

As stated earlier, most shops would rather do collision and insurance work for the quick turn around money. I was turned down by two places in my area for this very reason. The second place was completely honest and also gave me the contact info for a small specialist shop that may be slow certain times of the year to handle my job. He said they could do an $8,000 insurance job in a week replacing OEM parts or spend three weeks for $1500 on what I needed done. In the end, the small shop did a wonderful job for me.

 

You could also tell him that you are going to pick up the fenders yourself
If local.

 

It looks like you've gotten all possible sides of the story as to what's happening, and what to do about it. But, if it were me, I'd take joec up on his offer and talk w. joec at least (your friend, that is). To me, it could be legit reasons as to parts availability.

But the one that makes the most sense to do for your friend is russ472 AFTER talking w. joec. If he's legit w. legit issues, he'll do it. If not, I'd bring friends along and put the car and its parts on a flat bed right away.

Why would anyone trust a shop that's going to lose biz----and, in effect, been found to be lying----allow them to "put the car back together so it can leave the shop?" I see stripped threads, parts missing, etc. Call me crazy but that's the way I see it.