My LR3 is in the body shop!!! #$%&

[jesus_man]

Hey Todd, ask what a full set of plastic would run you. Maybe it'd be worth getting it all replaced if it's faded bad.

As far as the repair, raise it up to the offroad mode, and look under where they patched any panels. Typically they'll shortcut where you can't see too much. I went to a highly recommended shop once when my F-150 was rear ended. It bent the bumper down which contacted the bed of the truck. When I got the truck back, the bumper was at least 1" out of level, and that caused me to look under the truck to find they just straightened the brackets that held the bumper instead of replacing them. They didn't have much rear end after I found that out.

Just make sure you're completely happy before you leave the shop.

J.D.

 

[morrisdl]

I have found the color is good, but often the clearcoat is often orange peel. Look to see how clear the reflection in the paint is or isnt. Even finishes from the factory have gotten really poor.

 

[jesus_man]

At least with orange peel, they should be able to wet-sand and get that looking better.

J.D.

 

[toddjb122]

Time for an update as I have had the vehicle back for a couple weeks now.

The quoted time for the repair was 7-10 days, they ended up having my truck for 3.5 weeks. That last week was because I rejected the work the first time around.

I am continually amazed how poor even a highly recommended body shop can be. The shop I went to has the capability to do good work, they just initially missed all the details and it can only be because most people don't look! I think people pick up cars, look at the color, and if that matches they go home.

This is the list of items I noticed when inspecting my repair;

* light under door did not work.
* door bumper missing
* one large shallow body dent under corner of passenger side window.
* one large shallow body dent under corner of quarter panel side window.
* missing child seat lock sticker.
* missing seat folding instructions sticker.
* large patch of dull paint on inside of door frame

They fixed all items without any argument. No apology really, but no push back. I suppose they had to repaint the side after they refilled the dents.

There was one item I highlighted as obvious which they said was not related to the work. If I stand on my rear bumper and look down at the roof rack, the metal underneath the roof rack on the left side is black, and on the right side it was silver. Since they had worked on the right side I had assumed they had tied in the quarter panel all the way up there and had forgotten a piece of rubber stripping or paint. They said it must have always been that way because they didn't work up there.

Anyway, now that I have the truck back it looks very good. Only noticeable difference is the new body molding is a little darker.

My initial concerns were that I did not want it to be obvious that the truck had been in an accident. I'm sure an appraisal shop could still figure it out, but a Joe Shmoe like myself should not be able to look and obviously know something was different. That isn't how things looked when I first picked it up, but now it looks fine.

Body shops...what a pain in the ass.

On the flip-side, I had a Chevy Tahoe as a loaner while the truck was in the shop. I really liked it. More comfortable seats, loads of width space, and a very nice ride. Only thing I never got used to were the size of it for parking and a large blindspot in the back. I also did not like the rear seat configuration but I hear they do have models which fold flat in the back. Anyway, I was surprised I liked it. Also, the gas mileage was the same and I didn't have to put premium in the tank. Food for thought, anyway....

 

[huelsmma]

Good to hear you got your lr3 back. I had a 2008 Yukon (pretty much same as Tahoe) and traded it in for my lr3. Don't regret it a bit. The rear seats were a joke. They don't fold flat, you can't store them anywhere and they're 75lbs for each section. My wife didn't feel comfortable driving it bc of the large blindspots and overall size. But hey...parts were def cheaper

 

[jesus_man]

Glad you got your rig back. It's so frustrating dealing with body shops and insurance companies. Hope this shop has a warranty on their work!

My wife liked the Tahoe some friends of ours have. I'll admit, it was a nice rig, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a chevy. Luckily all the used ones we looked at had one or more major features missing that we wanted. I was thankful we didn't find those features.

J.D.