PDA

View Full Version : Race Dezign wrecked my car!!


Whiplash Willy
04-13-2007, 05:47 PM
I have been keeping this pretty quiet for some time now in hopes that Race Dezign would resolve this issue correctly, but now I know for sure I will have to repair the damage myself.

About a month ago I made the huge mistake of going to Race Dezign to pick up a $20 KA24E harness I needed for my beater. I always knew the people at Race Dezign were ricers and idiots, but I had no idea how truly stupid they were until now. One minute after I entered the store, I heard my alarm go off. I walk outside to see an EG hatch backed into my driver side fender. Casey the mechanic was steering the car as it was being pushed out of the shop. Hey didn’t realize the car had no brakes…..They apologized about it and said they would fix it…but there are few places I trust to do work on my car, and Race Dezign is not one of them. I told them I want a real body shop to fix it. They brushed me off and said they would take care of it themselves. Not knowing what to do, pissed off and tired from a long day, I went home. The next day I went to Precision Auto & Body to get a quote. It was $850 for the damage. I also got a quote for about the same at Kadells. My fender is bent and scratched pretty bad, my wheel is scratched up pretty bad, and my alignment was probley messed up.

I took the quote to Fred, the owner, and he said there is no way he would pay for it to get fixed there, and accused me of trying to scam him for money. He told me they could do a better job then precision…yea right. Fred refused to give me any insurance information, even though his employee was steering his customers car that hit me on his property. My insurance agent said there isn’t much I can do since the moving car wasn’t under its own power, it was the same as a shopping cart running into my car. At this point I knew I was screwed. I told Fred to just get me a fender and paint match it, and that I would install it. I refused to let those morons anywhere near my car. I figured this would be better then nothing, which was the alternative.

It took 3 weeks of me calling and visiting them every day for me to finally get the fender back. The painter was so lazy that they just painted over the black tape/trim on the fender. And of course the paint was 3 shades too bright and would look worse then the damaged fender on my car. I was pissed and yelled at them to have a real body shop fix it right, they owe me that at least. They offered to try to blend it, but there is a bigger chance they would screw up my other good body panels rather then fixing their crappy job. They refused to have a real body shop fix it and told me I could take them to court if I am not happy, they are tired of dealing with me. I read up on small claims court, and even if I won, I still have to get them to pay me, which isn’t very likely. It would just be a waste of time and money. I had my insurance agent call to try to get the insurance and Fred refused again. Fred actually said they don’t care about going to court, they have been there many times before…not a good sign.

As of now I know I am screwed and I will have to fix this myself. I will be reporting them to the Insurance Commission and the Better Business Bureau. Race Dezign proudly hangs a BBB sign in their window, maybe that will get their attention. I also want to post this in every local forum their customers might see.

My car used to be in really good condition inside and out. My original paint is still in very good shape. I put a lot of time and effort to keep my car that way. It really pisses
me off that thoughtless idiots can mess up your car like that and you can’t do anything about it.

Moral of the story is, never go to Race Dezign or have them do any work on your car.

http://www.beefstorm.com/pics/240pics/Bad%20Fender.JPG

Chernobyl
04-13-2007, 05:50 PM
How about.... call the cops? Which is what you should have done in the first place once it started getting fishy.

Instead of bitching about it on Zilvia to people you don't even know.

Whiplash Willy
04-13-2007, 05:57 PM
I called the cops and they won't do anything. They say its a civil issue. The only time cops do anything is when they can take your money.

CrazyIvan
04-13-2007, 06:02 PM
SORRY but... IMO you're trying to scam them out of their money... I wouldnt pay $850 to fix that either, its a fucking fender off of a S13... you probably paid that much for the whole car... to fix something like that it would cost someone some $400 MAX, that is with a brand spanking new fender from nissan and a good painter... but we all know you're going to get a $25 fender from the junkyard and you're going to take the car to maaco to paint that fender...

OptionZero
04-13-2007, 06:05 PM
there might be some dudes here that would give you an s13 fender for free, sheesh

Whiplash Willy
04-13-2007, 06:07 PM
It won't match unless you have a good shop color match and blend it into the paint. Red is very hard to match. I have multiple quotes saying that is how much it is to fix the damage from professional body shops. It is not cheap to get it fixed right, body shops do overcharge for their services. A brand new 240 fender is $253 btw + paint and labor...it adds up.

BlazedGlory
04-13-2007, 06:08 PM
That sucks pretty bad... I agree that you messed up a little bit. The cops would have done something if you called them to the scene of the accident in the first place instead of leaving and then trying to deal with it later.

It is good to get the word out to others about your experience at least I guess... Live and learn

DriftSpecial180
04-13-2007, 06:09 PM
It sucks cause your car looks pretty clean and now its molested. But that much for one fender painted is a lot. If its original paint you can always look for a clean fender in the for sale section.

95Kouki
04-13-2007, 06:25 PM
dude that sucks balls and all but stop your bickering....fix it and move on with your life...

spool_sample
04-13-2007, 06:26 PM
No offense, but if you already knew they were "ricers and idiots", and you already knew that SOMETHING would go wrong, why did you bother going to them in the first place? I think that's where the real problem started...

C. Senor
04-13-2007, 07:19 PM
dude, y dont you buy a fender from junk yard cuz the body shops around here in cali, to color match pearl mint green and the gun metal gray (2-tone color) is like 400 bucks for spots of the fender, skirts, and lip, with some cosmetic work...and thats the color with the little flakes and 3 coat clear coat...not 825, try going to other shops..do it yourself, if you really want to make them pay, take them to small claims, win the settlement, get a court signed paper thing saying they owe you so much, they dont pay call cops....give them paper thing signed by judge saying they have to pay you, and take them wiht you...then they pay you, they give you dirty looks, you flip them off, and go about with your life........end of story dude....everyone gets screwed at some point.

djp.
04-13-2007, 07:20 PM
thats something i always heard, always always always call the cops just for them to get a report, because if u go to court without one its one word against the other, and im sure they would change the story, but if u have a police report it makes things easier

OptionZero
04-13-2007, 07:20 PM
it's an s13...who really cares if its off slightly?

C. Senor
04-13-2007, 07:23 PM
^hahaha yeah i rocked a black fender on mine for quite a few months (my car is green)...lol

FaLKoN240
04-13-2007, 07:29 PM
Uhh, who the hell buys new fenders.

Your claim is valid and everything, but yeah. . .

Ian
04-13-2007, 07:33 PM
$850 to fix that is a fucking lie


either those body shops are trying to rip you off or you're full of shit

A Spec Products
04-13-2007, 07:34 PM
My friend backed into my driver side fender with a truck

Looked just like that

I wasnt really concerned

Just hammered it out, and had him trade me the damage for some 6x9 speakers

Then before I got the car color changed I got another stock free fender and called it a day

I know you're frustrated but at least the owner tried to get the fender painted for you and make it right.

I'm sure that by threatening to take them to court and calling them all the time isn't making them more motivated to help you out

I mean yeah, they made a mistake and whatnot, but the fender is repainted and its only the front fender

If they had backed into the rear quarter then that would be a whole new story

Why would the alignment be off if they hit your fender? You mean fender alignment?

S13SilviaGirl
04-13-2007, 07:39 PM
How about.... call the cops? Which is what you should have done in the first place once it started getting fishy.

Instead of bitching about it on Zilvia to people you don't even know.

If it is on private property they wont come out, unless someone is hurt or there is a fight. Trust me, I was about to beat a womans ass that had backed straight into my car is SD. Only reason they came out was because my friend said I was getting hostile. :keke:




But, while this sucks for you, others do have a point. I would have asked him for some money and gotten a free fender from someone else. $850 is a lot of money.