Transmission Shop wrecked my Charger

[THE STIG]

I've been at work all weekend and the tranny shop has been closed. Just to reiterate, I called and spoke to someone at the shop on Thursday and he said I owe them $300 for the tranny work and the damage was $800 so he offered to let me come get the car and $500 and be done with it he also mentioned that they could "fix it there" I said no to the $500 I want my car fixed. The next day the owner called me but I missed the call as I work nights and was asleep. He said he intends to "make this right" and call him back but I was in no mood to talk to him on Friday so I let it go. Today I'm goin to call an associate of my mom's who has a body shop but no longer works on old cars but I'll ask him to go check it out for me and that will hopefully do 2 things, 1. Give me a real idea of what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost and 2. Tell these clowns at the tranny shop I'm not playing around. I'm not looking for a total restoration here but I do want the damage they did fixed. My car may not win any trophys at any car shows but it is mine and they broke it therefore they should fix it.

 

[tpodwdog]

stick to your guns dude....re-read my earlier post...then read it again,,,,,then again...

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

I've been at work all weekend and the tranny shop has been closed. Just to reiterate, I called and spoke to someone at the shop on Thursday and he said I owe them $300 for the tranny work and the damage was $800 so he offered to let me come get the car and $500 and be done with it he also mentioned that they could "fix it there" I said no to the $500 I want my car fixed. The next day the owner called me but I missed the call as I work nights and was asleep. He said he intends to "make this right" and call him back but I was in no mood to talk to him on Friday so I let it go. Today I'm goin to call an associate of my mom's who has a body shop but no longer works on old cars but I'll ask him to go check it out for me and that will hopefully do 2 things, 1. Give me a real idea of what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost and 2. Tell these clowns at the tranny shop I'm not playing around. I'm not looking for a total restoration here but I do want the damage they did fixed. My car may not win any trophys at any car shows but it is mine and they broke it therefore they should fix it.

I am perplexed by this whole thing, why are you not having your insurance adjuster go look at the car and price out the damage or have 2 body shops send a guy over for free to price it up? Wouldn't it be simpler to just have your insurance take care of it and move on? Then just pay the shop for the trans work and be done? All shops have access to AMD catalog so they could repair it. every part that needs to be fixed can be bought from year one or classic industries. Why not have the insurance deal with it? Or is there no insurance on it? In CAL we have to have it or you can not register the car period.

 

[moparmaniac10]

I have owned/ran a bodyshop for 20 years, and to put it in perspective, I had a 200o dodge ram that got keyed on the bed, drivers door, and part of the front fender and I got $1200 from the insurance company, when I repaired and repainted it. If the damages are what you say, I would say there is probably between $2000 and $3000 worth of damages, if it is done correctly.

 

[THE STIG]

My insurance is PLPD only they won't deal with it other than come and look at it and guess the cost and if they are busy with other claims it a crap shoot as to when the can get around to it.. The car has been at the tranny shop for 4 weeks today, when my wife gets home we're going to get the car and take it to my body guy and go from there. The body guy told me from the pics he's seen and what I've told him he's also guessing at least $2000 since the last Charger he did came out to $1200 for a new bumper and a ding in the quarter panel. The last two times I went in there with the intent to pay for the tranny work and take the car home they would'nt take payment or give me the car, that won't be acceptable today.

 

[hunt2elk]

Sounds like you should be looking for a new insurance company. Your company should take care of everything and then go after the shop to get reimbursed.

 

[Pugly]

Wow that sucks. I own my shop also, We rarely damage cars but fix them if we do. We have had a couple of bad situations with customers though, We had one Chevy Truck with a fiberglass rear bumper, the kind with the lights in it. The owner claimed that we cracked the left side of it and demanded that we pay to get it fixed... Normally not a problem but the right side had chunks missing out of it. I was like WTF for? You want me to fix a broken part? I offered to split a bumper with him and he went irate....

So how do you fix a dented rusty part?

I also wouldn't go into the shop yelling and screaming yet..I have a rule at my shops that people who treat us disrespectfully get put further back in line. Right now it's uncalled for.

I would get an estimate to fix it, and be honest with the body shop and shop owner. Some kind of adjustment would need to be made for the damage already there. If you already have another valance, maybe he could pay the labor and part of the paint, seeing that you were going to change it anyway.


Don't go into his shop and start loading up stuff to cover your damage either.... No matter even if you got a contract, in Texas, that's theft, and probably in your state also.

He also cannot keep your car. If you settle the bill he has to release it. Even if' it's damaged, If he refuses, call the cops, settle the bill in front of them and get your car.

 

[THE STIG]

These guys are kind of Jekyl and Hyde I went in to get the car and pay my bill and the dude was like "Okay" I paid and then left, told him I was going to a body shop and he said "Okay let us know" First they try to shaft me then they're all cool about it. The body guy told me to get $1500 out of him and try and score a good used lid. The only problem there is finding the good used deck lid I did see one on another forum but it's in Canada and shipping may be more than the cost of the lid. But I'm not asking for a total ground up restore just to fix what the damaged and I'll split the cost of the new valance and pay to have my other bumper rechromed the rest can cover the labor to pull the dents in the rear panel.

 

[Pugly]

Let us know what happens...........

 

[THE STIG]

Let us know what happens...........

The latest is I took the car to a hole in the wall shop that the Tranny guy recomended. Whan I got there the dude acted like he maybe didn't want to work on my car due to some of the other rust issues it has. Then the tranny guy called me a few days later and left a voicemail and told me that if I want I can take it back there to have the work done when ever I'm ready, so I bought a valance from sombody on one of these forums and when it gets here I'll be taking it back to the shop.