MrMiata...any recommendations for a body shop? I live in the Houston area, though...anyone?

 

If it's not too much to ask..would you tell me how you worked out your situation with your car? Did you supply your own parts?

Michael

 

Well being an 07 Tahoe parts are a plenty.. Ebay had a color matched and clear coated bumper cover listing.. and we upgraded the standard headlights to angel eyes and LED markers off Ebay.. I was kinda shocked at the amount they estimated.. they did toss in a bumper support bracket.. but a little tweaking and adjusting put it back into spec with the opposite side. I'm afraid I couldn't advise you on any competent paint sources.. even around here.

 

Thank you, sir...having a difficult time finding someone to trust...one used car dealer I know compared body shops to transmission shops...did you use OEM or aftermarket parts? Nobody wants to work with aftermarket parts...

 

Went with aftermarket.. Fit and finish looks perfect! Guess you could have doubled my cost with OEM new.. "Personally" if I was in your shoes.. I'd be sourcing parts myself and taking care of it if that's an option with your insurance company.. (I'm guessing covered).. if not.. no doubt which way I'd go.. I'd probably go to some body shops and see about inspecting some of the finish paint work on cars they had.. Just let them know up front and if they balk.. time to walk..

 

I don't mind a/m...should be a good quality, I mean, in this case, parts is parts, yes? Rather spend more on the paint job...if that makes sense.

 

I'm not sure where you could actually find "after markets".. but it's not like your loosing anything replacing 8 year old parts with 8 year old parts..

SRT6 front bumper adds a little "new flair" and saves an extra hundred or so.. and the aftermarket chrome grills don't look bad for the price of a stock replacement.. might find a hood and headlight at a salvage yard local and save some bucks on the shipping fee.. going to be sanding and painting a primered hood anyways.. and we all know how to clean up a headlight.

 

Guess someone in the Houston area has what I need...just have to find it...

 

Most shops do not work with aftermarket or customer supplied parts because then they are responsible for making them work. If a tab is bent or a clip broken, they have to make it acceptable for you to go through it with a fine tooth comb.

My close friend runs a bodyshop and I hear about this stuff everyday. There is just no way to know that you are going to bring in good parts, especially if you do not know exactly what to look for since you do not do bodywork everyday. It may seem like a simple job, but there is TONS of labor involved and it can easily cost more to massage a used part back to life than simply buying new, in some cases. In other cases you could use all used parts and it be totally fine, or aftermarket and it is better than fine, but unless they know you and trust you and your skill to examine parts, they are probably going to insist on getting their own. You are not going to see the ever so slight bend on a fender that is not on a car, but making that fit could take hours, if it is even possible. If you were that good, you would have already sourced the parts, prepped everything, assembled and taken it just for paint.

If you were having surgery, would you insist on bringing or sterilizing your own instruments? To a good body guy, he is doing a complex surgery on your car, just keep that in mind.

Best of luck with the repairs, hopefully you can find the right shop. You may want to ask user Zahanma, if memory serves he is from Houston and may be able to help find a shop.

 

@BoilerUpXfire... So, what you're telling me is that the adage about 'parts are parts' isn't true...to a certain extent, that's probably the case. Honestly, if I have the parts I need, I think can just take my vehicle in to be painted. As for the surgery analogy, not sure I agree with that, but I get the idea. As long as I had what I knew I needed, and was confident I had the tools, I might!

 

Replacing the parts is the easy part, if you don't have any damage underneath the parts, example, on my son's Toyota pick up truck, we had front bumper, headlight, headlight brackets, front fender,and grille, we removed everything off the truck, replace the bumper with new, straightened out the bump braces. Install the fender,, almost,, seems as though the headlight was the point of impact, and it was so messed up that we could not get the headlight back into position, could not even install it none of the bolts would fit,,,
we then took it to a body shop,, we then took it to a second bodyshop, now were on our way to a third bodyshop, because none of them wanted to install the parts that we bought because they were not genuine Toyota, and they said the fit will not be what we want when they get through, we did finally find a bodyshop that would install our parts, at more money than if you bought the part to begin with, we had the truck fixed and sold it. And no the parts did not fit like OEM parts. Very close though. jim

ps if you are going to a bodyshop let them buy the parts, then they are responsible for the fit and the way the vehicle looks just finished.

 

To a certain extent, yes, sometimes that is exactly the case, other times, you can get lucky. If you think it is not just like surgery, go into a body shop and look at some of the wiring, insulation, brackets, panels and EVERYTHING has to be right for it to be fixed correctly, then you have to consider paint, which can be very challenging as well. My graphite metallic has 4-5 variants, then you have to blend, which can be a nightmare on metallic, especially when the finish is nearly 10 years old.

There is a lot more to it than sticking on some parts and slapping on some paint, especially when it is a car someone uses for enjoyment, not strictly transportation, because they expect even higher quality work.

I think Jim basically confirmed everything I said in his post above...

I would talk to Zahanma though, if I were you, about a recommendation.

 

So some body is making aftermarket OEM style hoods and bumper covers headlights and grills for our cars? All I've ever seen is "new old stock" or used, outside of the graphite hoods. Kinda leaves it open for OEM fit no matter what/where you buy doesn't it. Paint match quality and finish should be the only tricky part.. watch what you get.. area I would think.

And let me clarify.. "if" there is no damage - tweaked areas- beyond what he's noted here..

 

@Boiler...I don't disagree about the paint...I have not the skills or the equipment for that! The rest, I believe I can do. I have sent the gentleman a PM...

@MrMiata...I haven't found that 'somebody' doing a/m parts for our cars...I have to agree on the paint...that's been my main concern!

 

I have a close friend that does all my body work as well. What John is telling is true. The most recent bump in cost is due to the govt regulations on exhaust from the paint room. As well as all chemicals. They have driven prices up trying to upgrade paint booths and storage areas to meet the standards. A lot less suppliers as well since the new regulations. Paint costs are up. Junk yards asking more for their parts, and the list goes on. He would do repairs for me with the parts I supply but not for someone he didn't know. And if it is insurance, forget about it. The insurance companies are in control from the get go...

 

AAA said that I could use my own parts if the shop agreed...I have one, so far, that has...

 

Need to make friends with the body shop....get to know them, explain your side of it, and see what happens...but just like any other business...they are going to cover their ***....have too to stay in business these days... No bargains in the body shop world today...

 

Yep.. they showed up to my wifes work.. wrote up the estimate.. printer in his car cut the check to her. Total control..
Every situation is most likely going to be different.. but that's my story with Allstate. Wee's in good hands.. I will say had sheet metal been involved it wouldn't have been so "cut and dried" on my end for taking care of the repairs myself.

 

Don't know your situation.. but if your capable of replacing the parts and only holding the paint company to a "standard" for the color match and finish work.. don't see where they would balk on it. Not much different than me taking my old Miata in for a paint job and holding them to shade matching the door jamb color.

 

Sir, this is EXACTLY what I was talking about. I believe I'm capable of getting stuff installed correctly...I can't do the paint, and that's where my concern is. I was wondering if I should have the parts painted first, but that doesn't make sense...has to be blended...