[ZPirate]

Finally picked up my car from the body shop today after 2 and a half weeks. Final repair bill ended up at $9,600 as the passenger side headlight also had to be replaced.

I have to say that the paint looks flawless. And they even put my ACS front splash guard back on. Now I've just got to wait until the paint cures in order to install PPF back on the front facia and reinstall the hash marks and 1LE emblem. At least it looks a lot better.

[EvenStephen222]

Originally Posted by ZPirate

Finally picked up my car from the body shop today after 2 and a half weeks. Final repair bill ended up at $9,600 as the passenger side headlight also had to be replaced.

I have to say that the paint looks flawless. And they even put my ACS front splash guard back on. Now I've just got to wait until the paint cures in order to install PPF back on the front facia and reinstall the has marks and 1LE emblem. At least it looks a lot better.

Attachment 1132218

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What a great feeling to get her back!

[LeonardS]

Great to see that you got it back!

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by EvenStephen222

What a great feeling to get her back!

Originally Posted by LeonardS

Great to see that you got it back!

Thanks guys. Happy to have the car back in good condition! I'm happy with the results, but what a gigantic pain in the ass.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by ZPirate

Thanks guys. Happy to have the car back in good condition! I'm happy with the results, but what a gigantic pain in the ass.

Congratulations, the paint does look immaculate in the photos It feels great to have the car back, doesn't it.

I think good body shops would deserve extra shout outs for these quality jobs and attention to detail. Folks are quick to complain when something isn't 100% perfect, which is understandable, but why not give the time of day to the good ones as well.

As a personal example, my car was fixed by D&M Auto Body back in Rockaway, NJ after I stupidly wrecked it a few years ago (sealing its fate as my forever Camaro, as I could only sell her now at a giant loss), and I swear the car drove better than new after the work they did.

Told them to take their time and only use OEM parts, and they performed an outstanding job with body work, installation and paint, the color match is absolutely perfect, nobody (including me) can tell which panels are original and which aren't, even the paint depth gauge won't give it away, paint thickness is still very similar across the car. There are some very small blending artifacts on one door, but that's it. They even went to the trouble of sourcing the exact same aftermarket parts I had and installing those for me.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Congratulations, the paint does look immaculate in the photos It feels great to have the car back, doesn't it.

I think good body shops would deserve extra shout outs for these quality jobs and attention to detail. Folks are quick to complain when something isn't 100% perfect, which is understandable, but why not give the time of day to the good ones as well.

As a personal example, my car was fixed by D&M Auto Body back in Rockaway, NJ after I stupidly wrecked it a few years ago (sealing its fate as my forever Camaro, as I could only sell her now at a giant loss), and I swear the car drove better than new after the work they did.

Told them to take their time and only use OEM parts, and they performed an outstanding job with body work, installation and paint, the color match is absolutely perfect, nobody (including me) can tell which panels are original and which aren't, even the paint depth gauge won't give it away, paint thickness is still very similar across the car. There are some very small blending artifacts on one door, but that's it. They even went to the trouble of sourcing the exact same aftermarket parts I had and installing those for me.

Thanks! It does feel great to have the car back. And hopefully I can get the few loose ends tied up soon.

And you are right about good body shops. I happen to know the manager and the owner of the shop who did the work on my car. Unfortunately, I've had a couple of prior experiences with the shop involving my kids vehicles, so I know first hand what kind of work they do. Once the manager saw what kind of car I had and how particular I am about it he put his best tech, who happens to be a car enthusiast himself, on it. And the tech and I got to talk about the car before he started working on it.

I didn't even have to tell the manager I wanted OEM parts. He started out by saying that's how it was going to be done. And they replaced all the damaged parts with new parts even if they probably could have been repaired. For example my front wheel likely could have been repaired, but they replaced it with a brand new wheel. Now I have a spare front wheel that I am going to get repaired.

Shout out to Quality Collison East in Greenville, NC for doing a great job. I suppose that's why they have a 2 to 3 month wait for new jobs. And they even worked in the cost of having the PPF replaced into the cost, so I've got money to cover that once the paint cures.

[Odabo]

Aw man. Your ride looks fantastic. I'm glad your ordeal is over and you are back on the road again. I echo arpad's remarks about auto-body repair techs. Good ones are worth their weight.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by Odabo

Aw man. Your ride looks fantastic. I'm glad your ordeal is over and you are back on the road again. I echo arpad's remarks about auto-body repair techs. Good ones are worth their weight.

Thanks Odabo! I'm very pleased with the way in turned out.

My wife stopped by the shop last Friday to pick up the front tire so I'll have a spare wheel and tire once I get the wheel repaired. It was at the end of the day and the tech who repaired my car helped her. He told her that he kept the car a few extra days because he wanted it to be perfect and then asked her what I thought about his work. As you said the good ones are worth their weight.

[ZPirate]

This past weekend I installed a new 1LE emblem on the passenger side fender that was replaced after my accident in March. I wanted to wait a few weeks after getting the car back from the body for the paint to cure first. At least the car looks more symmetrical now. I've still got install the new hash mark on the passenger side too. Maybe I can get to it this weekend.

I also repaired my front wheel that was damaged in the accident. Insurance paid for a new wheel and tire, so now I have a spare. I got a quote from a wheel repair company to fix the wheel, but decided to fix it myself based on the cost of $125. I already had some touch up paint. However, once I prepped the wheel I tried the touch up paint using the small brush that came with it and didn't like the way it turned out. So I sanded it off and purchased an aresol can of paint from a local auto parts store. The spray paint turned out much better. I also had a can of clearcoat that I used to spray over the paint. I've painted some auto parts before. I think it turned out pretty good. The first two pictures are before and the second is after.

[6spdhyperblue]

Pretty good

What spray can did u use?

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by 6spdhyperblue

Pretty good

What spray can did u use?

Thanks. Not sure what the brand is. I had my local Advance Auto Parts store mix up a spray can of paint for me. It was a custom mix of Satin Graphite Metallic using the GM paint code. So I suppose its whatever paint brand they use.

[ZPirate]

My spare wheel and tire is now mounted up and ready to go. I just need to clean it up and ceramic coat it. I'm probably going to put this wheel and tire back on the car and keep the new wheel and tire as my spare so the wear on the front tires will be about the same.

[ZPirate]

Installed a new matte black hash mark on the passenger side fender today. Now all I need is to have PPF installed on the front facia and the front of the passenger side fender and the car will be put back the way it was prior to the accident.

I also cleaned and put the first layer of ceramic coating on my spare wheel. I was supposed to receive the new center cap I ordered for the wheel yesterday, but somehow USPS managed to send it from Massachusetts to Macon GA, completely bypassing NC. It's simply amazing how incompetent the USPS has become. Hopefully it will arrive on Tuesday as tracking is now showing.

[ZPirate]

Love this car. Great weather here in Eastern NC this weekend and I've been able to take her out for some great windows drives this weekend.