[ChevyFan]

Anyone have any experience with Vandergriff Chevy collision repair in Arlington? They're the nearest Chevy dealership to my house and I'd rather go to a place when I know they will use GM OEM parts if they can get them instead of cheap aftermarket stuff.

This is in reference to my 2002 Chevy Trailblazer neeing to be fixed. Anyhow, I'll probably have it towed out there tomorrow or Friday.

Trailblazer Parts

 

[tbplus10]

Not Collision repair.
Our new HHR had a shipping ding in the right rear fender. They were proffessional and fast with the repair.

 

[ChevyFan]

Well, I'm going to take it down there. They fixed my wife's old Pontiac like 5 years ago and did a good job after a low-speed fender-bender. I think that it's an all-inclusive GM collision repair shop. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. It looks like they might try to repair the TB afterall, personally I'd rather have a check for the actual cash value.

 

[ChevyFan]

Actually, this is a different place, but they seem to do good work (I guess - we'll see).

It looks like they're going to fix it after all. It's been back and forth with everything, but now the insurance company said to fix it. My experience will show that I'm more critical than most I'm fairly certain that I will not be satisfied right off.

Expected repair date: early January.

Thankfully, my guys are GM are going to let me do some more test drives, so I'll have some trucks to drive during this down time.

 

[Cableguy]

Once its done, see what they'll give you for trade in :rofl:
Time to dump the ole girl...You couldn't pay me to keep a wrecker. They usually have little bugs pop up after... This stops working, that stops working. I will put in my offical "I told you so" now :lol:

 

[Megasaurus]

I've heard good things about vandergrif in arlington. it's on the other side of town from me, probably about 60 minutes or more i guess, but i've heard they go good work.

 

[ChevyFan]

They seem to be pretty responsive. They even have a website where I can go get the repair status of the TB as they're working on it.

 

[ChevyFan]

The folks at Vandergriff still have my truck. They're pretty good at finding stuff as they look at the truck more and more each step. I'm glad that they're doing it right, even if it is taking longer. It's mostly delayed becuase the insurance company has to approve each new thing they find.

Oh well, I'll get my truck back someday.

 

[ChevyFan]

I got the Trailblazer back today. There are obvious issues with it. :-( I wish they would have just totalled it.

1) As I drove off the repair parking lot, there was an incredibly loud roar under the engine that was 50x louder than anything I'd heard before. I think it's very obvious that the fan clutch was damaged. The fan was replaced as it took a hit, but not the fan clutch. (I'm assuming that it's the fan clutch, it could be the water pump I guess or

2) The steering got sloppy when getting into the upper speeds. It didn't seem to be that bad when I drove it the other day, but it does not. It's going to have to be looked at.

3) There is a point of damage under the hood on the insider of the engine bay, where the left fender was replaced! WTH! How do they think that's acceptable?

4) There is at least one point where there is a paint chip gone that I think is reasonable to assume it was from the accident. It wasn't repaired. Sigh, I would have overlooked that to avoid the hassle if that was it, but as long as I'm going to have to get more stuff fixed.

I'll try to get some photos posted in the next day or two.

At this point, I can't recommend Vandergriff Colission in Arlington, Texas.

 

[ChevyFan]

Vandergriff Collision South

Ok, things have taken another turn, isn't it funny how stuff like this happens?

I took my Trailblazer BACK into Vandergriff Collision South almost TWO WEEKS AGO. I printed out a list of what I think needed to be looked at. I guess the vehicle has just been sitting there, they were going to look at it on Monday of last week ... but guess what ... the appraiser that was contracted by the insurance company no longer works for the appraiser that did the work. So voicemails to him fell on deaf ears, and he never contacted Vandergriff.

Ok, this may be a bit of a weird situation, but someone dropped the ball on this one. If a guy isn't doing work for you anymore, you would think that they would be monitoring his voicemail? Or he would put a forwarding message on there? Something. I need to get this Trailblazer looked at and either the insurance company is going to buy it from me, or they're going to get it fixed and return it to me. But two weeks, come on.

Chevy Parts

 

[GM_Guy]

I would find that appraiser, and open up a can of whoop a** :slap:

 

[ChevyFan]

Here's some of the damage that was probably done when they tried to straighten up the inner fender body panel, that makes up the inside of the left-fender.

 

[dwill3015]

Unsatisfactory. Unless that area was hidden by something, it should have been touched up as to not show any damage. If you were to sell the TB and that kind of damage was visible, good luck getting what you want for it. I'm glad this hopefully is being taken care of for you.

 

[ChevyFan]

Unsatisfactory. Unless that area was hidden by something, it should have been touched up as to not show any damage. If you were to sell the TB and that kind of damage was visible, good luck getting what you want for it. I'm glad this hopefully is being taken care of for you.

That's my main concern. Once I saw that, I was like ... whooa! I wouldn't buy this vehicle if I saw it on a lot for sale.

 

[GM_Guy]

who trained their people, Maaco???

 

[Dan]

now you need to go after the insurance company for depretiated value since yuor truck now worthless on trade in or out right sale

 

[ChevyFan]

Well, my insurance policy doesn't cover the concept of depreciated value. I have to sue the woman that hit me, which I will do in the near future in small claims court, and that will be a big part of the case.

 

[ChevyFan]

I'm still waiting on this. Has it been three weeks or was it almost a month that I took it back into Vandergriff for them to fix this? I've lot count of time. The accident was November 13th, and it's now March 6 --- almost 4 months after the accident --- and I do not have my Trailblazer back from Vandergriff yet. Granted, they got it in December (if I remember correctly), but still they've had it for about 3 months now and it's not back to me yet. :-( Very disappointing.

 

[GM_Guy]

I'd contact the better business bureau, the chamber of commerce,and any consumer affairs offices you can find

good luck,and hope you get your TB back soon

 

[ChevyFan]

I finally got in touch with someone from Vandergriff on Friday who is going to try to take ownership of the problems that I brought up. I think that overall they're a good orginazation, but I think they must have just fallen behind the curve on this one due to some weird circumstances. Anyhow, hopefully it will all get resolved next week! ;-)

Trailblazer parts