Dealer tried to rig my car instead of fixing it!!
Dealer tried to rig my car instead of fixing it!!
This all began with an accident, one that happened while it was parked in a parking spot and I was out and about for ten minutes! It was the first and last time I will park my car amongst other cars in a parking lot. They did not leave a note, there were no cameras, I checked nearly every car and truck in the parking garage and this was just the beginning.
The Accident - Skipping some time wasting info, I came back to my car, which I parked into the spot backwards, to see someone had squished the bumper in on the passenger side and scuffed the headlight (as opposed to it being scratched) and it appeared that the bumper had hit the intercooler, and perhaps the radiator fan. So I call the cops, they come out and say there is nothing they can do, not even a police report, they just give me a blue form and tell me to fill it out and send it in.
I have had a few bad experiences with auto body shops in the past, so I decided that it would be best if I took it to a dealership. This way I would be sure that the parts, paint, and repair of any issues I can’t see without the bumper off would be fixed without any corners being cut.
I head over to Gillman Mitsubishi here in Houston and meet with the onsite estimator - Tammy. Tammy comes outside and looks over the car and thinks it will cost about 3500 to fix the damage, but she can’t be sure until the tech has a chance to pull the front bumper and survey the damage. She estimates that it will take about 8hrs to survey the damage and deliver an official estimate so we can get the parts ordered etc. (8hrs to pull a front bumper and look what parts need to be replaced! WOW) - Don't get me wrong I am not paying to fix the car, my insurance is, but this is ridiculous. No wonder insurance rates are so high. - No problem I said, when a tech is available to look at the car, I will bring it in. She says Monday.
So I bring it in on Monday 11.13.06. She says a tech will look at it asap, I said I will wait because I want to see what things look like behind the bumper, etc. No problem. She takes the car into the shop, I sit in the waiting area. 30 minutes later the bumper is off and she is ready to make an official estimate. It needs a new front bumper, upper grill, passenger side headlight, crash beam, intercooler, radiator fan, and some very minor bending of the frame where the front bumper sits flush up against it. Great I said I will get the ball rolling on my end, here are the keys.
A week later the parts come in, I did visit twice during that week to look at the car which was outside and unlocked, they said it will be a few more days and they will call me when it is done. I mentioned that the car is sitting outside with the doors unlocked. And asked if the car is broken into or stolen who will be responsible? They said they would and that I shouldn't worry, no one is going to break into the car. While I was there I told Tammy that I wanted all of the damaged parts. She looked at me and said oh... that’s all she said, but she had this really dejected look on her face, like I had just stolen from her. She said no problem; they would keep all the parts in one place for me. The headlight alone is 1400 bucks; I can sell it to recoup some of my deductible. So the parts come in and she calls me and says it should be ready by Friday of Monday.
The Issues - So I head to the dealer on Saturday to check it out, and what do you know, it is sitting outside, unlocked and looking like it is finished. So I open the door, pop the hood and check it out. Initially when I looked at the car without even opening the hood the lower lip was not attached correctly, it was really wavy - with gaps of up to 3/8 of an inch in 3 different locations. I could fit my finger between the bottom of the headlight and the bumper, the grill in front of the intercooler had chips in it, the bumper was not flush to the bottom of the front fenders, the upper grill was still pushed in and had bug guts on it, the rubber deflector under the bumper, part of the zero lift kit, was not attached in two locations. So then I open the hood and look at the fenders. I look between the fender and its attachment point to the frame (the front most bolts) and I see a shiny new washer lodged between the frame and the fender. So I check the other side and find the same thing. I notice the fender has been shifted because the bolt use to cover this area and now it is bare and unpainted. Parts of the bumper were unpainted or nor fully painted. The parts of the frame where the bumper attach are not flush, so there is a 1/4 - 3/8 inch gap.
So I head home and decide that I will stop by on Monday and bring up the issues I have. So I do, and the tech is there so I talk to him. I bring up the issues, he listens and I told them to call me when it is finished. I got a call a week and a half later saying it was done. It was not. So they took another stab at it. And finally it was finished so I picked it up on Tuesday 12.5.06 it feels great so far. Looks good, and I am happy with it.
Sheisters - They lost the headlight and ended up giving me one from another Evo. The upper grill was misplaced as well, and they tried to give me sh*t about the parts and my interest in getting them back saying they were the insurance companies and not mine. I said fine but you are not keeping them either, in the end I got them. Instead of the dealer keeping them and fixing them and passing them off as new or selling them to another body shop that will fix them and resell them to other dealers.
But this kind of bs with dealers trying to screw customers and insurance companies over is ridiculous. So if you are in Houston and need to have any work done to your car,
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE other than GILLMAN MITSUBISHI.
I put them in the blacklisted dealer thread. Hope this saves you from being screwed over by a dealer in your area.
The Accident - Skipping some time wasting info, I came back to my car, which I parked into the spot backwards, to see someone had squished the bumper in on the passenger side and scuffed the headlight (as opposed to it being scratched) and it appeared that the bumper had hit the intercooler, and perhaps the radiator fan. So I call the cops, they come out and say there is nothing they can do, not even a police report, they just give me a blue form and tell me to fill it out and send it in.
I have had a few bad experiences with auto body shops in the past, so I decided that it would be best if I took it to a dealership. This way I would be sure that the parts, paint, and repair of any issues I can’t see without the bumper off would be fixed without any corners being cut.
I head over to Gillman Mitsubishi here in Houston and meet with the onsite estimator - Tammy. Tammy comes outside and looks over the car and thinks it will cost about 3500 to fix the damage, but she can’t be sure until the tech has a chance to pull the front bumper and survey the damage. She estimates that it will take about 8hrs to survey the damage and deliver an official estimate so we can get the parts ordered etc. (8hrs to pull a front bumper and look what parts need to be replaced! WOW) - Don't get me wrong I am not paying to fix the car, my insurance is, but this is ridiculous. No wonder insurance rates are so high. - No problem I said, when a tech is available to look at the car, I will bring it in. She says Monday.
So I bring it in on Monday 11.13.06. She says a tech will look at it asap, I said I will wait because I want to see what things look like behind the bumper, etc. No problem. She takes the car into the shop, I sit in the waiting area. 30 minutes later the bumper is off and she is ready to make an official estimate. It needs a new front bumper, upper grill, passenger side headlight, crash beam, intercooler, radiator fan, and some very minor bending of the frame where the front bumper sits flush up against it. Great I said I will get the ball rolling on my end, here are the keys.
A week later the parts come in, I did visit twice during that week to look at the car which was outside and unlocked, they said it will be a few more days and they will call me when it is done. I mentioned that the car is sitting outside with the doors unlocked. And asked if the car is broken into or stolen who will be responsible? They said they would and that I shouldn't worry, no one is going to break into the car. While I was there I told Tammy that I wanted all of the damaged parts. She looked at me and said oh... that’s all she said, but she had this really dejected look on her face, like I had just stolen from her. She said no problem; they would keep all the parts in one place for me. The headlight alone is 1400 bucks; I can sell it to recoup some of my deductible. So the parts come in and she calls me and says it should be ready by Friday of Monday.
The Issues - So I head to the dealer on Saturday to check it out, and what do you know, it is sitting outside, unlocked and looking like it is finished. So I open the door, pop the hood and check it out. Initially when I looked at the car without even opening the hood the lower lip was not attached correctly, it was really wavy - with gaps of up to 3/8 of an inch in 3 different locations. I could fit my finger between the bottom of the headlight and the bumper, the grill in front of the intercooler had chips in it, the bumper was not flush to the bottom of the front fenders, the upper grill was still pushed in and had bug guts on it, the rubber deflector under the bumper, part of the zero lift kit, was not attached in two locations. So then I open the hood and look at the fenders. I look between the fender and its attachment point to the frame (the front most bolts) and I see a shiny new washer lodged between the frame and the fender. So I check the other side and find the same thing. I notice the fender has been shifted because the bolt use to cover this area and now it is bare and unpainted. Parts of the bumper were unpainted or nor fully painted. The parts of the frame where the bumper attach are not flush, so there is a 1/4 - 3/8 inch gap.
So I head home and decide that I will stop by on Monday and bring up the issues I have. So I do, and the tech is there so I talk to him. I bring up the issues, he listens and I told them to call me when it is finished. I got a call a week and a half later saying it was done. It was not. So they took another stab at it. And finally it was finished so I picked it up on Tuesday 12.5.06 it feels great so far. Looks good, and I am happy with it.
Sheisters - They lost the headlight and ended up giving me one from another Evo. The upper grill was misplaced as well, and they tried to give me sh*t about the parts and my interest in getting them back saying they were the insurance companies and not mine. I said fine but you are not keeping them either, in the end I got them. Instead of the dealer keeping them and fixing them and passing them off as new or selling them to another body shop that will fix them and resell them to other dealers.
But this kind of bs with dealers trying to screw customers and insurance companies over is ridiculous. So if you are in Houston and need to have any work done to your car,
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE other than GILLMAN MITSUBISHI.
I put them in the blacklisted dealer thread. Hope this saves you from being screwed over by a dealer in your area.
Last edited by Masanari; Dec 10, 2006 at 08:33 PM.
I don't trust Mitsu dealerships to save my life. I always go with a reputable shop around the area. Sorry to hear everything you went through but it seems like you protected your investment well, and at the end of the day, no one is going to care about your car as much as you will...
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 688
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From: California, Orange County, Fullerton
Originally Posted by Masanari
This all began with an accident, one that happened while it was parked in a parking spot and I was out and about for ten minutes! It was the first and last time I will park my car amongst other cars in a parking lot. They did not leave a note, there were no cameras, I checked nearly every car and truck in the parking garage and this was just the beginning.
The Accident - Skipping some time wasting info, I came back to my car, which I parked into the spot backwards, to see someone had squished the bumper in on the passenger side and scuffed the headlight (as opposed to it being scratched) and it appeared that the bumper had hit the intercooler, and perhaps the radiator fan. So I call the cops, they come out and say there is nothing they can do, not even a police report, they just give me a blue form and tell me to fill it out and send it in.
I have had a few bad experiences with auto body shops in the past, so I decided that it would be best if I took it to a dealership. This way I would be sure that the parts, paint, and repair of any issues I can’t see without the bumper off would be fixed without any corners being cut.
I head over to Gillman Mitsubishi here in Houston and meet with the onsite estimator - Tammy. Tammy comes outside and looks over the car and thinks it will cost about 3500 to fix the damage, but she can’t be sure until the tech has a chance to pull the front bumper and survey the damage. She estimates that it will take about 8hrs to survey the damage and deliver an official estimate so we can get the parts ordered etc. (8hrs to pull a front bumper and look what parts need to be replaced! WOW) - Don't get me wrong I am not paying to fix the car, my insurance is, but this is ridiculous. No wonder insurance rates are so high. - No problem I said, when a tech is available to look at the car, I will bring it in. She says Monday.
So I bring it in on Monday 11.13.06. She says a tech will look at it asap, I said I will wait because I want to see what things look like behind the bumper, etc. No problem. She takes the car into the shop, I sit in the waiting area. 30 minutes later the bumper is off and she is ready to make an official estimate. It needs a new front bumper, upper grill, passenger side headlight, crash beam, intercooler, radiator fan, and some very minor bending of the frame where the front bumper sits flush up against it. Great I said I will get the ball rolling on my end, here are the keys.
A week later the parts come in, I did visit twice during that week to look at the car which was outside and unlocked, they said it will be a few more days and they will call me when it is done. I mentioned that the car is sitting outside with the doors unlocked. And asked if the car is broken into or stolen who will be responsible? They said they would and that I shouldn't worry, no one is going to break into the car. While I was there I told Tammy that I wanted all of the damaged parts. She looked at me and said oh... that’s all she said, but she had this really dejected look on her face, like I had just stolen from her. She said no problem; they would keep all the parts in one place for me. The headlight alone is 1400 bucks; I can sell it to recoup some of my deductible. So the parts come in and she calls me and says it should be ready by Friday of Monday.
The Issues - So I head to the dealer on Saturday to check it out, and what do you know, it is sitting outside, unlocked and looking like it is finished. So I open the door, pop the hood and check it out. Initially when I looked at the car without even opening the hood the lower lip was not attached correctly, it was really wavy - with gaps of up to 3/8 of an inch in 3 different locations. I could fit my finger between the bottom of the headlight and the bumper, the grill in front of the intercooler had chips in it, the bumper was not flush to the bottom of the front fenders, the upper grill was still pushed in and had bug guts on it, the rubber deflector under the bumper, part of the zero lift kit, was not attached in two locations. So then I open the hood and look at the fenders. I look between the fender and its attachment point to the frame (the front most bolts) and I see a shiny new washer lodged between the frame and the fender. So I check the other side and find the same thing. I notice the fender has been shifted because the bolt use to cover this area and now it is bare and unpainted. Parts of the bumper were unpainted or nor fully painted. The parts of the frame where the bumper attach are not flush, so there is a 1/4 - 3/8 inch gap.
So I head home and decide that I will stop by on Monday and bring up the issues I have. So I do, and the tech is there so I talk to him. I bring up the issues, he listens and I told them to call me when it is finished. I got a call a week and a half later saying it was done. It was not. So they took another stab at it. And finally it was finished so I picked it up on Tuesday 12.5.06 it feels great so far. Looks good, and I am happy with it.
Sheisters - They lost the headlight and ended up giving me one from another Evo. The upper grill was misplaced as well, and they tried to give me sh*t about the parts and my interest in getting them back saying they were the insurance companies and not mine. I said fine but you are not keeping them either, in the end I got them. Instead of the dealer keeping them and fixing them and passing them off as new or selling them to another body shop that will fix them and resell them to other dealers.
But this kind of bs with dealers trying to screw customers and insurance companies over is ridiculous. So if you are in Houston and need to have any work done to your car,
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE other than GILLMAN MITSUBISHI.
I put them in the blacklisted dealer thread. Hope this saves you from being screwed over by a dealer in your area.
The Accident - Skipping some time wasting info, I came back to my car, which I parked into the spot backwards, to see someone had squished the bumper in on the passenger side and scuffed the headlight (as opposed to it being scratched) and it appeared that the bumper had hit the intercooler, and perhaps the radiator fan. So I call the cops, they come out and say there is nothing they can do, not even a police report, they just give me a blue form and tell me to fill it out and send it in.
I have had a few bad experiences with auto body shops in the past, so I decided that it would be best if I took it to a dealership. This way I would be sure that the parts, paint, and repair of any issues I can’t see without the bumper off would be fixed without any corners being cut.
I head over to Gillman Mitsubishi here in Houston and meet with the onsite estimator - Tammy. Tammy comes outside and looks over the car and thinks it will cost about 3500 to fix the damage, but she can’t be sure until the tech has a chance to pull the front bumper and survey the damage. She estimates that it will take about 8hrs to survey the damage and deliver an official estimate so we can get the parts ordered etc. (8hrs to pull a front bumper and look what parts need to be replaced! WOW) - Don't get me wrong I am not paying to fix the car, my insurance is, but this is ridiculous. No wonder insurance rates are so high. - No problem I said, when a tech is available to look at the car, I will bring it in. She says Monday.
So I bring it in on Monday 11.13.06. She says a tech will look at it asap, I said I will wait because I want to see what things look like behind the bumper, etc. No problem. She takes the car into the shop, I sit in the waiting area. 30 minutes later the bumper is off and she is ready to make an official estimate. It needs a new front bumper, upper grill, passenger side headlight, crash beam, intercooler, radiator fan, and some very minor bending of the frame where the front bumper sits flush up against it. Great I said I will get the ball rolling on my end, here are the keys.
A week later the parts come in, I did visit twice during that week to look at the car which was outside and unlocked, they said it will be a few more days and they will call me when it is done. I mentioned that the car is sitting outside with the doors unlocked. And asked if the car is broken into or stolen who will be responsible? They said they would and that I shouldn't worry, no one is going to break into the car. While I was there I told Tammy that I wanted all of the damaged parts. She looked at me and said oh... that’s all she said, but she had this really dejected look on her face, like I had just stolen from her. She said no problem; they would keep all the parts in one place for me. The headlight alone is 1400 bucks; I can sell it to recoup some of my deductible. So the parts come in and she calls me and says it should be ready by Friday of Monday.
The Issues - So I head to the dealer on Saturday to check it out, and what do you know, it is sitting outside, unlocked and looking like it is finished. So I open the door, pop the hood and check it out. Initially when I looked at the car without even opening the hood the lower lip was not attached correctly, it was really wavy - with gaps of up to 3/8 of an inch in 3 different locations. I could fit my finger between the bottom of the headlight and the bumper, the grill in front of the intercooler had chips in it, the bumper was not flush to the bottom of the front fenders, the upper grill was still pushed in and had bug guts on it, the rubber deflector under the bumper, part of the zero lift kit, was not attached in two locations. So then I open the hood and look at the fenders. I look between the fender and its attachment point to the frame (the front most bolts) and I see a shiny new washer lodged between the frame and the fender. So I check the other side and find the same thing. I notice the fender has been shifted because the bolt use to cover this area and now it is bare and unpainted. Parts of the bumper were unpainted or nor fully painted. The parts of the frame where the bumper attach are not flush, so there is a 1/4 - 3/8 inch gap.
So I head home and decide that I will stop by on Monday and bring up the issues I have. So I do, and the tech is there so I talk to him. I bring up the issues, he listens and I told them to call me when it is finished. I got a call a week and a half later saying it was done. It was not. So they took another stab at it. And finally it was finished so I picked it up on Tuesday 12.5.06 it feels great so far. Looks good, and I am happy with it.
Sheisters - They lost the headlight and ended up giving me one from another Evo. The upper grill was misplaced as well, and they tried to give me sh*t about the parts and my interest in getting them back saying they were the insurance companies and not mine. I said fine but you are not keeping them either, in the end I got them. Instead of the dealer keeping them and fixing them and passing them off as new or selling them to another body shop that will fix them and resell them to other dealers.
But this kind of bs with dealers trying to screw customers and insurance companies over is ridiculous. So if you are in Houston and need to have any work done to your car,
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE other than GILLMAN MITSUBISHI.
I put them in the blacklisted dealer thread. Hope this saves you from being screwed over by a dealer in your area.
If you still have issues, you should consult a legal attorney seeing as how you seem like a pretty organized guy and thus may have documented this whole fiasco...
Best of luck
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wow, i understand where you are coming from, i suffered also from a mitsubishi dealership in lawrence, kansas. long story short, lets just say i took my evo into get my body fixed, the day i got it back i found out they put a hundred miles on it, my gas tank was empty and the empty orange light was on. i even wrote down the milage before i took it in, so i am a hundred percent sure they did it. obviously my pain and suffering is not as bad as yours, but i really understand where ur coming from. Much respect bro for putting up w/ them.
What he is saying to to not assume your car is repaired correctly. Always look it over throughly. I have been in the business for 10yrs and have seen it all. The faster they get your car in & out the more profit they make. Its just the way it is.
You want to look for an I-CAR facility. Not some I-Car certified body shop... but an actual I-CAR training facility. They are slow but its as good if not better than original once finished.
You want to look for an I-CAR facility. Not some I-Car certified body shop... but an actual I-CAR training facility. They are slow but its as good if not better than original once finished.
You make me really nervous with this thread. I was just in an accident with ~$8k in damage to my car. I hope my experience is better than yours! I "should" have my car back by the end of this week, but we'll see...
I bought my '02 OZ Rally from Gillman. The sales mgr tried to add a last second charge for the installation of the spoiler that was on the car when it left Japan. I walked out and they appologized. Their service used to be good until mark went to conroe and tony went across the lot to acura.
