First off, $3500 for a quarter panel replacement, some rust repair, and a paint job is unheard of nowadays, and I get that. But after seeing some of Affordable's other finished products, I had to give this a shot.
The job on my '95 Celica was clearly underbid, as the original estimate was $2500. The price went up twice once they got into it and saw the job they were really in for - and that was fine.
What's not fine is that, after having the car in their shop for a couple of months, it's apparent that the body techs were told "Get it out of here, it's done, we've gotta move on." Meanwhile, the following was left unfinished:
-A rust hole in front of the passenger-side quarter panel. Why would I pay you to replace the driver's side quarter and have you leave that - especially when it was in writing that it was part of the project?
-Seven drain plugs were left out of the floor pan, which I discovered two years later, along with a nice, new rust hole in my floor pan - reigniting the very problem I brought the car to them for in the first place!
Other things were messed up on the car while it was in their shop, and I have no idea why it was given back to me this way:
-You have to slam the hatchback lid so hard it seems like it'll break the huge window that's in it.
-A horrible window tinting job on the passenger door, when the inside of that door never needed touched!
-The passenger window is out of adjustment, so you have to slam the door to shut it.
-The little speaker that was attached to that door fell off, but I glued it back on.
-Weather stripping along the hatch window flew off on the highway, because they tried to do something with that themselves, rather than having their window pro's come in as they claimed (which I was told when those pro's came to my house and generously fixed it anyway.)
-The back seat wasn't safely fastened to the floor, which is awesome when you carry your kids around!
-The light inside the hatchback is hanging out.
-The car was returned to me trashed. There must've been an inch of body shop grub on the dash, in addition to red paint on the carpet. (Not the end of the world, but entirely unprofessional.)
-There are rattles all over this vehicle, when it didn't have ONE after nearly 400,000 miles, so I kind of wonder what was left loose or disconnected inside it.
Now, Affordable offers a five-year warranty on their work, which I guarantee they wish they never would've on this job. I have brought this car back five or six times, each time outlining, in writing, what needed done - one time every single item on there was flat ignored, but I didn't want to hassle with it at the time, so I took the car anyway. So, from here:
-That rust on the passenger side was bondo'd, which I was able to tell after a couple of years.
I believe that was fixed correctly the last time I brought it in, and it appears that they also correctly fixed the new rust and missing plugs in the floor. But by this time, I had actually mentioned their legal obligation based on their written warranty, which I can't believe I even had to do.
None of those other items have been given attention, and after all this, I'll probably just cough up a little more coin and get those items fixed, even though I didn't cause them.
These guys do know how to paint a car. The paint itself looks great, ALTHOUGH:
-The last time I brought it to them, I got it back with little nicks and scrapes ALL OVER THE CAR, including a dent with missing paint on the passenger rocker panel. I kind of think they were p.o.'d at me by this time, to which I say this: Grow the hell up. And complete the job you agreed to.
Everything above is due to one thing: Affordable Auto Body values quantity over quality. Harold was in a mad hurry when he gave me the estimate, every time we communicated after that, and whenever the car was in his shop. The guy barely breaks stride during a two-minute conversation. Look, I'm also a business owner, family man, homeowner, and have other obligations. I know this insanity. But I also know that cutting corners only causes more problems, so it's important to prioritize wisely.
Long story short: A car should never have more issues AFTER being in a repair shop than before. Need a quick paint job? They might help. Anything more? Never, ever let these guys touch your car. They know how to do the work, but they probably won't take the time. read more