Hi guys,

I researched shops here in Chicagoland area and other evo owners experiences with body shops. I ended up settling with A&L Autobody in Palatine, Illinois. It is family owned and the guy Val was really nice about making me feel comfortable that my evo was in great hands. The body shops said my car needed the following repairs:

New OEM Dirver side fender
New OEM Driver door skin/panel (Not new door)
Touch the passenger side door behind the driver
Quarter panel scuffed, repaired, and the whole left side of the car and a little bit of the bumper needed to be repainted.
Driver side wheel recondition (took them 3 tries to get the Black Diamond Finish!)

The car took 4 weeks to be completed and i was okay with that because i told them to take their time and i wanted a great finish when the car was done.

I picked it up yesterday and although it was raining badly, i noticed that they did a great job on the car just like how other evo owners said they will. These guys work on pure luxury, bmw m cars, and some exotics.

After carefully inspecting the car, i noticed the driver side door's VIN sticker was REMOVED! I opened the trunk and the BUMPER VIN WAS REMOVED AS WELL! My heart began racing and i lost my coolness. I asked them what happened and i told them beforehand if i were to lose the door sticker and he said no because the panel is just the outside of the door. The rear bumber one was "Masked" but the way it was wasked was not with tape but with some kind of sealer that the poor paint guy spent 1 hour peeling off before the sticker crumbled and messed up.

I know these two sticker gone just dropped the value of my evo even more. How the hell can i expect to sell this one day and explain to the future buyer? If any of you guys decide to buy my evo 9 one day down the road, i guess i have somewhat of a proof here lol. But guys really, am i overreacting? should i go back and ask for somewhat of refund back? The guy's explanation was as followed, "the paint guy masked the VIN sticker on the door and as he was sanding it and getting the inside of the door ready for paint, the sticker came off after painting it" I called it BS and told him there was no need to paint the inside of the door panel. As for the bumper, he had no explanation whatsoever and removed himself from the scene. Another guy came and apologized and said he would call the dealership and try to get two new vin stickers as it is legel because they are still factory parts and not part of the accident. I told him dont waste your time because the dealership doesnt have them. He called and failed. Then he said there is a third party that makes recplicas and he is ordering them. Question is, these replicas are not the same and a future buyer will know right away right? How can i explain all this? Again fellas, am i overreacting?

Sorry, i know it is a long read.. i'm just fraustrated and feel robbed.

 

I wouldnt worry about the VIN decal

After all, this accident will be reported & should be on Carfax for all to see

When that time comes to sell, you will disclose the details & what all was involved in the repair

I wouldnt sweat the VIN decal thing at all & dont think it will affect the sell price

 

I agree with minus. Definitely overreacting and I wouldn't worry about it. It's not like they're stamped onto the factory parts and I've never had any body panels replaced on mine and you can see that the decals are starting to peel off.

 

I work as an estimator in a body shop. Any new parts that come, will not have vin stickers on them. Most shops choose to remove them when painting parts cause it looked better than a masked off decal. I guess they could have been just up front and said they prefer to take them off. Did they put a new door skin on?? If so, that usually requires paint on the jamb part of the door as they hammer and dolly the skin all the way around and have to finish it off nicely. If it wasnt a skin, I would just ask why the shell of the door was refinished. Like said before, a smart buyer is gonna look a the carfax, and if it was turned into insurance, its gonna show an accident, so the buyer should assume some new parts might have been added, which dont come with vin tags.

 

If I was buying an 10 or 15 yr old Evo I wouldn't care about vins as long as the car wasn't stolen and if it was in an accident as long as it was a good repair I wouldn't care either. More how the car drives and condition of motor

 

I appreciate all you guys for taking the time and answering my concerns.

Minus - It was done through the insurance as it was expensive to fix by myself and I have saved all the paperwork in a folder right now for future refrences.

19DB794- Really? I didn't know they start to peel over time as I had a 13 year old Acura TL and the stickers were still on there pretty well and easy to read.

Tsidrift- Thanks for your professional experience and I know Japanese body parts come with no VIN because they only put those once and that is when they are making them at the factory. The evo got a new door panel and I guess other shops call it a "skin" as well. It is the part that sits on the outside of the door and is a thin layer I believe?

Jonno - Thanks mate as you always happen to answer my posts and concerns lol. The body shop repairs were amazing and they really took their time and gave me a nice finish. The only thing they forgot to add is the vinyl that goes by the rear driver side door near the quarter panel. My evo's previous owner had gotten the car sprayed underneath to prevent rust and had a thick vinyl layer or tape that came all the way near the quarter panel of the car.

I will upload pictures soon of before and after repairs. After reading you guys comments this morning, I felt better when I was boosting through the streets of Chicago lol. Car is still babied at 37,700 miles on it, second owner, and still bone stock since I got it last July lol

 

Yes the decals on my fenders have began to peel but the ones on the doors are fine. My car only has 47k miles and sits in the garage all year round. Not sure if it's just something that happens over time from the elements and car washes.

 

Yea, if they put a skin on, that is why the inside shell or jamb was painted as well. They have to refinish that part after putting a skin on. All the hammer and dolly work to get the skin to fold around on the edges damages the finish.