Horrible experience! They changed from Premier Auto Body to Fix Auto in Jan 2018. Same staff, same owner. I paid $651 for very minor fender body work, and paint matching of a front driver door and fender. The fender was not repaired properly to match the one on the other side. They did a poor color match which stood out even from a distance. The pictures speak for themselves. They rounded off a fastener, created dents, chipped and cracked perfectly good factory paint on a perfectly good door that had no reason to be touched. This during their botched attempt to fine adjust the painted front door. Turns out they called over a local paint supply store to "take a picture" of the car, and mix some single stage paint for them, which I had nothing to do with. When the paint came in they just sprayed it. Never bothering to do a test spray to verify the proper color match, which is standard practice to avoid ending up with fully painted panels that do not match the car. They offered a free respray, BUT only after I go out and match my OWN paint at MY expense no exceptions. Really? After I already paid my invoice in full for this job? This is their responsibility not mine. I paid already. They refused to take ownership of this and fix this on their end.
So like an idiot, I spent weeks and more money out of pocket for more paint, reducer, and catalyst. I just wanted to get this over with and move on. Numerous trips back and forth between Fix Auto and the paint store. This time Fix Auto does a small test spray on a piece of metal each time, which they failed to do the first time resulting in this situation. Again, their fault not mine. I had nothing to do with it. After no fewer than three failed remix attempts with my own batch of paint, I knew I needed to go elsewhere.
Fed up with this nonsense, I took the car to Fusion Colors here in Santa Maria. They proved to be a vastly more competent shop than Fix Auto. Finally the car was repaired and paint matched properly. Fusion did an amazing job. The paint match was spot on and matches the factory paint perfectly without "blending" into adjacent panels, which owner Hector aka "Mando" and staff at Fix Auto told me repeatedly could "never" be done as an excuse for their bad color match. Fusion corrected Fix Auto's pathetic paint match, repaired their fender body work which left a bulge in the repaired area, fixed the dents and repainted the chipped and cracked paint Fix Auto ruined on a perfectly good door that had no reason to be touched or disturbed. This damage cost me more money out of my own pocket to fix. Nicely displayed body repair certificates with body man Kenneth aka "Kenny" hanging in your office mean nothing, when you put out a bad product and carelessly cause more damage. Neither does 30 years of experience when you can't figure out how to adjust a Mercedes door properly, and I the customer adjusts it properly at home by myself.
After the car was completed, I returned to Fix Auto in person to update them on the situation and seek some kind of resolution in a tactful manner. I was rudely greeted by shop owner Hector aka "Mando". His disregard for customer service was in full display. He had no interest in even talking to me. I tried to have a cordial conversation with Hector about this situation. All Hector did was argue with me, interrupt me, talk over me, and walk away from me while refusing to put the phone away from his ear and give me his undivided attention. Right away he questioned why I was even there since the car was already done by somebody else. He was not too thrilled about that. He asked what could I possibly want from him now? "Everything that went wrong with this car was because of you" he tells me to my face. Hector made it clear I was not getting any sort of reimbursement, and he tried walking away from me several times saying that everything was my fault. He tried to give me a stupid little lecture with a "lesson" from his father. Told me that I should just "Take this as a lesson learned". And before walking away from me he tells me "You and this little $600 job or whatever you paid isn't worth my time standing here having this conversation with you right now". And "There are many other more important things I should be doing besides standing here having this conversation with you".
Despite Fix Auto's "Lifetime Warranty" on repairs, shop owner Hector aka "Mando" believes he owes me no amount of reimbursement or resolution for anything, including making me waste more time and money on additional paint, and causing additional damage to the vehicle that was not there before.
Avoid this shop. Take your car elsewhere. This guy does not deserve your business. There are far more competent body shops in Santa Maria. read more