Body Shop Woes: Key Fob Debacle

[gathermewool]

Just got my car back from the body shop, and it feels good. SEE HERE for more information on that. The problem itself is still present, but having the car back feels great, especially after having driven an '06 Sonata for the past couple of weeks. The body shop fixed some of the issues I brought to their attention (including the headlight) and detailed the my Subie, inside and out. They did a very nice job.

Well, when I get home I hit the clicker to lock the doors and nothing happens. "Oh, great" I think to myself, "the battery is dead." Wait a second, the battery is less than two years old - I replaced it with a brand new Sony battery in October of 2011.

Upon examination, I noticed that the fob is a little more worn-looking than I recall, but not bad. When I flip it over, however, I notice the panic button is missing. I then easily popped the fob open (which I normally can't do very easily with freshly cut finger nails) and immediately noticed that the battery was upside-down. Popping the battery out revealed on that was scraped and old-looking.

I also made sure to measure the voltage of my old key-fob battery (it was giving me trouble with locking and unlocking at any kind of distance from the car) and the new one prior to installing it, and they are as follows:

Old (Panasonic): 2.945 VDC
New (Sony): 3.251 VDC

With the same Fluke 117 I used to obtain the two previous measurements:

Current (Also Sony): 3.030 VDC

So, there are two things that could have happened:

1. They swapped my batter with their old, dying battery, and [censored] up putting it back together.

2. They had more nefarious plans for copying my chip (or whatever the [censored] thieves do,) and [censored] up putting it back together.

What do you guys think happened, and what should be done? The body shop is closed now, but I emailed the manager.

 

[dishdude]

It looks like it got dropped.

 

[NMBurb02]

Is it your key fob? Did it lock/unlock the doors when the battery was installed correctly? If so, I'd buy into the dropped theory and a clumsy reassembly.

If they really wanted to steal the code in order to unlock the doors at some later day/time, they would probably do it with some sort of scanner that picks up the signal when the buttons are pressed and not have to open the case, much less pull out the battery. Also, it wouldn't do much good without an ignition key and I'm guessing that your key has a chip to turn on the car, which would also require copying.

 

[antiqueshell]

I think they damaged yours and found a dirty old replacement really cheap off of e bay, then they simply re-coded it and tried to pawn off the junk on you.

You better look closely at the rest of the work they did, and I would check the other parts of your car as well. Body shops have a bad reputation for a good reason, most are incompetent, and crooks in the worst cases.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
It looks like it got dropped.


It looks like what got dropped?

NOTE: The key fob was snapped together pretty well. You could peg it at the ground and it most likely would not come apart. From what I remember from swapping the battery, I ended up having to use a widget to get the fob open, because I was afraid I'd crack a nail trying to get it apart. I did it a few times, and while the first time was the hardest, it was still pretty darn snug each time I opened it.

Even if the case of the fob did some how come open, the battery is in there pretty snugly, as well.

The pictures of the key fob opened were taken after I opened it. The battery was found to be backwards. Notice the '-' side of the battery facing up, while the '+' indicator is on the opposite side of the fob to show you it's installed backwards.

Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
Is it your key fob? Did it lock/unlock the doors when the battery was installed correctly? If so, I'd buy into the dropped theory and a clumsy reassembly.

If they really wanted to steal the code in order to unlock the doors at some later day/time, they would probably do it with some sort of scanner that picks up the signal when the buttons are pressed and not have to open the case, much less pull out the battery. Also, it wouldn't do much good without an ignition key and I'm guessing that your key has a chip to turn on the car, which would also require copying.


Once I flipped the battery, everything worked perfectly. I just checked from my bedroom window, and the flashers winked at me to let me know it locks from ~50' away, too.

What you say about the fob makes sense, but I'm not sure whether there's a chip in the key itself.

What do you think the cause is?

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
I think they damaged yours and found a dirty old replacement really cheap off of e bay, then they simply re-coded it and tried to pawn off the junk on you.

You better look closely at the rest of the work they did, and I would check the other parts of your car as well. Body shops have a bad reputation for a good reason, most are incompetent, and crooks in the worst cases.


I've had to go back in several times to have them fix their mistakes. I asked each time that they LOOK A LITTLE HARDER, because I WILL find their mistakes.

1. Hood fitment: I didn't like how the fitment on one side of the hood lined up compared to the other side. Maybe not noticeable to any one else, but it was to me. They fixed it, but scraped the [censored] out of the paint on the hood in the process! They finally fixed this.

2. 1st rad replacement leaked. They replaced it, but forgot to plug BOTH fans back in. I only noticed when I went to fuel up and noticed while checking my oil that the coolant reservoir was EMPTY. The radiator had slowly boiled itself, even though the dummy gauge never indicated ANY change from normal-operating temp. They finally fixed this.

3. They replaced my under-splashguard, but didn't install the rear plastic clips. They said they'd take care of it, but when I took a peak underneath while coming to pick the car up, I noticed two new, shiny fasteners where the plastic clips should be. The freaking drilled, tapped and fastened the splash guard to the subframe! I removed and handed the fasteners to them, and after they said they looked for the clips for forever, I called the Subie parts guy and confirmed they existed in less than five minutes! This, too, was fixed.

4. The worst, and I'm not even sure how the [censored] they did it: they removed the intercooler and for god-only-knows why, decided to remove the Y-pipe that connects the intercooler to the turbo compressor outlet. Not only did they remove something that did NOT need to be removed, but they reused too-long fasteners and cracked the intercooler. Their excuse was that they used the bypass valve fasteners on the Y-pipe and vice-versa. That didn't answer the question of why the heck they touched that in the first place! They replaced mine with a brand new intercooler.

There are more examples, but these come to forefront of my recollection.

Sorry for the rant. Back to the fob

 

[gathermewool]

Oh, and I'm 100% certain the circuit board is the original. There are identifying markings that I recognize.

 

[fdcg27]

Who paid for these repairs?
Your insurance or a third party's insurance.
If it was someone else's liability coverage paying the bills, you can bet that they squeezed the body shop hard enough that the shop had to cut every corner they could to make a buck on the work.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Who paid for these repairs?
Your insurance or a third party's insurance.
If it was someone else's liability coverage paying the bills, you can bet that they squeezed the body shop hard enough that the shop had to cut every corner they could to make a buck on the work.


Everything was paid for through my insurance. Her's is balking due to the cost, but everything thus far has been paid for by my insurance.

 

[joaks]

I think they dropped, smashed, ran over or something the key fob and the battery was lost in the process.
What a fantastically lousy shop though! I would be in therapy by now if I went through all that!

 

[fdcg27]

Have you tried contacting your insurer about this?
If they were paying the shop, they would expect the shop to have properly completed the work they paid for.
You are owed an explaination about the fob.
The third party's insurer can balk at the cost, but you must have signed subrogation papers to have gotten repairs covered by your insurer, and they will get the money out of the third party's insurer, probably including your deductible.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: joaks
I think they dropped, smashed, ran over or something the key fob and the battery was lost in the process.
What a fantastically lousy shop though! I would be in therapy by now if I went through all that!


I deal with tradesmen and Navy personnel every single day. I'm used to having to exercise patience.

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Have you tried contacting your insurer about this?
If they were paying the shop, they would expect the shop to have properly completed the work they paid for.
You are owed an explaination about the fob.
The third party's insurer can balk at the cost, but you must have signed subrogation papers to have gotten repairs covered by your insurer, and they will get the money out of the third party's insurer, probably including your deductible.


I emailed the manager, asking for an explanation. I'm lucky enough to have a very good insurer, who paid to have all repairs completed prior to approval by the other woman's insurance.

I wasn't responsible for the deductible.

With regard to the mistakes, I haven't told my insurer anything thus far, because I wanted to ensure all repairs were made prior to complaining. Looking on the body shop's wall, they had A LOT of names listed under my insurance company, and while their manager seems eager to please, his minions seems nothing but inept, with no attention to detail.

 

[Dave Hess]

The manager could probably care less. Customer complaints go in one ear and out the other ear.

 

[antiqueshell]

@gathermewool:

My sympathies are extended to you regarding your experiences with the body shop in question.

I worked in the automotive repair business at the dealership level for decades, and five different stores in the service and body shop departments. In all cases except ONE store, the rest were owned by greedy, uncaring Principles, managed by equally uncaring, unethical managers, and staffed by mostly the same.

The best you can do when the work is lacking in quality is to return to the shop, and be firm and persistent in your quest to get satisfactory results. If you don't feel you are getting anywhere don't be afraid to contact the Insurer paying for the repairs they can be quite influential, also if necessary you might have to head to small claims court if they are unable or unwilling to produce satisfactory results.

The general understanding regarding body work that is done under insurance is that the vehicle is supposed to be returned to the state it was in PRIOR to the accident. Nothing less should be accepted.

 

[gathermewool]

The manager emailed back saying that he'll have a new battery and button by Monday.

I know for sure that I'll never use these guys again, unless it's to warrantee the parts they replaced.

 

[dparm]

This body shop sounds incompetent. I understand if there's a small issue here or there, but their "shortcuts" make me cringe.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Question for the OP: would you like me to send you my spare ClueStick? The body-shop idiots sound like prime candidates to use it on!

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Question for the OP: would you like me to send you my spare ClueStick? The body-shop idiots sound like prime candidates to use it on!


Oh, Jarlaxle! Entreri told me you were a clever one

 

[zzyzzx]

I'm adding this story to my list of reasons to only give them the key and keep the FOB.

 

[mrsilv04]

This is why I tell people that even though the rental car may be great, and that the insurance company may be swell... it is the *repairs* performed on *your car* by the *body shop* , that will linger long after the details of the accident are forgotten.