Hatchman

YFTBFSM!

05fordgt

Okay Brad, I'll bite? What's it mean?

Hatchman

You got to be freaking shi$ing me!

Well, maybe not freaking.

EagleStroker

You really wanna cry for this guy, can't imagine what I would do if something like this happened to me

StangMahn

from my standpoint, there'd be some suing involved, and the guy should hope we never meet again...

StangRalle

I wonder if we ever get any updates on this story.

svopaul

That $250 initial quote should have told that guy to run away.....even at $750 he got what he paid for....it's sad but when it comes to body kits they are mostly poor quality and an experienced shop would have known that from the start....an experienced shop would have never even installed it! I would have called the guy and told him to come get it and send it back as it wasn't worth attempting to install.

There is blame here for the shop because the work is just **** poor but the owner of the car shares some blame for thinking he was getting a quality job for that price!

Heck good paint and materials to paint those parts would run more than the original quote! There were red flags all over the field on this....too bad the owner wasn't informed enough to go elsewhere.

edumspeed

It's ruined forever

Vermillion06

Wow, I think my 10 year old son could have done a better job installing that body kit. How do people like this stay in business?

edumspeed

Galaxie

I'm betting the deal was done for cash, so he is SOL for legal action.

2005mach1

in texas a handshake constitutes a legal binding agreement. cash or check, or credit card. a witness is a witness no matter the payment. Of course a judgement is only as good as the paper its written on.

05fordgt

Hey guys, bumping an old thread. When I saw this topic, I saved the forum to my "Favorites" (my350Z.com) so I can keep up with it. Man, I REALLY feel for this guy. The shop is in trouble with the BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair) for the crappy body kit paint work and install, and for charging money for something a 4 year old could do better. Well, the big thing happened a few weeks ago, when the owner of the Z took the car to a new (and WAY BETTER) shop to have repairs started on it. When the new shop removed the side skirt, the damage was unfathomible! See the pics below to understand!

This case went from just being a bad body shop experience done by a shop who STOLE money, to downright FRAUD with this damage done to the car. And, if your asking, "did the Z owner know"? No he didn't know the body shop guy did this. Was NEVER disclosed. Since its a unibody (like our cars), the repair is a new quarter-panel. The whole integrity of the car is compromised, and the repair cost is valued at $14,000! More than half the car is worth. This guy is now getting a lawyer involved. Before the BAR worked it out amicably, but not anymore. I'll keep up on this and post details.

And just so you all know? This hits ALL OF US, how bad he was treated, and how his car (his prized posession) was destroyed! It doesn't matter if it was Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Subaru, etc. Deep down, a car guy is a car guy. And we all know how we would feel if some shop butchered a forum member's Mustang. Its sad, really sad. I would be heartbroken if it was me in his position, and my car destroyed like it was. I do hope he gets justice, and IMO, that is a NEW CAR from this jacka$$!

svopaul

You know while I do feel for the guy for having his car screwed up he DOES share some fault himself for actually believing that he could get this work done SO CHEAP in the first place. You get what you pay for and the paint material alone costs more than what the original quote was for the job. He has (or should) learned a valuable lesson here. So many people try to get something for nothing and think shops overcharge for work like this and this is a classic example of why people should understand that it costs more than a couple hundred or even $700 to fit, prep, paint and install a kit like this.

Now the shop is liable for the damage they did to the car but lets be realistic, this guy was living in a pipe dream or just plain ignorant to think he could get that work done for $250 in the first place.

I have a file of pictures of work done by people where they screwed up a car. I have pictures of where a shop used a hammer all over a core support to make room for turbos rather than actually fit and trim neatly but one of the biggest screw ups I've seen was from a simple clutch install on an '05 Mustang and at the time the car was only 2 years old....they had a hard time getting the transmission out/in so there solution was to take a BIG HAMMER and beat the snot out of the floor pan to make it easier on them. Yes, it's tight with a part of the bellhousing that sticks out...it's a useless piece that can be trimmed off the bellhousing if you really want to fix the issue as it was only there for the build portion at the factory but to take a sledge hammer to the floor pan is of course NOT the way to get around it. The owner of the car was completely unaware that they had done this until I pointed it out when we put the car in the air....and in this case he paid GOOD money for the work so this sort of thing can happen regardless but I'm sorry...the guy with the 350Z was ASKING for this problem by thinking he could get a good job for $250!

I've attached pics of the '05 Floor pan....

Embalmer

Unfortunately I also learned my lesson the hard way in a VERY similar fashion. I was the proud owner of a 1997 T-Bird Sport with a TON of modifications when I was backed into at a gas station. I took the insurance check and had a "Friend of a friend" who had done previous work for quite a few guys that I saw firsthand fix the minor front end damage (hood, bumper cover, headlight and header panel) with parts I brought him. We agreed $2400 for him to replace the parts and repaint the whole car at his leisure over the winter months. I got weekly updates from him and photos which showed the car progressing nicely and 2 months later I was told to come pick it up. First of all, the car wouldn't run. It would start, then chug and shake, but would not stay running. This was later determined (after I had it trailered 100 miles back home) to be a clogged converter. The car ran perfectly fine when I dropped it off to him. I also discovered the drivers fender which was not involved in the accident in any way had been damaged somehow while in his care and was bondoed in an attempt to repair it without my knowledge. You can see this in the pictures, plus a magnet will not stick to the affected area. The interior of my car was always spotless, and there was NO excuse for the condition it was in when I picked it up. I was speechless and could only think to get my car as far away from him as possible and sort this out later. The next day after I had a chance to look the car over I called him and told him all my concerns. He suggested I give him a chance to make it right, but I had no intention of bringing my car back to him. I demanded my money back and I would have to pay a legitimate shop to do the job right. Needless to say he refused to give me the money back so lawyers got involved and I ended up getting MORE than I paid him back. I was so unhappy with the car I put it up for sale for a LOT less than I had invested in it and used the cash to help purchase my 2007 GT.

In all her glory:



The carnage:


Fender repair:



General pics and OVERSPRAY galore!!!








Interior nightmare!!!

05fordgt

Well, while I won't go crazy defending this guy, he was quoted $750, as per the 1st post in the thread. And I know you say you get what you paid for, but I digress on that point. One of our own members on here, So Cal I think (or something of that sort). He has the Orange V6. He got the silver stripes painted on his car and only paid $600 for that job. In my area, thats an easy $1,800-$2,500 job. Prices out there are less expensive than my area, and its probably due to competiton. But to beat the unibody sections down to make a kit fit, and not tell him? Thats just wrong in every aspect of business. I'm sorry, but even if your paying a cheap price, I expect the paint to at least stay on the parts that got sprayed, and not flake off. Flame me if you want for not putting some blame on the guy, but what the shop did, is almost criminal, as they physically destroyed the car without consent.

svopaul

Well that depends on the job he got for $600...for that price I would bet that the stripes were painted and that was it....the way we do it which I consider the proper way is to paint the stripes and then clear the entire panel so that you cannot feel the edge of the stripe....some people are OK with having a paint edge though. That's how most shops seem to do it.....however there is far less work in laying out and painting stripes than there is to fit an aftermarket body kit and paint it.

No disagreement here....under no circumstance should someone beat the car to make the part fit, they should have told him it was a junk kit and that they would not install it.

[/quote] I'm sorry, but even if your paying a cheap price, I expect the paint to at least stay on the parts that got sprayed, and not flake off. [/quote]

Not true...if your paying the cheap price you are getting cheap work...period. There is a shortcut somewhere and it might be in the quality of the paint or the prep work to the panels being painted and both of those areas have everything to do with the paint staying on. I'm in the business and I've seen more poor work than most and when it comes to painted panels the majority of the people that got a cheap price...got an equally cheap job in return.

I'm not flaming anyone but I don't think it's right for everyone to put this guy on a pedastal next to the Virgin Mary as if he has no fault in this.....body kits are one of the worst things to install simply because of the sheer number of poor quality kits on the market. I've seen my share of people wanting "something for nothing" when it comes to kits like this. Obviously this was a VERY poor quality kit otherwise there would have been no reason for the idiots at the shop to beat in the panels so the owner of the car is to blame for not doing his homework on the kit and the shop is to blame for the damage to the car....but at the same time the owner should also have done some homework about the shop and considered the cost. I cannot believe that this was the FIRST time this shop did substandard work on a car and anyone considering having work done to their car should talk and see paint work done on someone elses car before handing theirs over.

Like I said....he should have learned a valuable lesson here as well as everyone paying attention to his situation.