Safelite screwed up....bad

NOHOME said:

The odds of that panel system being removed without damage to adjoining panels and then being installed to the same structural  standard as it was at the factory, and THEN having the rest of dash/instrumentation installed to factory standards is less than zero. There is no way you are going to end up with a better/safer result than you have now if they actually do go ahead and do the $5000 repair. I would rather roll with what they did so far rather than have my car ripped apart for a repair that nobody has ever done.

 

What  I think you are really shooting for is a new car. 

Also not true. Factory repair procedures are intended to do just that, repair back to original condition. 

camopaint0707 said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Proper car repair, paid for by safelite, since they cause the damage, and authorized incorrect repair methods.

Seems reasonable.

Is that happening now? You choose the shop and they pay? How does the lawyer get paid?

In reply to tuna55 :

Well safelite still seems to be cooperating.  But honestly that could change at any minute for all I know.

So safelite guy called, said he's willing to pay whatever the shop says.  He is saying it's overkill of a repair.  Which isn't necessarily wrong.  At this point, idk how much longer I want our car out of commission.  I hate this rental bronco.  A repair at the level we got quoted would take months to fix.

You're free to choose your own adventure, but I'll reiterate: I was that body shop kid reassembling cars after major repairs. Bob is right, I didn't make $15 an hour, I made $8, but that was over a decade ago and they probably make $15 now. I did as great of a job as I possibly could given the constraints, but a profitable body shop doing insurance jobs just isn't going to have the same tender loving care that the factory (or you) would. Heck, the well-paid dealer techs don't, either, and you'll find horror stories all over of sqeaks/rattles/fingerprints/etc. after major jobs like this. I would strongly advise against dissecting the car that far for this reason.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Maybe that's a Florida thing. Here in the Midwest, we are "an insurance shop", very profitable and our techs are good at what they do and are paid appropriately. About double the earlier quote , almost quadruple your pay rate. Our cleanup guy makes more than that. 
 

as for the repair, yeah that's gonna be a while. Not sure how the situation is in your area but it would be 4-6 weeks to get the car in and parts availability is still spotty. A lot of odd structural parts are hit or miss on availability and sone are taking 6-8 weeks to get. Currently have an infinity structural part that was ordered early august showing a potential ship date of 11/6. 

I am not sure what I would do , 

cars are made to be put together not taken apart , so some things are going to get damaged since replacing a firewall is going to be  a learning experience, 

Can you have the dealer check and see if a firewall is available and the cost ?

and will this repair go on the Carfax ?

Good luck

If I had done the initial repair/weld it would have been invisible when finished because I would have made  a point of it. That is the mistake they made; it was a sloppy repair. It could have been TIG welded, metal finished and painted body colour.

If safety really is a driving concern, the proposed fix is not going to be better than what they already did. I would actually consider it a step in the wrong direction. The original tear was a ledge outside of the structural box. What is being proposed is major structural replacement of a firewall component; THE box. Not trivial, not commonly done so no experience and not ever going to be factory quality because the factory did it with a robot that self inspects each and every spot weld as it does it. Some poor tech bent over double trying to reach some of those spots and hating his life is a bit of a variable.

Do what makes you happy.  Glad to see that they are picking up the bill.

In reply to NOHOME :

Well put. 

What a saga, just caught up. Maybe I'm a complete hack, but I honestly don't think that repair job was very bad, assuming the windshield can seal now. I'm trying to imagine myself in the same situation, if that had happened to my nearly new car. I don't think I would want my taken apart any further. You're talking engine out, dash out, cutting up the firewall? Idk man. That's a lot of chances for things to never be the same again. Broken plastic connectors here and there, new squeaks and rattles, that sort of thing.

Can you just have another body shop touch it up a bit? More welding, smoother grinding, corrosion protection, etc. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

A good tig welder could reflow that lumpy weld, metal finish it near invisible and then it can be primed and painted with matching paint. None of that is rocket science. And it will cost you 2k or so. The mistake was to misread the client and try to pass on a $200 repair as the solution. 

How about negotiating for something that is beneficial to both of you?

You will accept the better quality repair and finishing, without removal of the firewall. You'll agree not to sue, but you'd like 5 years free insurance premiums.

They get the lower cost repair, and have to barter the services they normally charge for.

You get a properly repaired car which can be completed rapidly without losing use of it for an extended time, and without taking the risks involved with removing the engine, and all the dismantling. 
 

Win/ win. 

The replacement of the part is what i would want but there is an inherent risk with all that has to come apart.  The original repair looks to be brazed not welded. Basicly very high strength soldering. While done well it can be very strong the brazing done on that repair looked very poor.  The problem is now that it is brazed I don't think you can come back and tig  it with out completely cutting out the brazing material. You would then have to add metal back in and tig the new metal in. 
 

In the long run I think I would want the part replaced and some sort of extended waranty on the repair. I would probibly want the car put on a frame table and some x bracing put in then the piece removed and replaced to make sure nothing moves when the part is cut out. I know this is a bit extreme but it is the only way to make sure things don't move.  
 

Tig welding and properly dressing the weld down is by far a better option. Even if metal has to be added to make up for metal removed to get rid of the brazing.  
 

I would want a sign off from my insurance on what ever repair is made so they can not later cancel or refuse coverage due to the repair versus replacement. 
 

Also can you ask for a different/better rental that is more to your liking?  I have done this and swapped out of a car I really did not like to something that was easier to drive and fit me better. 

Such a poop sandwich. I'm still amazed they told you the damage was done with a nylon string. 

I'm with @NOHOMES on this one. Re-weld the repair to a higher standard, inspect carefully before paint then finish it all up and call it good. Disassembling the unibody is asking for problems. 

Update?

So final update.  Car is fixed.  Safelite paid for it all.  They didn't hassle at all.  And they did top off our car with a full tank of gas, and pushed to get a genuine Toyota OEM window for it.  

camopaint0707 said:

So final update.  Car is fixed.  Safelite paid for it all.  They didn't hassle at all.  And they did top off our car with a full tank of gas, and pushed to get a genuine Toyota OEM window for it.  

Fixed how? I assume just a better weld and finishing work? I can't imagine they stripped the dash and got it back together that fast, but I'm not a body shop. 

In reply to Steve_Jones :

They didn't.  Not fully at least.  But we did get a lifetime warranty on the repairs should there be corrosion and what not.  My lawyer said it's not worth the fight to go after any diminished value since we'd likely pay that in legal fees anyway.  Is what it is.  My wife is just happy to have her car back.  A 1.5 turbo bronco is absolute trash.

In reply to camopaint0707 :

I am assuming that was the Bronco Sport and not the Bronco that got the 1.5 engine. 

Anyways, glad you are happy with the outcome. My suggestion is to go and trade that in today for a new 4 Runner. 

In reply to camopaint0707 :

That's good news

In reply to Slippery :

it was a 1.5 bronco, base model.  that was the rental car we had.  sorry i didn't make that apparent.

Slippery said:

In reply to camopaint0707 :

I am assuming that was the Bronco Sport and not the Bronco that got the 1.5 engine. 

Anyways, glad you are happy with the outcome. My suggestion is to go and trade that in today for a new 4 Runner. 

Man, they still haven't updated that vehicle in 13 years?

Glad you got your car back ,  that is probably the best you can hope for  ,  sometime check your Carfax and see if it got dinged !