Charger Damaged by shop! Whats fair?

[challenger70]

I have had my Charger at a shop for a while now, and after extensive sheetmetal replacement (Full Floor, Full Trunk, Torsion Bar Mount, Inner and outer whellhouses rear Crossmember, leafspring mount, package tray, Driver rear 1/4) waiting for him to finish up the subframe connectors, torsion boxes and inner fender braces the car got damaged on the passenger side, basically he pulls it out during the day to make room while working on other cars and one day he hit a dumpster and scraped/dented the Passenger 1/4 and the handle caught and buckled the door and broke the handle.  I was planning on replacing the passenger 1/4 next year because it has already cost me a fortune to get this far, but now with this he said he will cut me a deal on replacing it.  the door was fine and had nice paint on it but the car would have needed at least some paint on the rear 1/4's anyway the rest of the car has "descent" paint needing just a touch up here and there.  He is replacing the door which will need paint now and offered me a "deal" on replacing the passenger 1/4(labor) I'll order the 1/4 myself.  What do you think?  It was an accident and he is a stand up guy and does great work, so I don't want to be a dick, just get a fair deal.  Is that fair?

[Troy]

So he damaged a part that he hadn't replaced yet but is going to give you a deal on replacing it? If your car was in an accident while driving would you give the other driver (or their insurance company) a deal on parts you were going to replace any way? No, you'd expect them to repair the car to at least the same condition it was in before they wrecked it (usually better). The shop decided to move the car. That decision caused damages to your car. They need to fix it - no matter what you had planned. How fast was it moving to rip the handle off the door?

The shop should have insurance to cover damages to your car while it's in their possession (or they should have told you to purchase insurance to cover it if they didn't). My guess is the deal is so he doesn't have to file a claim (or he's double dipping - hitting you and the insurance for the same repair). A sneaky shop might even "accidentally" mess up your car to generate more business but if you trust this shop that may not be the case.

Having said that, good body shops are hard to find and the last thing you want to do is make them mad and rush the repairs or lose a good shop when you're only partially done with the car. You'll end up paying someone else to fix it again (if you can find someone else). It sounds like you already have a bunch of money in the car and you've still got a long way to go. Is this a really great deal he's offering or a small discount?

Troy

[challenger70]

Having said that, good body shops are hard to find and the last thing you want to do is make them mad and rush the repairs or lose a good shop when you're only partially done with the car. You'll end up paying someone else to fix it again (if you can find someone else). It sounds like you already have a bunch of money in the car and you've still got a long way to go. Is this a really great deal he's offering or a small discount?

Troy

Exactly, not sure on the discount, the way I am trying to look at it is the 1/4 was getting replaced anyway, so as long as the discount covers the cost to paint a door I am square...

[Rolling_Thunder]

well i think he is making a fair deal - if you were going to replace the 1/4 later on and he knew that - he might just be making it easier from his point of view...    what is the point of fixing the 1/4 now with dent pulling and filler when you plan on replacing it down the road anyway ?

Things like these happen - if the car was in for say - an engine swap and damage occurred to the body then by all means they fix it -  but if they are already doing bodywork it is a toss up IMO.

I'm sure if you told them simply you think they are solely responsible for repairing the damage they would probably do it without argument - but this way (cutting you a deal) they are making money on panel replacement (which it sounds you plan on doing down the road later) -

maybe just sit down and shoot out ideas.  

[Dans 68]

So he is replacing the damaged passenger door and handle, only now it does not have paint. Is that a problem for you? Will he prime/paint/protect the door as much as he has the already replaced drivers rear quarter? Were you going to paint the whole car or had you planned only to paint the rear quarters once they were replaced? I understand not wanting to be "unreasonable" and possibly upset the shop people, but you have to weigh the added cost of having the door painted versus getting a deal on the passenger quarter. If his offer is giving you pause then he is not compensating you enough. If the shop is not also painting your car, then find out how much more to paint a door would be and then weigh the costs.

Got pics?    Good luck and post them when you can.

Dan

[challenger70]

So he is replacing the damaged passenger door and handle, only now it does not have paint. Is that a problem for you? Will he prime/paint/protect the door as much as he has the already replaced drivers rear quarter? Were you going to paint the whole car or had you planned only to paint the rear quarters once they were replaced? I understand not wanting to be "unreasonable" and possibly upset the shop people, but you have to weigh the added cost of having the door painted versus getting a deal on the passenger quarter. If his offer is giving you pause then he is not compensating you enough. If the shop is not also painting your car, then find out how much more to paint a door would be and then weigh the costs.

Got pics?    Good luck and post them when you can.

Dan

This shop just does fabrication/welding/metal work/replacement, not bodywork or paint.  If the paint was 100% I would be really pissed, but it had a few scrapes here/there and now the 2 rear 1/4's/Passenger door will obviously need paint.  My plan was to just get the repaired areas painted and touch up the other areas, until (many years) down the road it comes apart for a full resoration for a descent driver paint job.  I have pics at home I can post later. 

The other problem I have is I had 2 '69 doors and he ordered a '68 door, so I will have 1 of each, is that problem other than where the door lock button is located? (planned on fixing that anyway).

[69bronzeT5]

If he is going to give you a deal on the quarter you were going to replace anyways, then that seems like a fair deal. I had to re-read it again. The first run though I thought he crunched it but was going to give you a fair deal to fix it.

[moparguy01]

If my vehicle was damaged by a shop I took it to, I would ensure the vehicle was put back to the same condition that it was in when it arrived, or better. Myself I would tell him the 1/4 panel and door repair is on him, as well as getting the parts painted to match the car, and if they didn't like it then they would be talking with my insurance company who would be suing them, since thats why I pay insurance, so i don't have to mess with it.

[challenger70]

If he is going to give you a deal on the quarter you were going to replace anyways, then that seems like a fair deal. I had to re-read it again. The first run though I thought he crunched it but was going to give you a fair deal to fix it.

The 1/4 got scraped pretty bad and a small dent, which is moot when you replace it anyway.  The door took the brunt of the damage when the handle caught, at least it wasn't the side he already repaired, that would have been 100% his dime for sure.  Basically some bonehead previous owner just put a repair panel over the damaged/rotted one on both 1/4's, the passenger side was "close enough" to attach the outer wheelhouse to, so I was going to wait 'till I had more money to fix it.  The Drivers side was off by a mile and had to get done in order to attach the outer wheelhouse.

[hemi-hampton]

It's much easier to put outer rear wheel houses in when you got the 1/4's off. If I was to put new trunk in & both wheel house's & drive side 1/4 you might of well just put the pass side 1/4 on while you were at it from the start. Then you automatically blend into the back halves of the doors anyways for color match unless you want a 2 tone car, or get lucky or spend hours Tinting.    LEON.

[Tilar]

It was an accident and he is a stand up guy and does great work, so I don't want to be a dick, just get a fair deal.  Is that fair?

As hard as it is to find a good body man that will work on these old cars and stand behind his work, If you feel it's a fair deal to both of you, and it sounds like it is than run with it.

[Charger440RDN]

I would ask him for a discount on the paint job too if you plan to have them paint it.

[challenger70]

I would ask him for a discount on the paint job too if you plan to have them paint it.

They don't do paint, mainly race car fabrication and stuff like this.  I tried to upload the pics but their too big.

[68charger383]

So your getting the passenger 1/4 done for free, you just have to pay for the replacement panel now instead of later. Sounds like you got a good deal to me if you can swing the cost of the replacement panel.

If you'll be taking the car in to another guy for some low cost paint work on the 1/4s and now have to have the door sprayed, find out the cost to spray the door, show tis guy and have him do some extra work on the car for that cost.

Don't burn your bridge, barter the damage out with the guy.   

[Silver R/T]

I understand you said that you were going to replace 1/4..so then you buy it and he will install if for free...that would be fair, no?

[challenger70]

I understand you said that you were going to replace 1/4..so then you buy it and he will install if for free...that would be fair, no?

Well Free would be a great deal, he just said "give me a deal" on it.  The "deal" remains to be seen.  He farms out the panel replacement to another guy if he gave it to me for his cost I'd be mostly happy, and for free I'd be really happy. 

[66chargerkid]

Regardless of your later intentions, I would want him to back up what he did 100%.
If you were keeping the quarter its obvious it wasnt in dire need of replacement right? It was somewhat presentable? Well now he has made it not so.
Its like if you were hit on the road and your bumper had a crack in the lower corner and it was still presentable and you were gonna get it fixed eventually but the other driver demolishs it. Its no excuse for the other driver to say he will only pay for another screwed up bumper while you fork the rest to make it presentable again.
He needs to repair the damage he did and if he wants business and cares about his customers he will be humble about it.

[NGC414]

Given the situation, Sounds like a good deal to me. If it was something you planned to replace anyway, its a good opportunity to get it done cheaper.