Body shop in tri-state area?

[stephen wilson]

Some idiot backed into my Boxster in the parking lot at work, any recommendations on body shops in the NJ/DE/PA area?

The worst part is, she hid the incident. I had to play CSI for 2 days to find out who did it, and confront her. At least she admitted it, but I don't know why she wasn't up-front in the first place. It was a company car, so she won't even have to pay for increased insurance rates or a deductable!?! It would have cost me my $500 ded. if I couldn't identify the other car. Our company HR person was furious with her!

I did search, and saw a shop in West Chester mentioned, so that is one option. I also plan on asking area dealers.

Thanks,
Steve

[JTP]

I'm curious, how did you track her down and prove it? I would loved to have seen her face when you found her.

[SeaNile31]

This place always has hi end cars in their shop. Many Ferrari, BMW, Porsche (including mine), Benz, etc have been fixed here. I've used them 2x and they are awesome.

http://www.cavalloautobody.com/

[stephen wilson]

I was actually kind of proud of myself for finding her! The security camera had gotten moved ( unrelated ) so I was just out-of-frame on 2 cameras. So I went thru the parking lot with a tape measure, looking for damage at the same height as where my car had been hit. It's surprising how many SUV's have scratched bumpers!! I only found one fairly good match, though there was very little damage to her SUV. Knowing what car to look for, I reviewed the camera footage. Her trajectory backing out looked to be right where my car had been. As confirmation, the next day she parked at the other end of the lot, instead of in her
normal spot. I didn't have a smoking gun, but I did my best Law & Order bluff, acting as if she had been shown on camera. Her reply: " Yeah, I did feel a little bump. Oh, was there damage?" Uuugh! In the camera footage, she hadn't even hesitated while pulling away.

Thanks for the recommendation, keep 'em coming.

Steve

[jmc777]

I also used Cavallo when I hit a deer with my 3 series. Excellent work and very professional.

[jcb986]

You are just one of many of her bump n' run. And she knew she hit, that's when she went forward. I am 65, we bump somebody, we get out and look, no damage no harm. If we have damage we leave our name and number. Old school, be responsible.

[Perfectlap]

Well if you're going to actually use your insurance (dind't know people actually do such things ) then I would call Quality Auto Body in Rahway, NJ. That's union county right off of route 1&9. They do work for Ray Catena Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Maybach. HIGH END... I stopped by for a quote one time and there was a powder blue Lambo sitting in the lot with extensive damage and right next to that was an Aston Martin that had huge gouges on the roof and side quarter panel. I guess those are not cars you take to just anyone.
They have one shop where the prep work is done and then the cars are driven to a second location where the paiting is done. If I recall correctly they quoted me about $500 per panel. I was looking to have my hood, front bumper and both fenders painted. So about $2K. Well obvsiously I found another spot that did a 99% good job for $800 including taking the new GT3 bumper out of storage for me.
But if its not on your dime take it to the best.

[AutoAtlanta]

I previously worked at Enterprise Rent A Car.

There is a body shop in FAIR LAWN NJ called UNITED AUTO.

We had a good amount of clients who had their cars repaired there from basic run of the mill to exotics and classic cars.

Their paint matching is SPOT ON, my customer crashed his 1988 BMW M3 and they restored it and you could not tell at all from paint to spot welds.

If you really want a top notch auto body repair facility check them out.



Leo

[stephen wilson]

Well, I'm waiting for the claims guy to come and appraise the damage. The only "good" part about this is the claim will be on the company's insurance, not mine. I just hope they don't give some low-ball estimate.

I wonder if they will repair or replace the dented fender? I assume the whole panels should be painted, instead of trying to blend-in the damaged area?

[Perfectlap]

^I would ASAP pre-empt their appraisal of the damage by getting an estimate from Quality Auto Body to set a high water mark. You can point out to your HR person that this is the go to auto body shop for the area's #1 Porsche dealership on volume (not sure if that's true but they're definitely up there) in the state. If Quality come in with a $2,000 estimate and your employer comes in with Maaco numbers they'll be hard-pressed to try and nickel and dime you on a high end car.
You have to get proactive here. That job needs to be seamless, black is one of the true PITA colors to match. I went through that twice on a previous black car.

[JTP]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

Well, I'm waiting for the claims guy to come and appraise the damage. The only "good" part about this is the claim will be on the company's insurance, not mine. I just hope they don't give some low-ball estimate.

I wonder if they will repair or replace the dented fender? I assume the whole panels should be painted, instead of trying to blend-in the damaged area?

That fender looks creased enough to need replacing it. It will cost more to try repairing that than replace with a new piece.
Also great story on your detective work! Can we expect to see a video of your crime scene re-enactment?

[stephen wilson]

Hah, sorry , no re-enactment video.

Well, to late for a pre-emptive appraisal, it's already done. He did allow for replacement of the fender though. I'll plan on getting some estimates next week, and see where I'm at.

[stephen wilson]

Well, I'm glad to report a happy ending to this story. I just got the car back from Classic Coachwork in West Chester, and it looks better than when I bought it. I paid a few extra bucks to have the whole front clip painted, getting rid of the chips & scratches that were on the car when I bought it. The only down-side is now I'm paranoid about road debris, and steep drives damaging the now pristine bumper under-side.

Now for some good driving weather......

Oh yeah, thankfully he noticed that the Insurance co. specified a standard headlight, instead of the Xenon, which costs over $900!

[SeaNile31]

Looks good! I'm still waiting for the roads to clear before taking my car out. Feel like the roads are never going to clear up.

[AutoAtlanta]

Looks good.