Glad I don't work in the auto service industry...

[A Horse With No Name]

So dropped by my fav. body shop to check on a truck our company owns, that is getting some mechanical work done.

They were doing a cleanup on a car a customer had brought in...a Cadillac with a very dirty interior. Everyone thought the interior of the car was black....owner of the shop actually found a few pieces from a car with a black interior in a local yard...

They start cleaning...car has a saddle/Tan leather interior..car is a Cadillac...after three hours of running a shop vac, an industrial strength steam cleaner, and dumping aquarium levels of water on the carpets, they are still pulling stuff out that looks like a chocolate milk shake....

They have a whole crew cleaning the car for a whole day....and I was there when the woman picks up her car....she complains that it smells slightly of detergent, and says that she's not totally satisfied....

Seriously...they had to dye a few places darker brown to match the cruddy leather...whole interior is about the color of coffee with a little bit of cream in it...

Car is only about 4 years old or so...how the heck they got the inside THAT dirty is a mystery to me....but...wow....

[Robert Hall]

Ugh...

Speaking of car messes... I was heading home from Starbucks this morning w/ a tray w/ two venti (very large) Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the passenger seat (should have had in the floor). Slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a cat that darted across the street in front of me. Coffee went all over the passenger floor, lower console and lower dash. What a mess. The carpeted floormat caught a lot of it, washed it...sprayed down a bunch of carpet cleaner, still have a lot of brown damp on the charcoal carpet, still smells like coffee inside. Wasn't a good start to a Saturday...

[loki]

think it could have been mud that got into the car Chris?

[ocnblu]

Yeah it can get ridiculous sometimes, when people claim damage that CLEARLY is not related to an accident. Or they pretend like they knew NOTHING about their insurance deductible and they show up at 4:50 to pick up their car and they whine and cry, thinking we'll relent because it's closing time and let them "make payments", or pay it "next week". And a few complain about the most minute issues. It's a shame when they're pre-conditioned to find "something" wrong at delivery. Yeah.

I still love what I do though.

[caddycruiser]

The condition people get their cars into is astounding daily...since being in sales for over a year now, the "I don't wanna touch it" trade in test is common. Smells, seats and steering wheels so disgusting you want a full body suit and try not to touch...even when they're only a few years old.

[daves87rs]

The condition people get their cars into is astounding daily...since being in sales for over a year now, the "I don't wanna touch it" trade in test is common. Smells, seats and steering wheels so disgusting you want a full body suit and try not to touch...even when they're only a few years old.

Just saw a Cobalt like that.....

[Robert Hall]

I used to have a coworker that had a mega commute (like 80 miles each way)..had a 2yr old Accord w/ about 150k miles, was filthy inside--dust on the dash, stains on the cloth seats w/ empty McDonalds bags, coffee cups, soda cups, juice drink boxes, dirty diapers on the rear floor...we only went out to lunch w/ him driving once..that was enough.

[regfootball]

The condition people get their cars into is astounding daily...since being in sales for over a year now, the "I don't wanna touch it" trade in test is common. Smells, seats and steering wheels so disgusting you want a full body suit and try not to touch...even when they're only a few years old.

yeah, in my 7 mo. in the biz i am astounded at how crappy some keep their rides..........

[GMTruckGuy74]

Yeah it can get ridiculous sometimes, when people claim damage that CLEARLY is not related to an accident. Or they pretend like they knew NOTHING about their insurance deductible and they show up at 4:50 to pick up their car and they whine and cry, thinking we'll relent because it's closing time and let them "make payments", or pay it "next week". And a few complain about the most minute issues. It's a shame when they're pre-conditioned to find "something" wrong at delivery. Yeah.

I still love what I do though.

ocnblu, let me state on the flip side of the coin, not all body shops are great to work with either. Take my '96 Fleetwood, for example. The body shop I took it to for repairs told me up and down there would be no problem getting the car fixed in two days after it was hit when parked Dec 22, 2009 (right after an unexpected early Christmas heavy snowstorm). The first issue I had with them was they took an extra day (all parts were ordered in advance - so they said - and no surprises were found requiring additional parts location). Why an issue? They saw a cash cow due to the volume of accidents from the snowstorm and overbooked way too many repairs (my car was taken into the shop two weeks after the accident). Issue #2 was that they never gave the car any quality control, again due to the volume of cars they had to repair. The front chrome bumper was misaligned, the left front cornering light (brand new) was never checked to make sure it lit up, and the new headlight was aimed way too high. For a repair shop that had plenty of "awards and trophies" on display, I didn't feel I got the "friendly and professional" customer service they advertised!

But on topic, I agree that people treat their vehciles like an extension of their garage (for those that do not use them to store their vehicles in) or their basement - in addition to a landfill. I always remark to my wife after sitting in someone's dirty/filthy car that these are the people that will complain about the trade-in value they're offered when trying to buy a new vehicle after ignoring their own cleanliness for years.

[A Horse With No Name]

I used to have a coworker that had a mega commute (like 80 miles each way)..had a 2yr old Accord w/ about 150k miles, was filthy inside--dust on the dash, stains on the cloth seats w/ empty McDonalds bags, coffee cups, soda cups, juice drink boxes, dirty diapers on the rear floor...we only went out to lunch w/ him driving once..that was enough.

regular patron at a restaurant I eat at has a Focus that has trash literally spilling out of the windows as she drives...it's piled so high inside the car that it almost blocks the view out the rear window....

Yeah it can get ridiculous sometimes, when people claim damage that CLEARLY is not related to an accident. Or they pretend like they knew NOTHING about their insurance deductible and they show up at 4:50 to pick up their car and they whine and cry, thinking we'll relent because it's closing time and let them "make payments", or pay it "next week". And a few complain about the most minute issues. It's a shame when they're pre-conditioned to find "something" wrong at delivery. Yeah.

I still love what I do though.

ocnblu, let me state on the flip side of the coin, not all body shops are great to work with either. Take my '96 Fleetwood, for example. The body shop I took it to for repairs told me up and down there would be no problem getting the car fixed in two days after it was hit when parked Dec 22, 2009 (right after an unexpected early Christmas heavy snowstorm). The first issue I had with them was they took an extra day (all parts were ordered in advance - so they said - and no surprises were found requiring additional parts location). Why an issue? They saw a cash cow due to the volume of accidents from the snowstorm and overbooked way too many repairs (my car was taken into the shop two weeks after the accident). Issue #2 was that they never gave the car any quality control, again due to the volume of cars they had to repair. The front chrome bumper was misaligned, the left front cornering light (brand new) was never checked to make sure it lit up, and the new headlight was aimed way too high. For a repair shop that had plenty of "awards and trophies" on display, I didn't feel I got the "friendly and professional" customer service they advertised!

But on topic, I agree that people treat their vehciles like an extension of their garage (for those that do not use them to store their vehicles in) or their basement - in addition to a landfill. I always remark to my wife after sitting in someone's dirty/filthy car that these are the people that will complain about the trade-in value they're offered when trying to buy a new vehicle after ignoring their own cleanliness for years.

I see lots of cars with really crappy repair work...LOTS....

[ocnblu]

There can BE no promise or guarantee of when a car is finished in a bodyshop. At each step of the process, there can be a delay beyond the shop's control. That said, when the car IS finished, it needs to be done right. A repair ESTIMATE is not a CONTRACT.

[A Horse With No Name]

I think the problem is that a lot of shops rush work that should not be rushed...but it's our whole culture. America is built to the lowest bidder, which is why it breaks regularly.

Same is true of the autobody business...

[daves87rs]

I think the problem is that a lot of shops rush work that should not be rushed...but it's our whole culture. America is built to the lowest bidder, which is why it breaks regularly.

Same is true of the autobody business...

Getting there....