Okay, so today is try #3, any bets?

 

YOUVE OBVIOUSLY NEVER HAD A CAR REPAIRED. MY DAD OWNS A BODY SHOP AND MY TRUCK WAS KEYED ALL OVER AND WE PAINTED IT IN ONE WEEK AND ITS BETTER THAN NEW. SHAVED TAILGATE, WELDED ROLLPAN, SHAVED STAKE POCKETS. SO I DISAGREE BECAUSE MINE IS 100 TIMES BETTER THAN FACTORY. FACTORY IS ORANGE PEEL BECAUSE THEY DONT WANT TO RUN THE CLEAR OR BASE AND THEN HAVE TO CUT THE RUN OUT AND BUFF IT SO THEY DO IT SO THERE IS NO RUNS.

 

Well, the car looks relatively good. There's only a couple things left for them to finish up:

1. Find what they did with my HID's .. They put back in stock bulbs, and my HID bulbs are nowhere to be found. The ballasts are still mounted to the frame rails where I put 'em though.

2. They need to wet sand and buff out the rear bumper. Orange peel city, and it looks horrible in comparison to the rest of the car.

 

u seem relativly calm for missing hid's...heads woule be bouncing off walls if my hid's were missing

 

Its been three months, I've almost forgotten that I even OWN a GTO.. I won't take the car back until it is absolutely perfect. I'm talking there will be NO PERCEPTABLE evidence of repair work on this car.

Until they find or replace the HID's, the car is not complete. If they can't find them, they'll end up having to pay for a new set, or a new HID kit. Its really that simple.

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Same thing happened to me when the old lady wrapped up the then new '05 Altima. Car was in the shop for months and i refused to take it 3 times. Almost had a fist fight with the manager of the independent shop i took it to. Employees broke it up and cops responded. To make a long story short, lawyers got involved and car finally got repaired to Nissan's satisfaction (car was a lease). The final job was still crap but i was disgusted and i knew i was giving the car back in. I hate dealing with any type of company when i can't do something myself. (same with home improvement stuff). I hate feeling like i'm at the mercy of the other persons craftmanship....thats why i do most things myself.

Good luck and do yourself a favor, if the car is still not to your satisfaction and you're getting the run around, seek legal advice. Screw these people because they're screwing you.

 

I will say that Bob Copperfield @ Mac Haik has been very courteous, and has so far fixed every one of my concerns. Its just taking several trips and inspections to get it done right. There's a few things left, but they're relatively minor (missing plastic christmas tree fasteners in the carpet in the trunk, for example).

 

Google,

You going to keep it or get rid of it when you get it back? A lot of folks dont like keeping cars after wrecks, I have to go Mac Haik tomorow and warranty my alarm remote.

 

don't know yet... I'll keep it for a while I know, but probably get rid of it for another toy within a year.

 

FRC...FRC....FRC not making any sugestions or any thing

 

Get to work on that damn Fox/Ls1 conversion!

 

Tiff is still using it as her daily driver Gotta get the goat back so she can drive that -- at least until we get hers finished up (swap head gaskets, and send it off to get the roll bar installed).

Neil - only vette I can see myself in is an LS7 BUT I'm POOR !!

 

I feel your pain. Just don't get into the mode of wanting it back so bad you're willing to overlook things. I waited over three months to get a lemon GTO replaced by Hudiburg Chevrolet in Oklahoma City. It's always the customer who is expected to bite the bullet. By the time I got the new car after 3 months of hell, they had drilled holes in the front bumper and installed their tag. I took it home just so they couldn't touch it again and screw something else up. If you search for my old posts you can read all about it. Just don't let them screw you. They will be real nice as long as it's going their way and they aren't out anything.

 

I think they understand I don't mind leaving it there to be done right Its been over 3 months already, and I've been back to look at it 4 times now.. They're getting the hint...

 

Wow so someone at that shop basically stole your ****, I would be ready to fight.

 

That is good and bad. That also means that if they have other work to do, they can shove your car off to the side. I had the same attitude about my GTO when it was in the shop after dropping an axle shaft. But I started to go through withdrawal, started getting ticked about making this car payment but not having a car to show for it, etc. And when I went to pick it up, it wasn't right either.

 

I'm sure they want to get paid too, and this one is a pretty hefty bill. They replaced EVERYTHING, and I've gone over it with a fine toothed comb to boot. I won't take the car back until its nearly impossible, if at all, for a trained eye to find it was repaired. Also I'm not planning on keeping the car forever, so when it comes time to sell the new owner shouldn't have to buy a patched up car -- it needs to be right.

At least I'm not into the car for a whole lot of money, so I can sell it at a pretty good price. Low miles, updated body, the only thing left I might do is put a nice set of wheels on it.

 

** FINALLY ** picked up the car last night after work. Sixteen weeks, and a bill of over $19,000

She now looks like this:

 

$19,000 Geezus!?!?!

I'd sure hate to be your insurance agent. but the car "looks" good, and im assuming its near perfect.

 

Its in good shape now, from my limited time with it. I'm sure I'll uncover a few things that were either missed, or not done right. The only things that were immediately obvious, but didn't stop me from taking the car, were two stickers on the radiator cover missing (the A/C safety/recharge info, and the emissions certification).