Russell K

iTrader: (12)

Update - Tom is telling me without Progressive giving them a check now (12:30pm Saturday- Trade Secret closes at 3pm) they cannot release the car to me.

Progressive is telling me they wont get a check until the Venture Shield guy does his thing and that the body shop is at fault here by holding the car. Progressive rep told my wife and I that this is simply not the right thing for the body shop to be doing to us at this point.

Progressive hinted also to me that part of the rental may not be covered because the body shop is "messing all this up" so to speak. Progressive thinks I should of already had the car back is the bottom line.

I dont know whose right.

I am beyond frustrated and would at least like to see the work Trade Secret did to my car before the Venture Shield guy shows up. So looks like I'll go see my Evo in "jail" on Monday unexpectedly to see the work they did.

Supraboy1

From what I have read it sounds like you have a valid concern. I'm not sure why Progressive does not pay Trade Secret. Did you go through an agent to get Progressive or direct? I'm asking for a very valid reason. Bambi can relate more here but my understanding is that the insurance company generally gives some payment to a body shop up front and excess' after its all completed.

Personally I have always said trade secret is slow but I think they do excellent work. ( twice for me )

Acree's car looked amazing, so did several others, including most recently Bambi's but they were slow.

Not releasing a car.... I understand only if they have not received a dime from the get go.

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

Well you are right that the body shop has not received a dime. But they know progressive is paying them?

Progressive said it is normal to release a car then I would go back, have the venture shield put on then the adjuster cuts the check.

Trade Secret says no because Progressive will pay them but hasnt yet?

Either way I am in "limbo" and to find all this out I have to spend a day and a half calling around. No one lets me know all this crap.....

I really do not know who is right in this matter Progressive or Trade Secret.

I will be at Trade Secret Monday morning to inspect the car.

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

I talked to Tom (owner) yesterday (saturday) several times while waiting all day for his phone calls.

His last phone call with me was before 1pm. At 1pm exactly I decided to go look at my car right then and there. I call at 1pm and no answer, then I called every half hour until 3pm. No answer after 1pm.....

Guess what? Since its a religious weekend (bs) Tom closed up shop at 1pm on Saturday, not the 3pm he was supposed to have closed up. So if he would have kept his business open as long as he should of on Saturday I could have ran up there and inspected the car. So now I have to wait until Monday AM.

After talking to some ppl and looking around online at reviews, I truly do not know what to think about Trade Secret. It seems to be hit 'n miss with them.

Supraboy1

You need to take a major chill pill, seriously take a deep breath and calm way way down. I love my Evo as well but your wife and friends are at more important than any car.

If you are looking for more friends try coming to some Evo club events. There is literally something going on every week. Third Tuesday, last Saturday, first Thursday and second Sat night each month. Plus off schedule things like the bowling event that Kevin just did, the club cruises plus other events. Someone is always scheduling something, there are occasional movie get togethers.

Just my 2 cents but you need to call Tom at Trade Secret Monday and find out if Progressive has paid Trade secret anything at all. If not then put your frustration towards Progressive.

Trade secrets work has been impeccable for everything I have seen which is over 10 cars from friends. I agree they are very slow but this was disclosed up front.

While you are certainly entitled to post and have your feelings, I don't think it's fair to post wildly when you don't know 100% of all the facts. If they screw up ok,but at least try and know what the full story is.

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

I agree somewhat with what youre saying. You cant hardly blame me for being concerned with their work if they have been this unprofessional so far?

I would never imply that silly car is more important than my wife, friends, or family I didnt mean to sound that way.

lol as far as the Evo events, to be perfectly honest I have been to a few and was given the "cold shoulder" each time i show up. That was years ago though and I honestly do not think many of those members are even around anymore. I went to MOD 2010 and that was a disaster lol. Please dont take that personally I am only stating my pov.

There are many guys in NTEC who have been super nice to me as well I dont want to sound like a d**k. I really appreciate what you guys do for Evo awareness in DFW.

I feel silly coming to the meets with my car cause its so stock honestly. I'm almost embarrassed lol.

And Progressive wont pay until they get the Venture Shield guy out there, but its not good to put Venture Shield on that soon after paint. I was told in the beginning and even on Friday that my car should and could be released to me now. It is illegal for Progressive not to pay the body shop.

And if Trade Secret wont communicate anything to Progressive, how would they know when to pay? Anthony last talked to Progressive Wednesday. They made arrangements without telling me to have the venture shield put on next week and then RELEASED the car to me. I was originally told Venture Shield was t be installed Friday. But Tom doesnt like this and thinks he will not get paid is the bottom line here.

I had to call all day Friday and no one at Trade Secret knew anything.

Trade Secret is not working with Progressive the way other body shops would - period.

And why would Trade Secret insist on the Venture Shield guy doing his job without even let me inspect the job they did? Progressive wants me to see the paint before the venture shield as well. What if I wasnt satisfied and they went ahead and put venture shield on top of it. What then? Seems rather counterproductive to me?

I am not posting wildly about Trade Secret. I have concrete info from 3 ppl that I have personally talked to and trust telling me Trade Secret did a crappy job on their car along with some random internet stories.

The only positive stories are what I have read on evom. You have been their biggest supporter.

I didnt just read a few things online and ASSume they did a bad job on my car. ok? I would never do that.

I will stop posting silly sh*t sorry. Like I said I will let you guys know the outcome, but wont bother with anymore details.

And if Trade Secret did a great job, I will be posting that on here as soon as I possibly can on Monday and will praise them for a job well done. But i will not and cannot praise their customer service or willingness to work with my insurance because in that regard they have been terrible.

Chef-j

iTrader: (16)

Sorry to hear that. My friend works at body shop, so ive been took my previous cars&friends cars there, insurance usually paid to shop very fast. I have know idea why your insurance holding it that long. (Edit: i just read your last post)

Hope your car is ready to go at the shop, most of body shops getting busy after tornado.

Good luck man

Supraboy1

Russell K,

I'm willing to bet $1000 real hard cash they won't not let you see the car. If you go over walk in and say " I'm here to see my car". They won't say " no way "

Also regarding the venture shield, just again my 2 cents....tell progressive you want to have that installed at a speciality shop.

I'm sorry if you have been unhappy and had a bad experience. From my personal experience with them I wish they would give an accurate time frame. They say 2 weeks and it takes 3.

I'm not supporting them nor defending them. I'm just surprised you having such an issue. I guess the part that was shocking was your not gathering all the info first you seem to be assuming the worst case scenario, like OMG they are taking my car and scraping it and selling the parts to Mexico.

As far as the club it sounds like you haven't beenin years? And the last time you came to one meet you got the cold shoulder? I've been in the club for a touch over two years and found almost everyone to be very friendly, regardless of model of Evo.

Personally I have had parties at my house for Super Bowl and MLB World Series, also had a lake party on my yacht. I'm hosting a movie night in May. Check the forums and please show up to some or all events. I guarantee you will have a good time and no one cares if you car is stock. If you love Evos that's all that matters.

The last cruise we had, 17 cars showed up including 14 Evos and three were stock.

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

Oh I didnt mean to seem like I thought they wont let me see the car, I have never thought that. Never even crossed my mind?

If they told me it would take ten weeks I wouldnt mind as long as its "done right" and as long as someone tells me. No phone calls since a promise of being ready on Friday was the last thing I heard from them on Monday.

I am outta energy atm on this subject lol, but on Friday I talked to Randy at Trade Secret about having the Venture Shield done off site by someone I already know. He (Randy) could do NOTHING about it because Anthony wasnt there. Randy said if I wanted the car I would have to pay them because as he said "no ones paid us so if you want your car youve gotta pay" - what an arrogant attitude to have. I was only going by what Progressive told me. Progressive could have paid them Friday but Trade Secret didnt even start worrying about this until 3:30pm on Friday after I called them repeatedly with no one able to answer anything I had to ask.

I can only expect the worst case scenario of paint work after being treated like a total a-hole. I am expecting subpar work based on subpar customer service. The "experience" you have with a shop says alot about their work right? I am sure you can understand my concern?

But I in no way thought my car was in "danger". I dont think they are doing anything illegal I want to be clear with that right now.

And as far as the club, I would join in on an F1 watching party etc that would be great. I would like to go to MSR every now and then too.

Ok I will make the first meet after i get everything fixed on the car. That would be a great thing for me to do. I want to get new wheels and do a few suspension bushings.

I can guarantee I'll be the first to shake your hand there.

SiliconTek

iTrader: (3)

A friend of mine just took his car there (Civic) and he wasn't happy with my recommendation. Something about having his door replaced and the alignment being off on the remount and water leaking into the cabin, after several attempts to get it fixed. I am now on the lookout for another shop myself. I feel terrible for recommending them to him, he is kind of bummed about it.

KevinD

iTrader: (56)

we've had F1 partys in the past. i am one of the most die hard f1 fans around! i'm sure we will try to do an evo meet in austin in november as well .

for MSR, we (evodynamics) attend all the NASA events. they have HPDE from level 1 (never done it before) to level 4 (run with the TT group, open passing). the last one we did was MSR-C where we had a blast and had one of our customers evo 9s set the 3.1 TTA track record. we will be going to Texas World Speedway at the end of april if you want to join us. you'll get full trackside support from us if you park/hang out with us, as we come equipped with just about anything you'll ever need.

NTEC, evoD/Cobb/don herring are doing the subaru vs mitsu cup this year for the first time. trying to get people to attend the various motorsports events in the area, including autocross, rallicross, drag race and of course road courses. we will be doing the don herring track day at MSR in late september as one of the events.

if your interested in track stuff, be sure to stop by and chat with us. we have cars out there all the time.

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

I just saw the car this AM at Trade Secret. Overall I am happy with the work they did. There are minor things to be done now, but nothing too serious.

SupraBoy you were right, I am man enough to admit it.....

There is one thing though, they removed the Venture Shield from the bumper cover without my permission. Now I have to pay for it. This I do not like at all.

I am really happy with the paintwork though. They will realign the front pass. fender and replace the pass. mirror.

Then its up to me to pay for the Venture Shield and new wheels.....Which really sux considering this wasnt my fault.

Supraboy1

Russell I am glad your car's paint has turned out good however you can still get with progressive to replace the venture shield that was pulled off the bumper and on the fender if need be as well as new wheels. If you had damaged wheels due to the accident they should replace or repair them no questions asked. You never did answer my question as to whether you were direct with progressive or have an agent?

Also wasn't it your fender that was damaged? If that's the case I can tell you with absolute certainty that they have to blend the paint into your bumper. Thats prolly why they removed the venture shield

Russell K

iTrader: (12)

Progressive is actually paying for the venture shield, I am happy about that.

They are only covering the repair of the one wheel, which is a measely $150 to be honest.

As far as Progressive agent I dont know what to say about that, lol. I have literally only talked to one guy at their Arlington office, Brian. Thats the only contact I can have with progressive since my adjuster Paul is missing. Without ole Brian I dont know who I would of talked to?

The front fender was matched to the drivers side front fender and not to the bumper cover. I explicitly asked for that. The Venture Shield had a slight tear on the bumper cover, their Venture Shield guy was only supposed to trim it, now I get a new "piece" lol.

BambiTLK

Yeah, they will never blend to a bumper from a fender as they are made of different materials. You only blend metal to metal or plastic/poly to plastic/poly.