My Vibe is having a terrible month... (rant warning)

[ZubenElGenubi]

My Vibe is having a terrible month, and so am I.About three weeks ago, a couple of guys were seen trying to break in my Vibe at a retail parking lot here in the Houston area. A Houston PD officer was working duty there (wonder why?) and a witness helped provide a description of the perps. The jerks destroyed the front passenger door handle and scratched through the paint trying to get in. Idiots...haven't they ever hear of a Slim Jim? Got an estimate the next day from a State Farm-approved body shop (a GM dealership, no less). Three days and $900+! OUCH! But I decide to go ahead and get it done (and have some additional work done on the rear bumper). The shop gets my Vibe on a Tuesday morning. Friday afternoon, I call to check on the status of the work. "Sorry, but our computer system went down and we had to have another estimate done for the insurance company and just got it started today." I went there right after work and got them to agree to pick up the rest of the car rental (I was paying for it out-of-pocket because this was a "comprehensive" claim...no rental coverage for that).Memorial Day weekend comes and goes. I call on Tuesday afternoon to check on the status. "We're waiting for a new door handle to come in." Wednesday...same. Thursday...same. Friday afternoon they call to say it's ready. I get there, pay my thousand bucks (deductible plus other work) and go out to look over the car. "Hmmm, the back bumper sure looks shiny, " I think to myself. I look up close...NO, it can't be!I drive the car out of the shaded pickup area and into the sunlight to have another look. Sure as hell, they painted the car with a solid black base instead of metallic ("Abyss" is a metallic black). ALL the paintwork was done this way, not just the bumper, but also the door. AUGHHHH!I walk back inside and have the guys come out and look. Yep, looks like they messed up and will have to do all the paint over again.I'm heading over to the shop Monday at 7:00 AM; hope nobody gets hurt!

Attached files

[ZubenElGenubi]

Just an update: Dropped off the Vibe and nobody got hurt. Bummed that they wouldn't loan me a G6, though.

[Mr. Poopypants]

I wouldn't trust that body shop at all if they can't even get paint colors to match up.

[ArcsVibe]

I would talk to the service manager and show him the list of errors and other things that were not done to your satisifaction. See what his response is. If you are not happy with it go speak to the owner of the dealership.Seriously if they can't match the paint, (removed)??!!!Best wishes to you and I am sure your luck will get better BTW did they at least pay the loaner for you and what did they give you?

[ZubenElGenubi]

You'd think a GM dealership bodyshop would be able to match paint, for cripes sakes! That was one of the reasons I went with them, plus they're an affiliate with State Farm (my insurance co) and they're close by.Right now, I really can't ask for much more than to have the job done correctly. They ARE picking up the rental, which is a '05 Grand Am (eh, it's okay).I forgot to add that they buffed out and repainted some bad scrapes on my front fascia at no charge (extra work I'd requested)...but it was painted wrong as well! Since that wasn't on the ticket, I hope they remember to fix that too! (Dang...I'm probably gonna have to call them in the morning and remind them...)

[BruiserVibe]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »You'd think a GM dealership bodyshop would be able to match paintYeah really. They obviously don't know their own cars...

[nismo]

There really aren't many colors out there for the Vibe, I dunno how they mess that one up. O well. Good luck with your ride bro.Inder

[NUBlackshirts]

I feel your pain. Within the past month, I caught a large clod of dirt from a truck driving in front of me on the highway. Put a nice big divot in the clearcoat on the hood. Yesterday we had high winds and some moron let his door fly open into the side of my Vibe. Put a nice gash in the driver's side rear door along the trim piece. At least it was on the trim and not in the metal itself. I was not happy to say the least.

[ZubenElGenubi]

"Abyss" is a Toyota color? What's the Toyota name equivalent? Black Sand Pearl? (The GM code is 19U) That's all news to me.

[ZubenElGenubi]

I'm sitting in the GM dealership...it's not ready yet...more later

[ZubenElGenubi]

Okay, here's the latest.I got a call this afternoon from the shop saying the Vibe was ready. I'm overjoyed it was only two days!I got down there, dropped off the rental and walked over to the shop. They bring it out and I immediately move it out of the shade to give it a once over... and well, they painted it, but the paint was only the slightest hint of metallic. I spent a good 5-7 minutes before I took the keys back to the service rep and told them to do it again. I really debated about this, but it came down to two things. First, I spent over $1,000 having this work done. Second, I was convinced that if I'd seen this paint job the FIRST time, I still would have asked them to redo it.I also took ArcsVibe's advice and spoke with the service manager. Hopefully, he'll look into things and make sure this ends up well.Just a side note: I was discussing metallic paint finishes with someone and they said it's very difficult to match. Is that true? If so, why wouldn't they paint a larger area, if not the entire car? I dunno about that, all I know is that I miss my Vibe, even if they've got me in a MonteCarlo now.

[ArcsVibe]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »I also took ArcsVibe's advice and spoke with the service manager. Hopefully, he'll look into things and make sure this ends up well.Please make sure to be on his case to make this right according to YOUR standards. You have to be completely satisfied, 100%. You are paying them to make it right.Good luck again! Keep us posted

[VGT]

I like the fact that you're making them spend their own money to pay for it yet again. That'll teach them (Hopefully) to learn to to the job right the first time.

[ZubenElGenubi]

Quote, originally posted by VGT »I like the fact that you're making them spend their own money to pay for it yet again. That'll teach them (Hopefully) to learn to to the job right the first time. That certainly wasn't my intent (i.e., to make them spend more money), but they did give me a "lifetime" warranty covering "defects in parts, materials, or workmanship". I'm just holding them to it.

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »Just a side note: I was discussing metallic paint finishes with someone and they said it's very difficult to match. Is that true? If so, why wouldn't they paint a larger area, if not the entire car? I dunno about that, all I know is that I miss my Vibe, even if they've got me in a MonteCarlo now. I don't know the technical aspects, but my salsa Vibe was rear ended, local (not dealer) bodyshop filled the scrapes and repainted the bumper to match. It is a perfect match. Had a Lexus before that was sideswiped while parked. Different body shop, but not a dealer, matched the paint perfectly. It was also metallic. So it can be done.

[ZubenElGenubi]

Third time's a charm...Got the call that the Vibe was ready (again) and I went to the body shop right after work. This time the estimator brought my Vibe out into the sunlight for me to check out.Finally! The paint matched very well and was nice and clean. I don't know if any of you with Abyss Vibes have noticed this, but in bright sunlight, the flake appears multicolored (not monochromatic). They nailed it this time.Even though the final work looks great, I obviously can't endorse this shop. I won't publicly rat them out either. Not yet anyway. Okay, time to get to work on those mods....

[ArcsVibe]

Glad to see that they FINALLY got it right! Now go outside and enjoy your Vibe