lordjin

I got hit last month and took it there for some insurance-covered repair. My rear bumper had a small dent that needed to be filled and painted, and my entire driver-side quarter panel had to be repaired and repainted due to a small dent on the very edge where it meets the bumper.

Upon picking up my car (over a week after bringing it in) I immediately noticed a little paint crater on the edge of the bumper where they did the work. Horrible. I pointed this out to the service guy and he said they'd take care of it. "Just bring the car back in and we'll take care of that in like a day. But wait a couple of weeks to let the paint cure," he said. Great. More fun for me. So I take the thing home and in the following days, I spot darker areas (that turned out to be fingerprints) under the clear. In addition, they left these dull streak areas on the clear on parts of the car that needed no repair whatsoever. I also noticed dried drip globs of clear in the inside area of the body where the door closes. Man!

So I take it back, point these things out to the service guy, and they end up keeping the car for another week and two days since they have to re-repaint the body panel, the bumper and deal with those dull areas. Fine. Anything to get rid of that sh-t. So I pick it up again...And guess what? Though the fingerprints are gone, I see new things! a couple of little paint glob bumps under the clear, two more dull streaks on the clear of the body panel, and a dull area on my spoiler. I wrote emails to my service guy pointing out these shortcoming of their second job and he's just flat out ignoring me now. So today I wrote him again, asking him to refer me to his supervisor. I don't know. These aren't gigantic problems. They're a matter of details really. But hell, I think the job should be done right.

Now give it to me straight, people. Am I being too much of a perfectionist here? What would you guys do if this was your precious RX8?

SmokeyTheBalrog

Sounds like they messed up big time. I would be pissed. If they refuse to fix it or screw it up a 3rd time I *think* you can take it to another body shop and take them to small claims to cover cost. (You can deffinitly try this if the refuse to fix it, but document everything)

Make sure you start documenting *everything*.
Start taking pictures.
Write down a description of the problems on your car after the first visit. While it's still fresh in your memory.

Save all those emails.
Write them a snail mail letter. Send with return receipt/tracking.

And an opinion / appraisal from another body shop.

See if you can get in touch with the owners. You ought to be able to find out through city hall.

lordjin

interesting. I'll take it under consideration. Thanks.

Mind, these are very small imperfections we're talking. That's why I'm kind of torn between, "Damn, they didn't do a perfect job" and "Am I making mountains out of mole hills?" I'm going to attempt high-resolution digital photos to see if it will even show up in a picture. I'll post my photographic results here and then you can decide whether I've a legitimate gripe or I'm just looney tunes over my car.

8rotor8

iTrader: (2)

Cerritos Browning Service is horrible too! I took my car there because my PCM failed and all the service writer guy was saying is that I had to pay, not once did he reassure me that the problem would be fixed. It took them 4 days to replace my PCM and they gave me no rental. Next time, I'm taking it to long beach. I'm just waiting for their survey to get to me...

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

make sure you keep your insurance company in the loop with what's going on. I'm sure Browning Service doesn't want a nasty phone call form your Insuarnce Carrier threatening their status as an 'authorized' repair place....

Harrier

Hi googled Browning collision to see if anyone had any problems with these guy and found this. I brought my car into Browning after my neighbor hit my parked car in my driveway. All said a done, damage was done to the passenger side of my car, Front door, rear door and the panel behind the rear door. The impact of the door was so great, the entire rear door needed to be replaced and the control box that has the switches that move the window up and down was bulging out of the side paneling that it went into. When Browning returned the car to me, they forgot to repaint the black trim between the door Jam and replace the back rubber that was partially destroyed. The bumper was not set straight and the quarter panels we not alligned.

I get that stuff taken care of, then I say, what the heck,look at my fog lights and look at the control panel on the side of the door. Its still bulging out. I ask the guy "David Kirby" what is this. The guy them looks at the sky and says you know, thats part of the expansion that comes with heat and age, there ain't nothing I can do about that. When I asked why it was no happening to my other doors, he said sometimes they happen a different times. I then ask if he took apart the from door to see if there was additional damage and he says Oh yeah sure. Everything is OK.

What about my fog lights? Sorry guy I can't fix them.

I get home and try to fill up my gas tank and the gas cover comes off in my hand and I see it has not been painted. It has fallen on the ground. I turn on my radio and I find my rear speakers are not working. I then go to my trunk and discover my speakers line have been crossed but they are touching. I check to see if my amps are hosed and discover, fortunately, they are not.

4 months later I'm driving an my driver side window doesn't go up. I take it to the dealer and they call me up and ask if the car was in an accident. I tell them the story and they ask me to come on down. I look in and they show me a bar that is bent 45 degrees and a door that is not close to straight on the inside. I look at my inside speakers in the door and the custom holders have been removed and are hanging together with tie strips. What the heck?

The dealer is cracking up because it looks like such a joke. No way anyone could miss that in their wildest dreams he says. The dealer says they can fix the side panel in the inside with the instrument control easy and it had nothing to do with heat or warp.

David is a fast talker, acts like he knows more than anyone else. Now State Farm says it's been to long and they cannot determine how my fog light (only One) was damaged.

Browning Collision Center is a disaster-worse thing I ever did with my car.

I guess a good rule of thumb is never take my car to a a certified body shop of my insurance carrier. No pictures were taken and shoddy work. This is a cottage industry because State Farm is trying deny this a minor mistake.

I'm I too sensitive and over reacting- They are trying to get me to take it back to Browning. No way in gods creation. They have already told me they could not repair the control panel for my drivers window.

I will try to contact the owner and calmly let him understand what I've gone through. I will also let you know what they say