The new bodyshop thread.

[MJM]

Given all the extensive hail damage, I figured i'd start a new bodyshop thread (I know others have existed in the past).

Hopefully this can help a lot of people out.

Personally, I think i'm down to three shops for my repairs.

They are Contemporary Coachworks (SE), Calgary Coachworks (SE), and Superior Paint and Autobody. Anybody have any experience with any of these shops are who could comment on their reputation?

Thanks,

[REDVAN]

wrong forum...

edit: looks like a mod moved it.

DO NOT GO TO HORTON they are terrible.

I've had some good work done with Screamin' Paint and bodyworks...

[YYC in LAX]

Great place for this thread. I would also recommend A1 Autobody. They have a great reputation and give you a free vehicle to drive around in while yours is being fixed.

[MJM]

Yeah I just noticed it's not in the OT forum. Could one of the mods please move this over?

[Bottle_of_YooHoo]

Love the thread choice.

Seriously though, I've had good results from the paintless dent repair guys. Faster and cheaper. There's a place on Memorial Drive near Edmonton Trail. I think they're called DNT.

[MJM]

Originally Posted by Bottle_of_YooHoo

Love the thread choice.

Seriously though, I've had good results from the paintless dent repair guys. Faster and cheaper. There's a place on Memorial Drive near Edmonton Trail. I think they're called DNT.

The car is far too damaged for paintless dent repair. Has to have the hood, roof, and trunk replaced. It's a quite expensive car, so i'm pretty picky as to where I am taking it, especially considering the nature of the repairs.

[Bownesian]

I've used Janett's Autobody in Bowness several times. Every time I have done a comparison to another shop, his prices have some in lower.

[Poison]

I thought you were talking about the girlie Bodyshop store that sells all the fruity soaps and fragrances etc.

I was about to have a field day.

[Locke]

I drive a real car, so it doesnt get dented up by hail. Stop buying cheap Japanese plastic cars, thats the real problem.

I've got a buddy in the bodywork business, apparently his shop is booked for hail damage until november.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Poison

I thought you were talking about the girlie Bodyshop store that sells all the fruity soaps and fragrances etc.

I was about to have a field day.

I thought you were talkin Strip Bar, me too.

[wired]

Originally Posted by YYC in LAX

Great place for this thread. I would also recommend A1 Autobody. They have a great reputation and give you a free vehicle to drive around in while yours is being fixed.

Really good shop.

[COGENT]

I'm booked into Superior for August 12, I'll let you know how they are when I get my car back.

[3thirty]

always beena fan of cosmos collision, expensive but good high end work.

[zamler]

About a year ago a friend of mine took his car to Calgary Coachworks south. The car was side swiped and ended up with about $7000 in repairs. They replaced one door, repaired the other, replaced part of the rocker panel, and the entire quarter panel. I'll break it down like this:

Good
Even paint application, perfect colour match, straight body, including the quarter panel, doors fit perfectly eventually(see bad points).

Bad
Seam sealer visible inside of trunk, around the rear door jam, and worst of all, the front door was "skinned" meaning the outer shell was peeled off and replaced, the rest was used as is. This is fine if done right, but the seam was messy, strings of sealer were all over the door, it stood out to the trained eye at the very least. There was also a visible weld on the rocker panel near the rear wheel well. The factory has a seam here as well, but it is clean and consistent. The weld was ugly and lumpy, not good when it's clearly visible.

There were also problems with how things were re-assembled. Clips were missing on the door scuff guards (plastic protectors at the bottoms of the door jam) and one was sticking up a bit. The window was also missing tint (both rear doors were tinted) even though they promised to tint the glass. When the car was "ready" to be picked up, the drivers door was missing window trim, and the door frames were still in primer. They are supposed to be black. The rear door did not close properly, the latch was way out of adjustment. The bottom of the rocker panel was not done correctly, the very bottom was supposed to be black (like the other side).

The rear glass has a built in radio antenna, after he got the car back the radio had very poor reception. They did remove the rear glass to do the repairs, so I suspected they damaged something in the process. Months later I removed some trim and found the problem, the connector that goes onto the glass was broken off. I used a 40 watt soldering iron and was able to solder a wire onto what was left of the connector and the radio worked fine. There were broken clips on the trim as well that they never bothered to replace, more careless work.

Now I've done body work in the past, so I know a bit of what to look for. No job is perfect, but there were far too many things that were done poorly. This may not be typical of their work (I've actually heard good things about them and my insurance recommends them) but no way in hell I would ever take my car there after seeing the shoddy work they did.