[ski5804]

I couldn't believe what happened when I picked up my car Friday from the body shop I have used successfully for years.
Until now. It was awful. Tape was painted over, a cheap Chinese headlight was installed and sticking out the side of the bodywork not only are the DRL "Eyebrows" the wrong color and brightness, The headlight was aimed wrong inside and could not be seen from the outside.

It was terrible. The main HID was 3600k on the chinese side, and 6000k on the stock Korean side.
Also, they billed out Geico for work never done, like "frame pulling" they literally pulled on a bolt on upper passenger metal reinforcement bar like it was a frame, instead of unbolting the bent areas until there was no further damage, then reassembling it. They charged Geico $5000 for $2000 worth of work.
Can anyone tell me if the 2015 SX-T had headlights that turned in corners? My Geico underwriter told me the headlight assembly was $1100 00 from Korea. That's just 1 side. It was substandard in every way. There are much more examples, and just so you know the guy fixing all of it tomorrow tried to LITERALLY STEAL my new set of HKS iridium plugs. So, this is a VERY REAL, total game player who was caught by my buddy putting the plugs back in the passenger seatback pocket. I had already checked there....and then they magically re-appeared. It is too much to write.
I also have a whole Alpine (ILX-650)and Kicker system with Sirius, rear Camera, piggyback Alpine amp ,(KTX-450), and enough adapters to run ice trays and f××king hot coffee from the glove box!
Since I live in Virginia, I decided I am going on a road trip to Crutchfield so they can install it all. (I bought it all at Crutchfield). I mean, there is $400 in adapters alone; the rear stock stereo mount (its just a bar that the OEM 4" TOUCHSCREEN head unit sat on.). If the stock touchscreen were 7" I WOULD NOT BE DOING THIS. It needed a new rear view camera and input, since the Kia Camera was just hardwired so the stock camera and wirinh has to be pulled out. It also needs: a Sirius Tuner adapter, an Axxess adapter so my steering wheel functions are retained, an adapter to keep the 8" stock sub still thump and the middle dash speaker still work (by allowing the small Infinity Amp to remain powered.)
My Rockford Fosgate subs (2x12 P1's)ARE installed using an 800 w RMS @1 ohm. It is intense.....but wrong. He promised me 4 guage battery wiring but all I see is a Boss $15.00 8 guage kit. I was furious. He IS very talented. And remains my friend and shop foreman at a major label body and paint shop, but he had the car 2 months and did re-plumb the car for the 2 inlet catch can (thank you David at K5), and tried to install the lap 3 UNCLE chip....but he ran it on plugs that LOOKED pre-gapped. They ARE NOT. So, he ruined $115. worth of plugs. He left the Lap three chip plugged in with the old plugs...and it tried to work but the turbo would spool and spool with the fuel not being burned at the right time to get the "bang". I took the harness and chip off the engine, replaced the HKS stock plugs, and have been running all the cool stuff with standard tune and it runs great. The HPS shortram cold air intake (with heat shield) is unnecessary IMO as I think the stock unit is quieter, already had a K&N drop in, and I believe it is causing the car to run lean. Too much airflow, not enough bang.
Anyway. This is why it is called a project. If it was done...there would be nothing left to achieve.
If ANYONE KNOWS an HONEST tuning shop in Northern Virginia please let me know. I just want what I bought from David installed EXACTLY as directed. Same with the Android car play System.
I wish I could do it. Just unable to..... due to disability. I really would love to do it myself.

 

[KingFatty]

I just wanted to share that I've had similar experience with a body shop. My situation was they performed the assessment of what needed to be repaired, and I chose to get some of the repairs, and get a cash reimbursement for skipping other repairs. But the shop just kept inventing new things to fix, without my permission, to make sure they spent ALL the insurance money and I was not allowed to keep it. The insurance company had already agreed to let me keep the unspent reimbursement, but the body shop essentially stole that money by doing work I didn't authorize, which was new and not on the written estimate.

Anyway, can you speak to the insurance company? They are getting ripped off here too, not just you. They are paying good money for good work, but the shop is doing sub-par work and using sub-par parts, so you are essentially denied what the insurance company paid for.

 

[Jezter]

@ski5804 That is unreal people you thought were trustworthy would treat the situation like that. Sorry to hear of all the issues. Of course the body work was necessary, so that's just pathetic they used crap parts. For the other stuff maybe take a step back and be sure you really need all the upgrades/mods and effort and money involved to make them happen. Re-sell always suffers if you change too much from stock and sounds like you already had the Infinity system which is pretty darn good. Don't think I'm tying to say it's not all worth it, but sounds really stressful too, especially when you appear to be a justified perfectionist and have to rely on others. I know that feeling very well and try to do everything myself, if possible. You could use Yelp or the like to maybe feel out a different shop in your area with good ratings.

@KingFatty Greedy bastards, just terrible. Hope you got something after all that.

 

[tonester]

Was it for a claim against your own insurance company or someone else's insurance company? If against your own, do you know if it covers full OEM replacement? Many insurance policies don't include guaranteed OEM parts replacement coverage by default unless specifically included in your policy, and even then, it typically comes at an additional premium. Of course if you're filing a claim against another insured's policy then you have every right to insist that OEM parts be used to repair/restore your vehicle whole.

 

[ski5804]

I just wanted to share that I've had similar experience with a body shop. My situation was they performed the assessment of what needed to be repaired, and I chose to get some of the repairs, and get a cash reimbursement for skipping other repairs. But the shop just kept inventing new things to fix, without my permission, to make sure they spent ALL the insurance money and I was not allowed to keep it. The insurance company had already agreed to let me keep the unspent reimbursement, but the body shop essentially stole that money by doing work I didn't authorize, which was new and not on the written estimate.

Anyway, can you speak to the insurance company? They are getting ripped off here too, not just you. They are paying good money for good work, but the shop is doing sub-par work and using sub-par parts, so you are essentially denied what the insurance company paid for.

Yes thats the plan, but I actually have had an angry mechanic just 6 mon t hs ago that I would not allow to mess with doing a brake fluid drain on my EX(he was crooked and wanted $160 and my shop would do it for $89). I just wanted that cheap Kia free oil out of my engine pronto. (The dealer forgot to do the synthetic). Well, the local shop got a bad review when the mechanic got mad and started throwing things...I just went to the closest name brand garage and got this psycho synthetic oil change. I know the dealer did a 4 wheel brake job, and it looked like the fluid was clear. But after 2 hours at this gas station, All of a sudden its rusty (I am CERTAIN he poured some rusty water in the brake fluid...as it was overfilled..and I tend to often look at lifesaving systems. I dunno...just seems "reasonable").


When I complained snd posted a bad review....the mechanic kicked the grill in as soon as I parked my car in visitor parking, and away from my Ring system two days after the review was posted See, these places know where we live!! Isn't that fun? It was over $2300 in vandalism.
This place Friday charged Geico $900 for a Kia Headlight assembly....it was NOT.
It was a $259 cheap Chinese light. So, I went and got a haircut after I picked up the car a nd it was sunny, but I checked my lights anywzy and couldn't see the other headlight in the shop window, then I got out and its face was half Korean headlight and half Chinese. I hope it doesn't have children...I mean the passenger side headlight was pointing down...no headlight in the window....so quality control? HELLO??? Reprehensible. I already posted here what they did....but I dont want anyone coming after the car.
Hard to do the right thing, but the initial estimate was for $1300, so $800 plus my $500 deduct. All of a sudden, its 5 grand, and I can find no evidence of 5k being spent on my ride, and every part was AFP. Since my high school buddy is the Maaco shop manager around my way so we will have to see if I am "indemnified" tomorrow. I can tell you that without my friends shop and his honest employees, I might have had an even harder time.
Hey. Isnt the front clip painted SWP? I mean the back is....so why isn't my front????? Aright I hate these places. When zi have a problem with my custom car I will take it back to my buddies, but they are a Progressive shop, and I have Geico.

 

[ski5804]

I just wanted to share that I've had similar experience with a body shop. My situation was they performed the assessment of what needed to be repaired, and I chose to get some of the repairs, and get a cash reimbursement for skipping other repairs. But the shop just kept inventing new things to fix, without my permission, to make sure they spent ALL the insurance money and I was not allowed to keep it. The insurance company had already agreed to let me keep the unspent reimbursement, but the body shop essentially stole that money by doing work I didn't authorize, which was new and not on the written estimate.

Anyway, can you speak to the insurance company? They are getting ripped off here too, not just you. They are paying good money for good work, but the shop is doing sub-par work and using sub-par parts, so you are essentially denied what the insurance company paid for.

Hey King Fatty! I picked up my car and it looks cherry. They fixed the paint overspray, painted tape, and got me a genuine Korean headlight that matches the other side. I basically fired the Used Car Salesey guy trying to sell me a dud and got the other shop manager to work on it. I am totally happy.

 

[ski5804]

@ski5804 That is unreal people you thought were trustworthy would treat the situation like that. Sorry to hear of all the issues. Of course the body work was necessary, so that's just pathetic they used crap parts. For the other stuff maybe take a step back and be sure you really need all the upgrades/mods and effort and money involved to make them happen. Re-sell always suffers if you change too much from stock and sounds like you already had the Infinity system which is pretty darn good. Don't think I'm tying to say it's not all worth it, but sounds really stressful too, especially when you appear to be a justified perfectionist and have to rely on others. I know that feeling very well and try to do everything myself, if possible. You could use Yelp or the like to maybe feel out a different shop in your area with good ratings.

@KingFatty Greedy bastards, just terrible. Hope you got something after all that.

I get what you're saying, and it is just a car, but I lost my 14 year old daughter very unexpectedly, and I threw myself into the car. On Aug 31, 19 my wife died unexpectedly, then Feb, 8 2020 I lost my baby girl. I taught her to drive ....and she blew the other two daughters away in skills. So, if I didn't have a big loving family and my other 2 daughters. ..I would be lost.
BTW. Both of them smoked weed with Fentanyl on it. Both felt nothing but peace as far as the coroner could tell....and my wife lived about 3 miles away with a 5 bedroom house, and I had the girls every weekend for 15 years. Wife and I never even got officially separated. Good 👍 terms and I 💘 love them all more than ab u car. Putting myself into the car keeps me grounded, but the pain of losing a child is indescribable. Completely debilitating if you let it. But she would not want me. Moping around. So, I build on. I dont care about resale value right this minute. I think the aftermarkrt intake is wasting fuel and not burning fuel completely. Even with new plugs the air/oxygen is not concentrated enough to get a good plug burn and therefore not enough turbo action. I might have to take it to Dan Short at Fantom Works. ****, I need a road trip vacation so I am going to do my best to make this the fastest and best braking stock turbo K5 possible. Then I will get bored and probably pop the stock stuff on her and trade for a Mustang 5.0 or a Csmaro....but right now I just need to keep busy.