[ChevyFan]

Ok, I was in the wreck on 11/13/07, today is 3/21/07. Four months and one week later, one bring back, multiple visits by the insurauce appraiser, bad work trying to be passed off by the body shop, and in the end almost $9,000 in repair work for an at-best $10,000 vehicle.

Regardless, I think the work done, now after the fact, is probably a 6 out of 10. From looking on the outside you can not really tell that it had been wrecked. You can tell if you look had enough on the inside of the hood. It seems to run and drive straight now, that's good.

There appears to be one more problem not talked about before. I'm not sure if it's from the wreck or not, but it probably is. The driver's side window doesn't roll all the way up when driving past 35 mph. It gets allmost all the way up, but then it gets caught on the groove and doesn't quite go into it. When I stop and roll it down again and back up, it pops into the groove no sweat.

Does it seem like this was from the wreck, like the compression of the wreck caused the door to buckle slightly so the glass doesn't want to go all the way up ... maybe the glass shifted around inside the door?

I'll get some photos posted up here later.

 

[dryfuss10]

yep sounds right to me

 

[Dan]

personaly steve i would dump it as soon as possible take your loss it will never be the same and the best time is now before it starts to loosen up from driveing it....i have been in the car buisness for over 25 years and will guarinty that in about 30 days it will drive like a piece of junk rattleing apart as you go


Dan

 

[tbplus10]

I have to agree with Dan, time to sell the old girl off. Even if they repair the visual and mechanical issues you'll always know what happened and the car wont be right to you.

 

[retired2001]

Glad you got it back, but as said above I'd trade it now. It may never look any better than it does right now and even if it is in your mind you will always relate new problems to the wreck. Good luck!

 

[ChevyFan]

Another question. How much should I worry about what it looks like under the hood?

I went to a car wash and sprayed it down under the hood gently and a lot of the grime washed off. I can see a dramatic amount of overspray in a sort-of out of the way spot. Should I worry about that? Is it going to cost me any money? I think if I were to count it, it would be about 5 or 6 square inches of overspray. Sigh, just not the same? I'm totally unimpressed with the painting they did under the hood, there are spots that were missed and quite a bit of overspray that is obvious from just popping the hood.

 

[tbplus10]

Another question. How much should I worry about what it looks like under the hood?

I went to a car wash and sprayed it down under the hood gently and a lot of the grime washed off. I can see a dramatic amount of overspray in a sort-of out of the way spot. Should I worry about that? Is it going to cost me any money? I think if I were to count it, it would be about 5 or 6 square inches of overspray. Sigh, just not the same? I'm totally unimpressed with the painting they did under the hood, there are spots that were missed and quite a bit of overspray that is obvious from just popping the hood.

All of this depends on how closely the prospective buyer looks and how much you disclose. I've had buyers never open the hood of cars before buying them. On a trade they usually only care about the interior, exterior, and running condition, they'll detail and get rid of tell tale accident signs. With a private sale you want to let them know the history truthfully but also tell them thats why the vehicle is priced like it is, i.e. "it runs great and looks great I have no problems with it but since the accident it isnt the same to me".

 

[Dan]

Steve at this point if you get some thinner and clean it up a bit on your own and say good buy to it...go get your new HHR and put this behind you and chalk it up to lesson learned for the future...

Dan

 

[ChevyFan]

Well, it's just upsetting that they just can't seem to get it right.

Now, there is a new issue. The window will not roll-up all the way when driving at freeway speeds. I think the door got bent, and that's a big enough deal to worry about. I guess I'll have to have that back in the shop.

 

[95CTburb19]

Steve this thing is just problems on top of problems. I think I would get rid of it. I think the only crazier than them not totalling your car is my friend who rolled his Powerjoke onto the roof and instead of totalling it they're putting a new cab and bed on it estimated cost $16,000.

 

[ChevyFan]

PHOTOS!

Here's the overspray. It's the top of the strut/shock assembly mount. That entire thing is black on the other side. The white spray is on the boot and all around the backside of the inverted metal housing.

Here's what she looks like from profile and 3/4 profile. Actually, looks really good.

 

[Dan]

Well, it's just upsetting that they just can't seem to get it right.

Now, there is a new issue. The window will not roll-up all the way when driving at freeway speeds. I think the door got bent, and that's a big enough deal to worry about. I guess I'll have to have that back in the shop.

it is a shame that trying to find a craftsmen these days that care about there work is almost inpossible there opinion is now im just a hourly employee it isnt my job to care about iif it is right or not just to fix it...most mechanics are parts changers not techs and they just keep changeing parts to they get it right..

Dan

 

[ChevyFan]

Not to beat up Vandergriff Collision too much, overall the Trailblazer looks pretty good. They missed a few things, but I chalk that up to them getting stuff up to "good enough" condition, which is probably good enough for most people. The SUV looks good, it drives straight, there is no vibration or rattling at all. Maybe it will be a good and solid vehicle for the long run.

My issues are such as incomplete repair of stuff that they moved around when trying to straighten out. They missed some paint chips. They had ordered the wrong parts at first and had to wait on replacements. They got paid $125 to clean the carpets, and honestly I would have been upset if I paid $9.99 for the lousy job that they did, so for $125 it should have been spotless. Stuff like that.

 

[Dan]

well steve i understand were your coming from and if you decide to keep it i hope they did a good job and the little things just sliped threw but i have seen bad things from cars and trucks with damage like that that were hit again down the road and the truck just decinigrated i will post a picture of my sons truck after a accedent that put him in the hospital with 2 broken legs...7 months earlier both fenders hood and core support was replaced and again im sorry once there hit that hard there never the same...as you see below it was destroyed this was a 45mph hit and as you can see it moved the fram 10 inches i wish i had pictures from the accedent before this one and the repaired pictures but i dont they were turned over to the lawyer to go after the body shop and insurance company for negligence for repairing a car that by all standards should have been totaled the original damage was 70% of value

Dan

 

[ChevyFan]

Well, I have been examining the vehicle more closely and there are some things that just don't seem to line up. However, I'm not sure what the tollerance levels are, if anyone has access to that information please let me know as there are things like the door and the fender don't line up all the way across the board.

It looks like it's not symetrical 100% ... it may be off by only 3/8" of an inch and I don't like the way that it looks. I'm sure if I take it back to Vandergriff they'll say that's the best humanly they can do ... which isn't the point, they're supposed to take it to near pre-accident condition and if they can't do that they they should have said so.

 

[ChevyFan]

There are other issues that I'm not happy with, but they look like they're structural, so I'm not sure what to do. I'd like some of you auto body guys to give me heads up. Should I put it back in Vandergriff to have them look at it, or should I just dump it? Then I feel guilty like I'm pushing my problems onto someone else.

 

[ChevyFan]

There are other issues that I'm not happy with, but they look like they're structural, so I'm not sure what to do. I'd like some of you auto body guys to give me heads up. Should I put it back in Vandergriff to have them look at it, or should I just dump it? Then I feel guilty like I'm pushing my problems onto someone else.

 

[omegafiler]

Well, some issues could simply be due to the fact that you are examining your vehicle so closely. I've seen issues with body panel alignment on brand new vehicles!

Personally, I would first make them get it fixed. If not just for the fact that they keep doing a below average job. Then unload it and get yourself another vehicle.

Otherwise, you'll probably never stop finding issues, and it's just going to drive you crazy. At least I know I would!

Remember, it's all about what makes you happy - Good luck!

 

[ChevyFan]

Well, let's review.

After the repair.

1. The entire front grill, bumper, hood and left fender were replaced.
2. The AC condensor was replaced.
3. The fan and fan clutch was replaced on the 2nd go round.
4. Other pieces like a batter box, etc were replaced.
5. The fenders were brought back into alignment.
6. The steering rack was replaced.
7. Full allignment

It seems to drive straight, it handles fine, there are no rattles.

However, the driver's window will not close all the way when driving over 30 mph. From looking at it, it appears the door is slightly bent, and I can see the rear drivers door looks like it's slightly crunched as well. This is a mere matter of a fraction of an inch, but there is a spot where the fender, the running board and the door all come together and that spot looks like it's off quite a bit.

I probably am looking into this a bit too much, but it's just disappointing that an accident that was not my fault is going to cost me $$. I'm going to have to sue the other driver to recoup what I've lost in vehicle value, time, pain, efforts, tears, etc.

 

[ChevyFan]

Ok, the manager at the shop said that he wants to get this overspray right and he's going to take care of it. They put me in a rental car from Enterprise rentals and they'll have it done monday. Basically they're going to have to take all the stuff off that inner left-fender and get all of the paint off so it's not obvious that there is overspray.

I took a couple of photos of the left and right side to show the difference between the black side and the "white" overspray side.

OH, they also took care of my window that didn't roll up properly and they took off the set of window vent visors that I have to replace anyhow. Getting that tape off would have been a bugger for me, so that's much appreciated.


Here's an overall under hood shot - look how clean it's is.

Here's the left-side, notice the large "white" area? That's overspray.

Here's the right-side. No white area, it's supposed to be black.

Yeah, baby! GMTC in the house!