North Haven Auto Body

unknown

I took my 2006 Audi in to have the fender and trunk lid repainted because of two separate spots of flaking paint and rust. I'm paying out of pocket--not using insurance--since its not an accident. They emailed me two quotes, one for ~$1700 to grind off the corrosion and repaint the old parts, another for about $2200 to get a new trunk lid instead of trying to repair the old. Total time estimated at 4-5 business days for both options.
I opted for the more expensive replacement of parts, figuring it would last longer and hidden rust would be less likely to return.
They call you every few days to give updates. First, the secretary calls to tell me they have already started work on the car but the real cost for a new trunk lid would bring the total to about $2600, and it would take longer. I asked to speak with the manager for an explanation, and she tells me he is too busy to come to the phone. She explains that the price they estimated was from some internal database for parts and the real cost of the new trunk lid was more. Fine, I agree. The car is already apart anyway.
The secretary calls again a day later telling me she is very sorry, but the parts are actually more expensive and the repair will take longer. I ask to speak to her manager. He doesn't call me back, but I was able to call and get him on the phone. He explains that he can't find the right trunk lid, since mine is a and quot;rareand quot; model of A4. A new lid would cost ~$1500 from Audi and he is having trouble finding a used part through his usual supplier. I eventually asked him to take another look at repairing the existing parts, and he said he could do it, but the total cost would be about $50 less than the second quote I already agreed to. Fine.
I called Shokan Audi (an dismantler in Westchester) and asked if they had the part, and by the end of the day they have exactly the right used part, and including shipping it would be less than the original price quoted for a replacement trunk lid. NHAB's manager didn't like this idea, because he thought he would have to spend extra time repairing the replacement used part anyway. So they repaired the old trunk lid.
In the end, I got the car back after twice the time they originally estimated. The original parts were repaired and repainted, for %50 more than originally estimated. The new paint looks good, and the actual quality of workmanship seems good. I don't think I'd use them again or recommend them after all this aggravation.

They had all those impressive certifications. At that point of time, I was doing some research on all those certifications. They have gold star certification. The certifications were excellent. My car being more than three years old, the insurance refused to give me OEM parts. OEM parts would be the ones that come from the manufacturer. The appraiser gave me kind of a low ball quote only to put after-market parts. Because I own a Japanese-made auto I was very choosy about using OEM parts. This body shop negotiated with the local dealer who sold the make of Japanese auto I own and they made that dealer price match the appraisal given by the insurance company. Then they made sure that he put in all the proper OEM parts for me. There were still some parts that he couldn't price match. Overall, for a $6000 repair, I paid around $250 more than my deductible. But I was very happy because my deductible was $100. Because he put in all these Japanese car auto parts, I paid him additional $250. They kept me updated almost every 3-4 days. My car went to the body shop around December and it got slightly delayed because of the holidays. They worked with the insurance company directly and made sure my rental car coverage was extended. Even for the extra quote, they worked directly with insurance and it was great. I would love to go to them again. The price aspect didn't matter to me, because the insurance took care of the payment. All I paid was my deductible plus the extra amount because I put all OEM parts.