BrutusBuckeye
Enthusiast
I’m hoping the powers that be will keep from taking down this post. I’d like to warn the members and guests about my experiences with <font color="red"> </font> . I know that he is a major sponsor for this site, but from my experience this shop is also one of the worst mistakes I have ever made. I trusted this body shop based on the fact that they were a major sponsor and that they were recommended by members. <font color="blue"> </font> A member of this site was involved in an accident and took his car to <font color="red"> </font> . While the Viper was at the shop, he decided to sell the car. He posted an ad in the classifieds of this site and I contacted him. I agreed to purchase the car after I had it inspected by a Viper Tech. It took awhile but <font color="red"> </font> , who was recommended from this site, checked out the car and said the repair was perfect. He went on to tell me all the car needed was a tune-up.
I had Gary Almond, deliver the car to me with no problems. Once I inspected the car after delivery… the nightmare began. The hood was misaligned, passenger door wouldn’t shut correctly, the passenger window could barely go up, the paint was mismatched, burn spots in the paint that was repainted. The car drove perfect, but when I had a well respected local Viper Tech check it out… turned out the frame was still bent, a major safety brace was not connected, and there were some questions about if the ABS module had been replaced. The bent frame was in front of the suspension and that’s why you couldn’t tell while driving it.
The Viper Tech and I along with his Body Shop Manager contacted Gary Defratus and he said he knew nothing about the problems. We went back and forth with him about the repairs and he agreed to send a transport up to fix what we had found. He sent someone up about a month later and picked up the car. After sitting on the car for 2 months, the car was returned. A panel had been repainted, still didn’t match, frame was tweeked a little, safety brace was replaced. Obviously he wasn’t interested in fixing the problem correctly.
I’ve since sold the car, at a huge loss. Car is now going be a track toy and they’re not worried about frame and other problems. I’m done with this car and I’ve learned a expensive lesson… just want to pass on my experience to you guys. Hope something like this never happens to you.
I had Gary Almond, deliver the car to me with no problems. Once I inspected the car after delivery… the nightmare began. The hood was misaligned, passenger door wouldn’t shut correctly, the passenger window could barely go up, the paint was mismatched, burn spots in the paint that was repainted. The car drove perfect, but when I had a well respected local Viper Tech check it out… turned out the frame was still bent, a major safety brace was not connected, and there were some questions about if the ABS module had been replaced. The bent frame was in front of the suspension and that’s why you couldn’t tell while driving it.
The Viper Tech and I along with his Body Shop Manager contacted Gary Defratus and he said he knew nothing about the problems. We went back and forth with him about the repairs and he agreed to send a transport up to fix what we had found. He sent someone up about a month later and picked up the car. After sitting on the car for 2 months, the car was returned. A panel had been repainted, still didn’t match, frame was tweeked a little, safety brace was replaced. Obviously he wasn’t interested in fixing the problem correctly.
I’ve since sold the car, at a huge loss. Car is now going be a track toy and they’re not worried about frame and other problems. I’m done with this car and I’ve learned a expensive lesson… just want to pass on my experience to you guys. Hope something like this never happens to you.
Maybe one day in the future.
