Greetings Gents,
My gentleman friend bought a C7 about a year ago (upgraded from C6) and unfortunately was stuck by a pickup truck last week. He went for a good spin, taking off the front end and smashed the rear (the truck was estimated at 60 mph) he was sitting still.
Fortunately he got a few seat belt burns but other than that he is good.

My concern is that we live in a small town with 1 body shop and I don't believe they have the technical knowledge to work on a car as advanced as the C7, and the insurance would not pay to have the corvette flatbedded 45 miles to the next town. My friend will not tell the shop owner that he is not qualified because they have been friends for 30 years. (small towns).
When the shop owner put the car on the rack and looked under it, he said that the only mechanical work needed was to replace a tie rod end and a new wheel.
I have trouble believing that.

My question is.....do you folks have a qualified corvette maintenance person that wouldn't mind taking a short vacation in CA and stopping by Barstow to look at this C7?

I'll be honest and say that I don't trust the ability of this shop.
Can you help us?

 

Obviously suck up the flatbed cost and put the car in a qualified body shop. /thread.

 

Well kind of catch 22. If your friend bring the car somewhere else his buddy will get mad. Now, when your friend gets his car back and it's a mess your friend will be mad. Sounds like it's a lose lose so I would do what will come with the better outcome and get that car the hell out of there!!
Dan

 

If it was hit at 60mph there is probably alot of frame damage.

Strictly mechanical it might not be that bad, ala if a wheel just got snaped off. But could have things like cracked aluminum subframes to the torque tube.

Not knowing what model it is the insurance estimate should have been close to writing it off as likely 30-50k in damage. The shop working on it should have the required qualifications to fix that type of repair if they are taking on the work.

 

I would take it to the best shop I could, even if it meant having it hauled there. Hell, I drive an hour and a half just to get my car serviced. I wouldn't hesitate bringing it somewhere else to get it fixed.

 

And a Chevy dealer isn't necessarily the best place to take your car. Do a few things. First don't rush. Second,ask your insurance company as well as the person's who struck you for three references. Third, contact the BBB with the names you have been provided and visit them. This is an important decision.Good luck.

 

You definitely want to go to a high end body shop that has the equipment and experience dealing with aluminum. There is a chance the frame is damaged beyond repair and they can assess that.

 

Friendship should has no weight when it comes to getting the car fixed, it comes down to ability and experience repairing a C7.

All you have to do is read the nightmare this C7 owner is going through because he let a bunch of incompetent shops attempt to repair his car.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-help-me.html

Takeaways from his nightmare is;
1) Get PROOF from any shop you decide to use they have repaired a C7 that's been in a wreck. Any shop worth their salt take before and after pics. If they say well we didn't take any, RUN, because they are full of s-hit.

2) When you decide on a QUALIFIED repair shop get everything in writing. In the case of the guy (link above) who got screwed he had nothing in writing as far as the quality of the repair work and their responsibility should they F it up. In this guy's case the repair shop cracked his frame so they called him to tell him to come get his car they decided they wanted nothing to do with it and btw we want to get paid for the work we did so far (they actually wanted to get paid for screwing up his frame).

3) When you have it towed to the repair shop be sure it is put on a flatbed truck. C7 CAN NOT be towed by a "cradle" type tow truck. Don't allow a towing company to tell you other wise. And if there are any lose parts be sure they are protected and brought along by the flatbed driver. Also be sure your interior is protected by the elements. Why is this important? The tow truck who towed this guy's car towed it in the rain with the top down/off!