1. Primer Auto Body

    1. Primer Auto Body

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    La Mesa, CA

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    Primer Auto Body

    5.0 (93 reviews)
    Closed Closed

    Services - Primer Auto Body

    Auto body restoration

    Bumper repair

    Collision repair

    Primer Auto Body Photos

    Recommended Reviews - Primer Auto Body

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    Reviews With Photos

    After
    Steven S.

    Was in need of some bodywork repair after an accident. James and his team did an amazing job in repairing and restoring my car to its original condition. James is accommodating and will make sure you and your car are well taken care of. Value is well worth for the quality of work you receive. Highly recommend Primer Auto Body and will definitely be back if I am in need of body/paint work in the future!

    Koral R.

    James and his team did an amazing job with my car! Requested a cosmetic repaint job due to sun damage on the back spoiler and garnish of the hatch door. Matched the color SPOT ON, looks smooth and fit back in place so you can't even tell it was taken apart! Very responsive with texting and overall the work was done promptly and with great communication! Great price too~

    M3
    Carlo P.

    I have known James for 7 years now and each time I do business with him he always accommodates my car and my needs! He is a master at his craft so I am always rest assured he'll take care of my fleet of m3 bimmers! Value is great for the quality you get. The pictures attached is from the front end respray he did on my e90 m3

    Post repair being blended with new coat.
    Earl P.

    Thank you James for accommodating everything I needed repaired on my vehicle. Went above and beyond expectations , from the initial accident repair to other things I've been wanting to get done. I've been following Primer Auto Body for awhile and I can definitely vouch for these guys. James thank you for your time, I'll definitely bring more business in the future. Definitely one of the hidden gems in SD. Support local and small business

    Hood cracked when repaired and painted

    Had some work done through insurance and on my own. After a few months, paint and Bondo ended up cracking. Emailed them stating this and didn't get no response.

    Kelly N.

    A couple of months ago both my son and I was involved in an accident a month apart. We trusted Jaymer at Primer Auto Body to fix our cars. He did an amazing job. We are extremely thankful for his work and attention to detail to get our cars back to normal if not even better than what it was before. Thank you Primer Auto Body

    Before Front

    This company will always be my #1 auto body shop. James was so responsive and helpful. He did such amazing work on my vehicle and in a very reasonable time. I'm so grateful everything worked out so well! I highly recommend Primer Auto Body for any of your car auto body needs!

    John A.

    Best Customer Service and high standards. Ive been bringing my cars here for years. Primer Auto Body can do it all. Very honest and reasonable prices. I'll continue bringing all of my vehicles here for repair.

    Matt C.

    Someone was parked on the street and they pulled into traffic right into my car. The entire passenger side was damaged, the front fender, both doors, and both wheels. My brother-in-law works for the dealership and he recommended this place to me. I'm super happy with the results. James and his team do excellent work and I have recommended this shop to everyone I know. If you need body work done you should bring your car to these guys, they will take care of you.

    BEFORE dropping off to Primer Auto Body
    Jey T.

    James from P.A.B. is probably the easiest person to talk to. I have never met the man, but I got his contact because my wife was involved in an accident in our 2012 Prius C. I was actually shocked when he sent us photos of the work and how in-depth the repairs were. The damage seemed "moderate" but not severe but they really tore down the car front and rear because our Prius was the sandwich of the triple accident. James went above and beyond I'm repairing by providing us OEM parts direct from TOYOTA, and even had the headlamps bilaterally replaced instead of just one. The car looks brand new. They literally tore the front end down to search for deep structural damage, thankfully there wasn't any. So they replaced the radiator and coolant, also the AC system had to be dismantled, they recharged the system accordingly. We got our car back a day ago. But then we had a hiccup. Some issue arose mechanically and I reached out to James. James took asked me to tow back to his shop, and he took full responsibility, full accountability of the issue. Even reimbursed me for my Lyft ride. James was very easy to talk to, and he deserves this 5 star positive review. Taking time out of your daily routine to address an emergent issue says a lot about his character. Way to go James, I wish your business great success, you do great work. I will come in the future when I need to repaint my Subaru STI. Thanks for your support. PEACE OF MIND

    Paint matched kit and covered roof sunspots
    Poges C.

    Jaymer has always been able to take care of my auto body needs since day one. We've both looked over the car on multiple visits to make sure that the work he's producing and that I'm receiving are one in the same. Any concerns we both have are laid out on the table to make sure there's no miscommunications. So far I've had nothing but great experiences with him. He's addressed all my concerns and he's even gone above and beyond my expectations. I'd definitely recommend coming to him for your auto body needs.

    Djem T.

    This review is long overdue...but here it goes: I first brought my old Silverado to James for a full paint job back when he was located in Chula Vista. He was able to work with my budget and the truck came out great (and even though I no longer own that truck I still see it occaisonally - it still looks great many years later). About a year or so ago, I was able to pick up an S2000 for a good price but it needed some paintwork badly. Without hesitation, I contacted James for a quote. He took a look at the car to see what needed to be done and worked with my budget to get the car back to looking new again. I couldn't be happier with how the car came out. I can vouch for the work done at Primer Auto body and recommend them whenever I can.

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    8 years ago

    Timely, Quality, and Professionalism, this shop has it all. Primer Auto Body gets the job done at a reasonable price. Great Job James!

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    Page 3 of 3

    Ask the Community - Primer Auto Body

    Can you do a paint job on the top of my hatchback door on a 2015 Acura RDX?

    Yea i can. I need some information from the car. Call or text 6198617005

    Hi James, are you back to offering full paint jobs again yet? I've got a 2013 Lexus ct200h. Thanks :)

    No full body paint. Im sorry

    How much would you typically charge to paint a 2009 bmw 328i sedan?

    Hello Melanie. Currently not taking any complete paint jobs. Im not sure when i will start them again also. I appreciate the inquiry.

    How much would it cost to lower a 2015 honda civic si, plus new rims/tires?

    Call my boys down at autofashion. Talk to freddie. He can take care of all that for you. 6193424643

    How much to repaint a door?

    It all depends. Make, model, damage. Send some pictures to 6198617005

    What is the cost to paint a pickup?

    Start at about $3500 small pickup.

    View All 16 Questions

    Review Highlights - Primer Auto Body

    Above all, James is just a great guy--reliable, trustworthy, and someone I can count on.

    Mentioned in 67 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Caliber Collision

    Caliber Collision

    (108 reviews)

    1. Manager, Matt, and Service Writer, Trevor, were not on the same page which resulted in a "bait &…read moreswitch" situation involving my initial estimate and drop off. 2. Service Writer spoke down about manager repeatedly and said "don't listen to him" when confronted about situation #1. 3. Service Writer became threatening during situation #2 and said he would be "buttoning" up the car so I can take it elsewhere. 4. Service writer did not adequately communicate timelines. He would repeatedly tell me to pick up tomorrow, then tell me there was a delay. This occurred for 10 days. 5. Service Writer then quit communicating and responding to my texts, which was the preferred method of communication as stated by the shop. So a phone call ensued. 6. Phone call in situation #5 was for an update on picking up my vehicle. Service writer states fuses are blown (something unrelated to what we brought the vehicle in for). Tells me my car is old and it was a problem when we brought it in (vehicle is maintained with service records in a family that owns an automotive shop). I ask questions, service writer starts laughing at me. 7. As a result of situation #6, service writer informs me it looks like they'll have my car for longer and "will be in touch whenever it's ready". 8. I report situation #7 to insurance and they call the shop, twice, for an update and are hung up on or are put on hold for over 30min. This is per USAA property damage claims rep Jared Gomez. 9. Manager calls me to tells me something happened to the car and every fuse is blown. They need another few days. They refuse to let me come look at it at this point. 10. Manager drops off to my husband's mechanic shop with several issues involving acceleration. Technician runs a scantool and resets modules. Tech informs me that Caliber Collision jump started the vehicle "backwards" which resulted in fried fuses. 11. Upon entry of vehicle, we notice dashcam has been ripped from a direct-mount installation. Dashcam now is broken and requires replacement. 12. Per Bureau of Automotive Repar, it is against their laws to alter a customer vehicle without their consent. This includes the removal and uninstall of constant recording devices. Manager informed us via email it was shop policy. Manager could not provide any written literature or agreements I had signed stating that. Had the manager informed of us an existing shop policy in the beginning, the dashcam would've properly been removed. 11. Caliber collision broke a piece on my door panel during installation and tried to tape it together. Overall, we are very dissastisfied with this service and will do what we can to recommend friends and family seek another shop. I will be reporting this to the BAR.

    I dropped my car off last week but when I called in the young man at counter had assisted me over…read morephone I believe his name was Tony I was very ni e and answered all of my questions. His personality kind and calming in person as well as over the phone. Trevor assisted with scheduling my repairs he texted me updates regularly and answered all my questions. I have brought my car here for over 20 Years and things just continue to get better. I am a talker all the staff I spoke to were ki d and listen to all my stories. I say thank you to all the staff at caliper collision job well done.

    Caliber Collision

    Caliber Collision

    (144 reviews)

    Good Afternoon, I…read morewould like to express how grateful I am to have visited the Caliber Collision Center in La Mesa. I had initially taken my car to another body repair shop nearby to have my front end painted and some dents removed. I became extremely dissatisfied over the next few days with the manager and his poor communication skills. Over a two-day period, I would receive a phone call about another so-called issue with my car that should have been explained initially. The last straw was when they removed my front bumper then told me it had been glued on and that they didn't want to take the risk of putting it back on with screws since it wasn't something they were comfortable with doing. I then took my car to Caliber Collision and from the very beginning, Alfredo (Perez) listened to my concerns and then took the time to carefully explain about the parts needed along with the estimate. He made sure that all of my questions were then answered to the fullest. I was very impressed with his level of expertise and professionalism. After making the decision to drop off my car, he made sure to contact me daily on its status to keep me abreast of any changes. In the end, I received another front bumper which was painted and all of the dents and scratches were removed. My car looks brand new, and the final repair cost was very affordable. If I had left my car at the other shop, it would have been way more and none of my other concerns would have been touched without having to pay thousands more and I'm pretty sure I would have been stuck with my old front-end bumper. I would highly recommend Caliber Collision on Center Drive in La Mesa and ask for Alfredo. My sincere thanks to both him and everyone who worked on my car. I'm a customer now for life. Mary S. Chula Vista, CA.

    Caliber collision is the absolute WORST place ive ever been to. 1. They didnt fix the damage to my…read morecar which is what it was there for. 2. They painted rocks into my car. 3. They lied about my car being aligned. Ive got the paperwork saying its aligned but the other shops said it wasn't. My insurance is having a field day with them. And their GM? Yeah, he said he would fix it by "going the extra mile" to fix the paint on my car. As if that wasn't something he was already liable for. Ruby told me to even go to the mechanic that they use and speak to him because she had no idea what was actually wrong with my car and this guy's down the street. She told me to literally leave their facility and go down the street to ask about what's wrong with my car. This is the most unprofessional, least skilled, and mismanaged place I've ever been to. And every single other shop says the same thing about them as well.

    Primer Auto Body - bodyshops - Updated September 2026

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