Body shop guys--I need help please

[GeaugaFletcher]

A guy on a -scooter- rear ended me a while back, cost of the repair was around $3,500. Cosmetic work is expensive. Fortunately, he was a stand-up guy and his insurance company took care of things quickly and without fuss of any kind.

Glad to hear that this is all panning out!

 

[Jimmy9190]

Me too. Thanks for the support. I really do believe my truck will be fine after all is said and done with the repairs. To look at the bright side, at least I won't have to do the drain, flush and refill on my coolant that was coming up in June. My Dakota is a good solid and very well-built truck. That is why I believe there was not even more damage done, and it is also why I think my truck will be fine after the repairs are completed. If I had been driving a smaller and/or lighter truck like a Chevy Colorado or a Toyota base model, well I think the damage would have been much more extensive, and mine and my gf's injuries would have been worse than what they are. No offense to Chevy or Toyota owners intended, those are just examples of a lighter truck than my own.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Well the body shop called today and said my truck was ready..I picked it up and overall am pretty satisfied with the work. They did a pretty good job, the only thing I am not very happy with is the front grille. It is definitely aftermarket and I don't like the fit and finish on it. It pooches out a bit at the bottom and at the top the small space between it and the hood is not consistently equal distance across the top of the grille. One thing that is nice about teh new grille though is the horizontal fins in the grille insert are painted to match the silver color of the grille and hood. It looks better that way, the old one had black fins.

Other than that, there were a few things I had to go back and re-do, like they mounted the mercury tilt switch on the hood for my alarm backwards and did not re-route the wire for it through the metal frame channels on the bottom side of the hood. They had to replace the battery tray and when I got the truck back the battery was not sitting level in the tray, it was propped up at one end on the top edge of the surface of the tray, and the battery cable ends were not as far down on the battery posts as I had them before the accident. When I fixed that I took the opportunity to clean the cable ends and battery posts and put a fresh coat of Vaseline on them to help stop corrosion. And they kind of left the wiring for my fog lights sort of wrapped up together up by the battery, but that is OK because since Allstate would not replace my aftermarket fog lights, I had the body shop install the bumper cover for a Dakota without fog lights, and I told them I would reinstall a set of fog lights myself later on.

I didn't like the way they had routed the hose for my windshield washer fluid pump so I re-routed it myself. They definitely used an aftermarket headlight assembly on the driver's side, so now I have to put some elbow grease into the passenger's side headlight to make them match as best I can. And they replaced a rubber flap on the inside edge of the driver's headlamp assembly with a very flimsy aftermarket part. It is a flap that goes between the light assembly and the edge of the hood. I'll have to pick up a factory one at a junk yard some time.

The nice thing is the new AC condenser, the new radiator and the new fan shroud are definitely good quality parts from what I had before. The strange thing is they had to R&R both side view mirrors, I don't know if that is an insurance requirement or they just did it to keep paint off of the mirrors. The mirrors don't look new, so I have no idea why that was done. I can tell they had the door panels off though, the window handles are in different positions now.

All in all the imperfections were very minor and were things that only I would notice. They did a pretty good job considering Allstate had said they would pay to fix the truck but the limit was $4,050.00. The final bill came to $4,035.00. No, the truck is not exactly like it was before, but I think it is an acceptable repair. I checked every single function on my truck except the 12 volt socket, and the test drive was good, no odd new noises or driveability problems. I consider myself very lucky that Allstate repaired my truck instead of totaling it out. Here is a link to some pics I took today, click on the previous and next arrows on the right side of the page and you can flip through it like an album. I even threw in a couple shots of my garage.

http://yfrog.com/jnp1010014tj

Thanks everybody for all the help and support here. It sure is good to have my truck back home again.

 

[mrsilv04]

Good to hear it Jimmy.

I know what you mean when you speak of the little things that just aren't right. I know that it is annoying, but you gotta remember that the guys in the shop work on so many vehicles a year, that they simply can't remember exactly how the windshield washer hose was ran when it came in. Those are the little adjustments that you can easily do yourself.... and then you're happy when it is done.

Even though all OEM parts were used when my truck was repaired, we still ran into issues where something didn't fit worth a darn. OEM parts aren't what they used to be either. The new GM tailgate on my truck feels like it weighs about half as much as the old one.... and we had to get a used tail light for my truck, after the brand new OEM one simply didn't fit well at all.

Are there any shims on the grille that need to be removed.... or some that need to be added? That may be worth complaining to the Allstate adjuster about, to see if they'd allow you take it back to the body shop and have them take another look at it... or to see if they'd install a different one. This is a good example where sometimes a used part may be better than a new one (like my tail light).

The Allstate adjuster may want to take a look at it, if it is fairly obvious that the fit isn't there.

Actually, it probably isn't the grill... It appears that grill mounts to a grille bracket that may need to be bent or tweaked a little to make the grille fit better.

Look at your paperwork..... did you get a new grille bracket or did they reuse the old one?

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks for the support. I didn't mind at all to have to correct the things the body shop missed. The things I had to fix were things that only I would have noticed, since I was the one who did the work in the first place, like the fog lights and tilt switch for the alarm. In fact I fully expected to find some odds and ends to go back over. But the body shop manager, the repair tech or someone else should have seen the battery was mounted incorrectly. It was the first thing I saw when I popped the hood.

The final bill/estimate sheet they gave me says they replaced the grille and the grille bracket. I stopped at the body shop on my way to work today and they said that they "had to do the job with aftermarket parts and sometimes with aftermarket parts you get an aftermarket fit". There are no shims or adjustments on the new grille or bracket. They also told me they had to cut costs on parts and absorb some labor in order to be able to repair my truck, which they did because the truck is in such good shape. That may very well be, and I am very grateful they went to bat for me and fixed the truck but I have a suspicion there is something funny going on between the body shop and Allstate. I could try to call Allstate and complain about the parts but I would probably get the same song and dance from them as I got this morning at the body shop.

All the parts the body shop used on my truck still have stickers on them that say "Made in Taiwan". I think I will try to find a U.S. made, factory, original Dakota or Durango grille bracket at a couple of good You-Pull-It type junk yards I know of around here. I hope that if I can find one that A. they yard is willing to separate the grille from the bracket, one is no good without the other and B. The Dodge grille bracket solves the problem. I will check at a couple of Dodge dealers for a new OEM bracket, but like you, I can't even be sure that will fix the problem with even OE parts being outsourced. And there is no refund on special ordered parts.

My other brilliant idea is to take the bracket they used and bend it to make the grille sit more flush with the hood and bumper. It's not off by much, about a 10 or 12 degree bend should fix the problem. I thought I could remove the grille from the bracket and remove the bracket from the truck, then use the existing screw holes in the bracket to screw it down good and solid to the lower shelf on my workbench. Then I can use the 4 or 5 screw holes in the bracket that are for the grille attachment screws and screw a 3 foot lenghth of a 2x4 to that side of the bracket. Then I can use foot pressure and press down in the center of the 2x4 and the use of the 2x4 would give a uniform bend in all 3 legs of the bracket. I could bend it a little and keep test fitting it on the truck till it looks OK. The problem there is if I bend it to move the bottom of the grille further in, the top of the grille will move further out. My old grille had a gasket behind it but the new one does not. I thought if I have to bend the bracket I could get a piece of rubber or foam rubber, or maybe a section of the black trim they sell for the door edge to put in there and fill in any gap created by bending the grille bracket.

I checked the grille on another Dakota in the parking lot here at work today. My grille is not off by much but it is bad enough that I want it corrected, one way or another. The fit and finish on the new grille is really bad.

Other than that, it sure is good to be driving my truck again. I was grateful to have that little Hyundai rental car but I did not like the car very much. I did like the XM radio it had but it was a very uncomfortable car to drive for a tall person like me. It would have been nice if it had cruise control.

Thanks for the help here.

 

[mrsilv04]

I'd call the Allstate adjuster and let him know that you're not satisfied with the fit of the grille. You may just get a supplemental out of him, to take it back to the body shop so they can spend some more time on it.

If I were you, I'd tell the Allstate adjuster that you're happy with everything else except that. He may want to take a look at it.

If you'd rather tackle it yourself, I think you just need to spend some time gently bending that bracket, to get the bottom of that grille tipped inwards.... or as you mentioned, try to get a OEM bracket out of a salvage yard.

I'd think there's more junkyard demand for the grille than there is for the bracket, since some grilles probably get ruined by nothing more than hitting a good sized bird. In that case, the bracket would more than likely not need to be replaced.

And yes, you're right. These body shops and insurance companies sure do seem like they're in bed together.

 

[Jimmy9190]

An update--I called and complained about the grille to the Allstate Claims rep today, she was very helpful and apologetic. She said she would refer it back to the adjuster. About 3:30 this afternoon the adjuster called me and said he had already talked to the body shop manager about it and told him to order a new OEM grille, get it painted and replace the aftermarket grille. He said he told the shop manager to do whatever it takes to make the truck look right and keep me happy.

I haven't heard back from the shop manager yet, and I am really in no hurry anyway. But the Allstate folks have been very good about this whole thing, except for the delay in authorizing the rental and the delay in authorizing the repairs on my truck.

The adjuster even told me that the shop manager himself said the grille was not correct and the fit was badly off. I guess the shop manager and his assistant that I talked to yesterday figured they would let it slide and only fix it if I complained about it. I imagine the junky aftermarket grille costs a lot less than an OE grille from Dodge, so the shop made more money on the job.

I hope they do fix it with an OE grille. Thanks for the help here.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Another update--and what I hope is the final update. The body shop changed out the grille today. The new one is an OEM Dodge part, with Dodge part numbers on it and it fits perfectly. It has the factory sealing gasket behind it on the top edge, and it has the correct black fins in the grille too.

Why the body shop could not use the right part the first time, especially when even the shop manager himself said the first one did not fit or look right, is beyond me.

Thanks for all the help here.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
Another update--and what I hope is the final update. The body shop changed out the grille today. The new one is an OEM Dodge part, with Dodge part numbers on it and it fits perfectly. It has the factory sealing gasket behind it on the top edge, and it has the correct black fins in the grille too.

Why the body shop could not use the right part the first time, especially when even the shop manager himself said the first one did not fit or look right, is beyond me.

Thanks for all the help here.


Good to hear it, Jimmy. Glad you're pleased with it.