chrisd6875

Hey Guys, I just got rear - ended last week and now I need to drop off the car at a body shop. I had a car fixed at a Faulkner collision shop in the past with poor results. Also had a car fixed at a small two man shop and was satisfied with thier work. Any ideas on this pro or con? I'm leaning towards the small shop.
Thanks,
Chris.

1998Slow 'Stang

just out of curiosity, are you getting a 2000 Base model (v6) fixed?

chrisd6875

yes..

05 Mustang

sounds like this should be an easy decision.....

big shop = you're not happy
small shop = you're happy

97stanger

I work for an insurance company and write estimates/deal with body shops as my career and it really depends on the area and their reputation. I deal with large dealerships that do awesome work also

chrisd6875

Thanks, I actually chose the larger shop this time. After speaking with both and visiting the larger shop, I was impressed with thier equipment and facility. Plus this particular incident might be too much for the smaller shops as was previously mentioned by another member here. I noticed now that both doors do not line up at the top, where the window meets the weather stripping. It looks like the body may have twisted, one door is high and one is low.

97stanger

just curious, how does a rearender result in your doors not lining up?

chrisd6875

I'm not sure if these cars can twist. When the estimator looked at it, he said that it may have twisted. The car was hit slightly harder on one side of the rear. The front edge of the rear quarter actually hit the passenger door edge, then bounced back. That same quarter also has a buckle at the bottom. The door gap on the passenger side is much smaller than the gap on the driver side. The estimator also said they might be able to pull it back into postion.

97stanger

thats usually an indicator that you have rear frame rail damage...i see that happen a lot because energy has to travel somewhere, and it goes from the rail to the qp/rear door, I'm surprised with a hit like that if its involving fram/quarter/rear door, pull time, rearend damage etc they didnt advise you of the possibility of a total loss