Car in the shop, I miss it already

[Runaround]

So I dropped my car off at the dealership this morning to get the rear bumper cover fixed. For those that don't know, I had a wonderful 2 mph hit from the back before I had my official plates. I think it was at about 300 miles on the car. Damage was not too bad - mostly a few scrapes on the bumper, and it was bend slightly different as well.

His insurance gave me a rental car for the time it's in the shop. So for now I'm rockin the Saturn Aura LE. I must say that overall it pretty well sucks. The interior is pretty sad, especially considering that I thought the interior looked pretty good on the higher trim levels. It does have a "manual mode" with really messed up paddles. It takes almost a full second for the transmission to respond to inputs though.

As I put in the title, I miss my Ralliart already... alot.

[CarGuy]

How long before you get it back? Did you get to choose the body shop?

[Runaround]

How long before you get it back? Did you get to choose the body shop?

His insurance listed that it should take 2-3 days, but I did get to pick the body shop. I chose my local dealership since they seem to have a good rep and access to the part easily (there is a Mitsubishi distribution center about 20 minutes away). They said it would take 5 business days though so I probably won't get it back till Mon or Tues.

[CarGuy]

At least you got to pick the dealer and one you trust. The dealers I've been to seem to do a good job.

[jRox]

Bleh that sucks.

I love my RA :D

[Runaround]

So I called today to check on the progress. They confirmed that it won't be ready till "late afternoon" on Tuesday. Sucks.....

[CarGuy]

Body shops never estimate the repair time correctly, they always take longer than they initially quote.

[Runaround]

So I picked up my car on Wednesday. The delay was because they had to special order the bumper cover and didn't get it till Monday. That really really irritated me because I went in a couple days before I dropped it off to see if the part needed to be ordered or not to minimise the time in the shop. They said that since there is a distribution center in Irving, they can get any part in about an hour. They were so sure they didn't even check. So my car set in the shop from last Tuesday till Monday afternoon for no reason. To top it off, the paint has a few defects. Not too bad, they can probably buff it out, but it should have been checked better. Gonna keep the car for a couple of weeks to let the paint clear before they buff it.

There was one bit of interesting information. They body shop said that when they went to make the paint mixture they couldn't find the reference for it. Apparently Mitsubishi hasn't released it yet. They had to get a Mitsubishi Rep to come out and help them mix it. They did an excellent job matching the color. The mix is exactly the same. Also, there is 3 coats of clear on it.

[CarGuy]

Typical body shop b.s.! They all seem to operate that way. Glad to hear you got your Ralliart back and that the paint matches, thanks to your Mitsubishi rep!

[Runaround]

I'm going to try an take some pictures of the defects in the paint. With the right reflection, they are pretty easy to see, and plentiful.

[CarGuy]

You need to have it made right.

[Runaround]

So I dropped the car off for a couple of hours at the body shop this week and they buffed out the bumps. So the paint is smooth now. The problem is that everywhere there used to be a bump is now a little black spot. It's not really noticeable until you are close. I'm still kind of upset it's not right, but I kind of feel like I'm being anal about it now. Not sure if I'm going to keep pressing it or not.

[CarGuy]

Sounds like dirt or more likely fisheyes or small pin holes in the paint. If you don't address it now, you probably never will. That's what happens to most of us and what the body shop counts on.