How to Evaluate Body Shops - Dodge Durango rear bumper

jatleson

jatleson

New member
Got the call this morning - my wife`s 2015 Durango R/T got hit. Minor accident, no injuries, not her fault, the at fault person has State Farm. Will need, at a minimum, a lower valance on the rear bumper, possibly new rear bumper cover. How do you look for good body shops? We are in the north Chicago suburbs (60060).

On a side note - I had just got the rear perfect last week. HD Speed to get all the minor swirls out, topped with 845. It looked nice. :angry:

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Jatleson- They oughta replace both parts, especially since you`re not the at-fault here.

IMO the best thing would be to find somebody here who can vouch for a shop in your area. So many *talk* a good game, but then under-deliver.

At least this oughta be an easy one- a few pieces that`re painted and then installed. I`m assuming that the bumper wasn`t hit hard enough for anything to happen to the quarters or the bumper`s brackets/mounts, and that the underlying bumper is OK, right? You might not know some of that stuff for certain until it`s disassembled.
 
Agree with Accumulator, talk to people in car circles and find out who does good work. Don`t talk to friends or co-workers, to many a good body shop means done on time, vacuumed interior and a free wash. When you narrow it down, go visit them in person, good shops will be proud to take you on tour and show you their stuff. Last, ask to see a couple of cars they are returning to customers today.
 
With Inspection/color-match penlights so common these days, I can`t help but think that taking one along and asking to see a just-finished vehicle in a dark environment would let `em know they`re dealing with somebody who`s serious about their vehicle. Heh heh, no...I don`t mind coming across as, uhm...extreme ;)

Sure hope it`s just the valence/cover, if more is involved it`s gonna be, well...a more involved job.
 
I`ve lost all faith in finding a reputable body shop in my area, even the ones that are referrals from others have all failed to meet my expectations. Paint wise they have been pretty good, but the addition of swirls and scratches to the areas not being repaired is unacceptable IMO. I literally walked back with the manager of our Tesla approved shop to look at the Model X I had polished and coated 10 days prior and all they had to do was paint the hood and bumper cover. As I walked through the door I see their tech DA wet sanding the hood while dragging the dusty, dirty air hose on the pristine fenders. Not to mention the over spray on the front doors. They refused to pay to have it fixed too and the owner had to pay the additional cost for correcting and recoating both fenders and front doors!

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, sorry
 
The kicker to this story - the kid driving only has a permit. The grandmother tried to convince the officer that the giant crack was already there. My wife told the officer to "look at the rest of the car. We have two almost teenage girls, my husband is in the garage all the time working on this". The officer got a chuckle out of that one.
 
jatleson said:
Got the call this morning - my wife`s 2015 Durango R/T got hit. Minor accident, no injuries, not her fault, the at fault person has State Farm. Will need, at a minimum, a lower valance on the rear bumper, possibly new rear bumper cover. How do you look for good body shops?
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At the very least I`d make sure that a replacement bumper cover was in the quote and then make sure you really get it. There are many body shops that would simply try to stitch that as a matter of course these days. I`ve seen this done and truthfully looking at the painted side you`d never know but I`m afraid somewhere down the road you would definitely know.

I`d crawl under there and spend some time looking at everything you can see and compare it to the other side. It`s what you don`t see that will get you.
 
Good body shop lol. Just lucky if they put all the pieces back correctly and the paint is sorta not terrible.

It`s not a show car job unfortunately so insurance body shops are meh


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Also the insurance who is paying for it will determine if it`s fixable the bumper cover that is.

You are mostly at there mercy


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Read up on reviews and talk with others in car clubs or groups. We have a great family owned place that has been in business for over 84 years and the main paint guy has been there for over 34 years. I met with him personally, saw their work on other German cars, etc. and have been 200% pleased with what they did for me after a minor need. Of course being in a body shop, "detailing" is not their thing but I expected that would be the case. However, they did a fantastic job laying down the paint and did not make it too thick and in fact came close to the 6.5mills the rest of the car measured. Once I had at it with my buffer, it was a perfect match if not better than factory.

Good luck! Be sure to check out their work though.
 
MattPersman said:
Also the insurance who is paying for it will determine if it`s fixable the bumper cover that is.

You are mostly at there mercy


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Brandt could probably clarify this for us but I can tell you that I`ve worked with adjusters in the past and basically told them what I would accept. Yes, it did cost them more than their original estimate. I also had the body shop on my side saying the same thing. In the end you pick the body shop and if you can trust their people and they will work with you and the adjuster, you should be treated fairly.
 
GearHead_1 said:
Brandt could probably clarify this for us but I can tell you that I`ve worked with adjusters in the past and basically told them what I would accept. Yes, it did cost them more than their original estimate. I also had the body shop on my side saying the same thing. In the end you pick the body shop and if you can trust their people and they will work with you and the adjuster, you should be treated fairly.
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It helps if you`re rubbing your neck frequently while talking to the adjuster.
 
The adjusters sometimes needed, uhm....educated...by their superiors, but I`ve always been able to have every damaged component replaced. Every one over four decades of this stuff, regardless of whose fault it was. I`ve also had to physically intervene when an Adjuster ignored my admonitions and was about to touch my paint...not hating on the profession, fave nephew-in-law is and Adjuster and he`s absolutely OK.

That kid whose grandmother made excuses for him...she`s not doing him any favors with that [crap]. Oughta send him to an Accident Avoidance class at VDI instead, before he hurts somebody.

And, sigh...Yeah...about finding a decent shop. My "good" guy did irreparable damage to the Jag the last time he had it (yeah, I know..I keep repeating that, but it really bugs me) and the new owner of the other shop I use won`t let `em do things the way they used to.
 
Wife had an accident, was hit in the R/R quarter panel, followed through on our claim with State Farm California. Went to their adjuster and took their estimate with me.

My secret weapon was running the gauntlet of local auto body repair shops looking for one that used either Spies Hecker and or Glasurit. Plus talking to them about how they prep and repair before I went to the adjuster

Shout out to Accumulator for the clear coat tip via PM from quite a while ago.

Ended up finding a place that used both. Plus the Manager/Co owner had previously told me what to expect with the claims adjuster and how the shop would make sure everything was covered by the claim.

Needless to say I was Very Satisfied by their work, had extra work done to the car by them and they polished out the clear plastic headlight lenses and washed plus detail cleaned it for free before I received it.
 
Accumulator said:
The adjusters sometimes needed, uhm....educated...by their superiors, but I`ve always been able to have every damaged component replaced. Every one over four decades of this stuff, regardless of whose fault it was. I`ve also had to physically intervene when an Adjuster ignored my admonitions and was about to touch my paint...not hating on the profession, fave nephew-in-law is and Adjuster and he`s absolutely OK.

That kid whose grandmother made excuses for him...she`s not doing him any favors with that [crap]. Oughta send him to an Accident Avoidance class at VDI instead, before he hurts somebody.

And, sigh...Yeah...about finding a decent shop. My "good" guy did irreparable damage to the Jag the last time he had it (yeah, I know..I keep repeating that, but it really bugs me) and the new owner of the other shop I use won`t let `em do things the way they used to.
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Yeah, that`s a good point too, things vary by adjuster. When my S4 was totalled the adjuster from USAA was great to work with, he wasn`t a car guy, but he knew a car guy when he met one ;-) I`ve worked with some in the past that were total bean counters and felt that cars were about as important as toasters or microwaves.
 
Marine Clerk said:
...My secret weapon was running the gauntlet of local auto body repair shops looking for one that used either Spies Hecker and or Glasurit..
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Great to hear that! I`m a fan of Spies Hecker, especially on the Audis, and if a shop doesn`t know from it then they`re probably not ending up on my short-list. Mentioning a specific paint preference ("that`s what it was painted with at the factory, and their post-production paint line is what`s gonna be used on it now...period.") to the shop and the adjuster also lets them know that they`re dealing with a knowledgeable customer.

Glad it turned out well, hope they cleared the headlight lenses after polishing them.
 
Knew the deal was sealed when Lawrence introduced himself and was wearing a collared shirt with a Spies Hecker insignia on the pocket.

Spies Hecker was used for the paint job repair spots plus the extra work that was done.

I was having problems trying to clean the lenses myself and they managed to make the lenses look like new again.

Was able to relax and knew everything would turnout excellent(which it did) after talking with Lawrence about the game plan for the car.
 
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