Need help!!! Body shop is screwing with me I think.

[Nitro187]

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They ordered a new bumper, and they put this one on... it's apparently directly from Chrysler, and the body shop and my insurance said that it looks this way, because Chrysler made a modified the bumper to be like this.

Can someone let me know if this is an ACTUAL modification from Chrysler, or if it's a defective bumper?

To me, it looks defective... it has jagged edges, you can put your fingernail underneath the back of it, and it's not symmetrical at all.

 

[speedracervr4]

Looks like it's cracked, you can see a portion where the paints chiped away. Doesn't look right.

 

[CEJ]

Sounds like you're being asked to eat a BS sandwich.

It could be that a defective part was shipped out, but that tear doesn't look like a "factory modification".

 

[Nitro187]

Well, apparently the adjuster called Chrysler, and they said that "That's how they're made now"

?? Does someone have a recent picture of a new bumper from factory for an RT/10? Probably not... lol

 

[Fatboy 18]

Im trying to work out where that flange is in regard to the rest of the bumper? It almost looks as if that tab should go behind the other cover? Got a bigger picture?

 

[Nitro187]

I can get a bigger shot of mine tomorrow, but I found a trunk open on e-bay for reference as to where it is... so I just modified it so you can see. I've never seen something so ugly on a Viper before... so Chrysler "making a modification" to a 10 year old car, is absolute bull****.

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[DrumrBoy]

Doesn't look right to me. Here's some potentially relevant information for you though.

I broke a 98 GTS windshield (dropping the motor in, cracked it at the bottom). Ordered one from Chrysler....came 3 days later. Broken. Ordered another one, Chrysler paid to have it airfreighted. It too was broken. Come to find out that these are not checked before they are shipped from the Detroit warehouse where they've been boxed up and rustled around from rack to rack for the past 13 years. The inventory is in a box on the shelf and is not checked before its shipped....it assumed to be good when often it isn't.

Now, in my case Chrysler manned up, apologized for shipping broken glass and eventually I got it right.

The point that may be relevant here is that this bumper might have been mislabeled or was a production line reject that for some reason made it into inventory and was shipped to you.

In my experience, Chrysler will eventually do the right thing if you demonstrate to them that the parts you paid for are not right.....but the assumption is that they are right.

God luck with it.

 

[Fatboy 18]

'Zed Sump', changed his rear bumper not too long ago on his RT/10 I will send him a link to this thread He might be able to chime in

 

[Nitro187]

@Fatboy 18: A pic would be really helpful.... hopefully he pings back!

@DrumrBoy: Makes sense.... I highly doubt they made this bumper brand new just for my car.... which is apparently what the insurance adjuster is claiming.

 

[Slithr]

Have you checked with Jerry at VPA to see if he has a bumper for sale on his shelf that he could take a picture of, or at least tell you if that is how they come from Chrysler? If he could provide you a picture of a bumper for sale on his shelf that doesn't look like that .... it would be good ammo in you discussions with body shop and insurance adjuster.

Just a thought

 

[STUGOTS]

seems off to me, typical ins BS and lies to get it cheaper at ANY cost

 

[1buddyc]

Looks like a Taiwan Special to me. Maybe one of the dreaded "Reconditioned" bumpers. I'd read the fine print of your Estimate..

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

Do you still have access to your old bumper for comparison?

 

[Nitro187]

I believe they threw out all the old parts, so probably not... I definitely will ask tomorrow when I go in to bring my car to Raceway Chrysler... either way, Raceway will set em straight and get the part fixed right - I have my faith in them.

Wish they would have let me bring it there instead in the first place.

I'll post an update tomorrow when I know more... but it really doesn't make sense what they're talking about. It's not like the Chrysler engineers say "Lets go re-design a 10 year old car bumper... for ****s and giggles... and make it asymmetrical!" ..... so ridiculous it makes me sick.

 

[CEJ]

The only reason insurance companies do this is because people agree to it. The bumper looks bad. The part is defective. Period. But they don't want to mess with it, and they hope you'll roll over like 80% of everyone else.

 

[Camfab]

That pic is so bad it's hard to tell what's going on. If that's a small tab sticking out with no function, why doesn't the body shop just trim it flush. I can't tell for sure if that's the problem, but if it is and they didn't trim it and smooth it out, they are hacks. It's just crappy supplier quality control and a really bad body shop that let's that go.

 

[Matt M PA]

If indeed those two pics above are of the same area....I'm wondering why one has the center divit...yet the other appears to have a plug of some sort. What's that about? My 96 has the indentation.

 

[RPHJR]

sorry, maybe Im not looking at the picture correctly. But it almost looks like you could push that area back down, under that lower ridge? or like camfab said, just trim it off nice.

 

[aloushi]

looks like $hit, don't let that fly!!!

 

[Fatboy 18]

@Fatboy 18: A pic would be really helpful.... hopefully he pings back!

@DrumrBoy: Makes sense.... I highly doubt they made this bumper brand new just for my car.... which is apparently what the insurance adjuster is claiming.

Spoke with Pete (Zed Sump) today, he's very busy at the moment but said that's not right! Don't settle for it

 

[mattdillon]

Spoke with Pete (Zed Sump) today, he's very busy at the moment but said that's not right! Don't settle for it

Nitro it definitely looks like their taking you for a DA! I would get my facts together & at least one of my friends & go Talk to them. jmo

 

[Fatboy 18]

Nitro, I sent you a PM

 

[Garron]

This vehicle is now at my dealership, we were not the ones to paint or do the work on the bumper. I had the body shop manager look at the bumper. This is what he said:
If this is an OEM bumper I would not have accepted it from parts, I would just send it back. If we get a fender or bumper we would expect it to be free of defects.
Up close you can clearly see this is the area they inject the plastic to make the bumper. If a body shop was forced to use it they could have easily trimmed it off.

 

[Nitro187]

Now we play the waiting game to see what the insurance does....

 

[AZTVR]

Now we play the waiting game to see what the insurance does....

Yes. This is the time where you find out whether an insurance company is one that you would recommend for something other than lowest premiums. That is why I have not shopped around, and stayed with mine, after they responded "the right way," in a situation where they could have decided in their favor.

This one seems obvious, though. Their obligation is to pay for the car to be fixed without defects. This is unquestionably a defect, when looked at by an expert.

 

[Nitro187]

So the body shop admitted fault, and shaved the part off as required, and re-painted the whole thing. It looks perfect now, so I'm pretty happy.... finally.

Unreal.

 

[plumcrazy]

good news !