s2000 makeover
 

Well, due to a recent encounter with me taking a corner at a really high rate of speed, some dirt on the road, and a very solid concrete wall, my car is getting a complete makeover. It is suppose to be done this upcoming week. I am getting a new front bumper, wide front fenders (carbon fiber), and a carbon fiber hood. Also recieved new headlights and new paint. Will post pics when it is done

I heard, glad to hear you're okay. What shop do you have doing the work?

I have it at carsmatics on el toro. I have never used them before but I heard they do decent work. For such a well balanced car it doesnt do so well through a thin layer of dirt. :rant: Stuff happens though

The last s2000 I drove was the scariest car to drive at speed.

It is definitely a car that can catch you off guard. I have driven quiet a few powerful cars but the light weight and handling of the s2000 can be somewhat of a surprise when at higher speeds. It will definitley punish you if you are not paying attention

Can't wait to see it. You should stop by during the week and take pics.

i thought about it but they should be completely done this wednesday, so just figured id wait until i pick it up

I've only driven S2000s on the track. Never on the street. They have more engine braking than dodge Vipers. They seem to want to kick sideways when downshifting under braking. Plus you have to shift them SO much. They definately require a delicate balance.

you think you have to shift a stock s2k on the track. You will have to take mine around the track. I have changed out my stock 4.10 gearing for 4.77 gears :sm_laughing:

What's the status buddy, is your car all fixed up I hope?

nope who would have guessed that the body shop would be behind. Went down there to see the car today, will be done late wednesday.:thumbs_up:

i went to the shop yesterday and they have totally ruined my car. They installed the fenders incorrectly and dont have any idea how to paint / prep a urethane bumper. Im going down there today to take pics then finding a new shop to finish the job. Will post pics later.

That sucks !! I would want to :gatlin:

Unreal, my situation was VERY similar. I know of a good shop though - let me see if I can find the name.

Sorry to hear that. I went thru the same thing on a custom painted 64 Fairlane. Do NOT back down. Fight them all the way.

Get the new body shop owner to write you a letter about the poor quality work/ installation of the old shop. In case they sue you.

And get your car out of there like now. It's your car, don't let them tell you that you can't take it.

my insurance will not cover it if I take it to another shop. My buddy and I are going to fit all the panels to the car this weekend and prep all the parts. The shop is going to just paint them. Hopefully it will look good. My buddy knows what he is doing and I really appreciate him helping me with this

:bsflag: You have the right to take it to ANY shop of your choosing. If someone told you something else they are wrong. :judge:

Multiple sources tell me this is the best painter in the area. I have never heard a bad thing about them.

i know i have the right to take it to any shop the only problem is that once a shop has started the work and has been paid by the insurance it is really difficult to have it taken anywhere else. My insurance (progressive) has told me they already paid the shop that is having problems with my car so they will not pay anyone else anything to work on my car. I would have to get the shop to pay the other shop to do the work and they said no

Anticipatory repudiation - If you feel the work contracted for is not being done/ being done properly, you can treat it as a breach of contract and sue them before they're done. Threaten to file suit and demand a refund. In the future, never pay or allow your insurance to pay until the work is done.

First let me preface I don't know how to do that more than 1 quote thing in a post so iI'm just going to copy and paste.

Backround: Myself = auto insurance claims adjuster. Bare with me while I explain. This post was brought to my attention by Seanplunk = Husband.

"my insurance will not cover it if I take it to another shop" - CORRECT!

The shop you chose is the shop you have to stick with. Generally we give you the option if you pick our body shop we work with directly, you will have a double warranty (through insurance company and through the body shop). If you pick your own shop, you better hope that they do a good job and that they back their warranty b/c once we send that check out, you're pretty much on your own. Insurance companies don't touch "field (your own hand picked body shop) with a 10 foot pole.

***you do have the option to go to court but let me warn you, been there done that personally and it's a PAIN IN THE ASS! 1 year later it was finally settled and the files were closed.

"You have the right to take it to ANY shop of your choosing. If someone told you something else they are wrong" - CORRECT!

By law an insurance company can not force you to go to a shop. You have the option. It just better be a good shop if you go outside the loop.

"i know i have the right to take it to any shop the only problem is that once a shop has started the work and has been paid by the insurance it is really difficult to have it taken anywhere else. My insurance (progressive) has told me they already paid the shop that is having problems with my car so they will not pay anyone else anything to work on my car. I would have to get the shop to pay the other shop to do the work and they said no" - CORRECT!

Is this a shop that YOU picked or was this a shop that your insurance company sent you to? I'm guessing the 1st option. If so, do they have a warranty for the work that they did? They should....if they did, I would give them 1 more chance to install the fenders correctly and repaint. Our personal expericne with the cobra was about the same to be honest. Sean picked his shop that he thought was reputable and the best in town, and they installed the 1/4 pan wrong, pained the panel with dust and bubbles, and the paint didn't match. I think it went back 2 more times under warranty b/c it was not up to par and it's still not. We finally gave up. It's better than it was but still not "gerat."

"Anticipatory repudiation - If you feel the work contracted for is not being done/ being done properly, you can treat it as a breach of contract and sue them before they're done. Threaten to file suit and demand a refund. In the future, never pay or allow your insurance to pay until the work is done.
my insurance will not cover it if I take it to another shop" -

Adam I love your enthusiasm :D, but have you ever actually gone through a court case personally??? It SUCKED! I would try and do your best to get this fixed without having to throw out threats, law suits, and so on. You're going to get much further without having a body shop hating you and potentially jacking up your car further.

As for payment and not paying them until the work is done, yeah right. The shop will not start the work until they are confirmed being paid. And as far as my company goes (I can only speak for us as I do not know other companies procedures), we issue checks, 2 party (body shop and insd/clmt) and it gets mailed directly to the body shop. Good luck getting ahold of it unless you want to change the insurance companies policies.

***As a general rule the body shops that we (insurance companies) work with directly, are going to be much easier to work with, easy going, and generally are going to do a better job (ok take more care than your non insurance shop). Reason being, is we give them a LOT of money and if we get a handful of bad complaints it just takes one click of a button to take them off our list.
***As for painting I think you can generally categorize this as a job that you never know how it's going to come out NO MATTER WHO YOU PICK. It's going to vary each and every day no matter who does it. It's just one of those things. Painting is a VERY hard job to do. There doesn't seem to be one painter out there that has a 90-100% excellent rating. Even if the shop comes recommended,....who is really handling that spray gun that day? I sure don't.

Body work is just a hard. Plain and simple.

***PS - In my 3 years here at XYZ, I've never heard of the first body shop you guys mentioned, or the second.

Best of luck dude and I'm sorry that you're having to go through all of this. Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Lexi, yes! But going to court is not what it's all about. Scaring them away with a lawyer and forcing them to do what you want because they're afraid of having to go to court is what it's about. I know of a certain forum God that can attest to this.

90% of this stuff gets mediated if not settled out right. He's not threatening Coca-Cola, he's threatening a body shop.


But yes, I totally agree. He should try to be nice and ask politely for his car first. I assume he's already done that and it's failed. I've gotten a car out of impound without the necessary paperwork just by flirting with an old fat woman.

I have come to the arrangement that I am installing all the panels myself as we speak and prepping the front bumper myself. Then I am taking it back to them to have it painted. I am going to ask them if i can go without paying my deductible since I pretty much did all the work myself. The deductible is five hundred dollars

If you ask too politely they will tell you no politely, assert your position.

Yep, kick ass--well not literally:leaving:. Wait till no one is around.

i made up a bill for them on quick books for all my labor and parts. If they ask for my deductible I will hand them the bill I made

1 - Start with being polite and gentle.
2 - If that doesn't work, raise your tone a little.
3 - If that doesn't work, threaten them raising their civilization to the ground and sowing salt in their fields. . . metaphorically speaking.

I had to go to the 3 once. People start paying attention real fast when they get a letter from an attorney citing court precedent. :smack:

step one has been done and is still being done. Step 2 will follow if they ask for money. Step three will follow if they still ask for money after step 2

This is what I was talking about Lexi.

i got my car back. It is finally done. I need to adjust the hood alignment a little bit but other then that it looks good. I will post pics as soon as the weather clears up. Oh and I didnt have to pay we agreed my working on the car myself was payment in itself

Glad to hear. What a mess that all was. Have you posted up the name of the shop yet so none of us go there?

carsmetics. dont go to them

:need_pics:

when theweather clears ill take pic. it is randomly raining at my house right now

Rain will make it sexy.

it now looks like this :thumbs_up: only because I did the friggin prep work! F that shop bunch of dam hacks...they are just lucky I know what im doing or it would have turned out like crap. They didnt even use primer on th CF fenders and hood! they used paint adheisive! they didnt even know how to paint the bumper cuz it was a poly bumper....question...how are u a friggin body shop at that point!? answer ur not! ur a grafitie artist that practices on peoples possessions ! they even over sprayed on to his wheels and tires and a little on the valve cover! go back to MASKING 101! and they wanted to paint the fender on the car instead of off the car??? HAX! sorry needed to vent! anyways it looks ok for now...chads ok with it so it will do for now.