Mtang78

My car was rear-ended November 30, 2004. The rear bumper has to be replaced. The dealership where I ordered my vehicle does not have a body shop and is 2 1/2 hours away. The local dealership here has a very good body shop and they gave me an estimate. I have instructed them to order the parts as I have been paid by the other driver's insurance for the repairs already. Supposedly the parts were ordered around December 10, 2004. As of last Friday, the parts supposedly are on back order and have been since they put the order in.

Of those of you whose new 2005 Mustangs have suffered the unfortunate fate of an accident, how long was it between the time the car was wrecked, and the parts came in, and also, how long did it take for completion of the repairs?

I'm thinking I'm getting the run around at the Ford body shop because I didn't order my car from this dealership. A very close friend of ours (my husband was his best man at his wedding), works for a dealership near our home town, so we ordered from him.

What do you guys think? Should I go to a non-Ford dealer to get my car repaired? HELP!!!

Maverick128

Don't have a Mustang to repair. However, my experience was that I always got a better job done by a place called Carstar over the dealer. Same parts source as the dealer and since I also had to replace the bed of the truck I had they were the only ones able to actually do the spot welds that are done at the factory. All the dealers told me they couldn't do that.

LBJay

Last new car I had rear ended was my 86 Taurus. Ordered the car before they had a final price list. Had it 7 days and I was rear ended and pushed into a trucK. Car was so new the dealer had to get Ford to fax a parts list.

Parts took over 6 weeks to get to dealer. 8 weeks total, wreck to repair.

The car is so new there are no parts in the supply line. Everthing goes to production. One of the hazzards of being first.

Galaxie

The Ford dealer is a bodyshop like any other, don't expect better quality than a local collision repair centre.

I am not sure but they more than likely use aftermarket parts to repair the cars anyways.

If I were you, I would find out a really good local bodyshop and take it there, make sure you get a genuine Ford rear bumper (probably can't get aftermarket now anyways)

05GT-O.C.D.

It can take a long time my friend. I work in the business, and Mitchell (one of the big providers of estimating software) still does not show a database for the 05 Mustang yet. Most insurance companies can't even get the parts prices or labor times for the 05 until that database is established. The other persons insurance company should've given you an written estimate along with your check. Look on the estimate, make sure you've been paid for all OEM 05 parts, and that they didn't write it up based on last years model.
Take it to the place that does the best work. Dealer bodymen are (for the most part) no better than the bodymen at other bodyshops. They all get their parts and supplies from the same places. Just find someone who will do the best work, give them your insurance estimate, and tell them up-front that you're really **** about your new car, and for your own peace of mind, you want copies of the invoices for the new parts for your car so that you know they're OEM. Most of them are car guys too, and they'll understand just long as you're not a jerk when you ask for them. Good luck, let me know if I can help.

OBleedingMe

Mtang78, I just went through exactly what you're going through. My father and I have a very personal relationship with our local body shop (my father and the body shop owner are both ex-race drivers). They do excellent work, and it still took about 2 and a half weeks for the parts to start trickling in.
My collision was opposite yours - front bumper hit a guardrail. You can search for the whole story, I don't feel like typing it out all over again, lol.
The problem is that since the 2005 is still so new and Ford is backlogged with pre-orders, they don't like making spare parts, because that part could be going on a new car. As a result, spare parts are quite rare for the '05 at the moment. My car's parts came from all over the country, no joke. One dealer in Kansas had the bumper, the bumper cover came from Michigan, etc. You've been waiting awhile, so your parts should be coming soon. Be patient.
Take 05GT's advice and be nice to the bodymen. Make friends if you can. They're the ones working on your car and ulitmately dictate how long it will take for the car to be repaired and the quality of the work.
Also, try to get some sort of official record of the mileage. Ask the body shop manager/owner to write it on the estimate, but be polite about it. Then double check it when you get the car back to make sure no one took your car on an 80 mile "suspension test" on the highway, lol.

nynvolt

All I know is, if you get your car damaged in an accident, you better choose your repair shop VERY carefully. My insurance asked me to take it to McCoy Mills Ford and because I had no idea about body shops I did. They did an absolutely horrible job. Had to take it back maybe 6 times before I just gave up. Even had the insurance investigator or whatever his title is, meet me at the shop and check out my complaints. They repainted a 3 month old car, "blending" the new paint with the orgional (which they had no reason to blend since it was new) ruining the good paint with their horrible paint job. They didn't even have paint booths, they sprayed it in a garage that was wide open to dust, wind and rain. Not to mention the buff swirlls dug deeply on every square inch of the car, the ruined weather stripping they rand the buffer over, the chipped paint after about a week and misc body pannels interior that never lined up propperly.

I'm sorry this doesn't really answer your question but just be VERY careful who you let do any repair work on your car, dealership or not.

I would imagine your delays are because of the car being brand new and not having interchangeable parts with previous models.

I feel for you, must be going nuts.

Lime05owner

See my post about broken bolt on panhard mount...it took 5 days just to get the 2 panhard bolts I needed. I insisted on an invoice showing they were for the 05 mustang and DID NOT come from the local Home Depot. I went without "Mr. Limey" for 1 week and it was killing me...but he's back and better than ever.

Jay