Need Help - Body Shop Recommendation

Joined
21 January 2005
Messages
1,384
I had an off last Saturday and need to get my car repaired (body, frame and paint). I did a search and found the following recommended shops:

Autobahn Body & Paint (*)
778 Yuba Dr
Mountain View CA 94041
650/966-1840


Brooks Motor Cars in Oakland (*)
9829 Bigge Street
Oakland, CA 94603
(510) 632.8901


Bodystyle
524 E Brokaw Rd
San Jose CA 95112.
(408) 436-1616.


Costelli and Pardini
San Mateo
(650) 571-7001.


EMC
Fremont
510-651-8800


William's Autobody & Paint
http://www.williamsautobody.net


Works Auto Body, The
1640 Grant St
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 748-1367


Out of all listed above, (*) Autobahn Body & Paint and Brooks Motor Cars seemed to get the most recommendations. Would this still be the case? Let me make myself perfectly clear, I want the best of the best to work on my car. :biggrin:

thx...
 
Follow-up: Details...

Last Saturday, I spun my car and hit a metering light on a freeway on-ramp. The irony is that I just finished washing my car. Now the car is covered in dirt and wounded. :eek: The extent of the damage is yet TBD, but here's what I can clearly see:

* Left front fender, just behind the tire has a dent the size and shape of the light pole I hit.

* Left-front steering/suspension is broken

* Front deck lid, top left-hand corner has a dented and is buckled along edge, next to the front fender damage. There is some paint cracked and pealing. The alignment of the deck lid is off but opens and closes easily.

* Windshield is cracked on the driver's side.

* Lower front nose is a bit messed up from plowing dirt.

* Left-rear wheel has lots of toe-in

So basically, during only one 360 degree spin. the car hit a small asphalt curbing with the left-front tire, then encountered the light pole with the left-front fender, then the left-rear tire hit the same curbing.

Initial inspection of the car didn't reveal any body damage other than the left-front fender, front deck lid, lower-left corner windshield area and lower front nose. Both doors and trunk are still properly aligned and open/close ok.

The things that concern me are:
* possible frame damage
* possible drive-train damage


Click thumbnails to enlarge pics.


Please note, in the first pic, the deck lid is not closed which makes its alignment look worse than it really is.



 
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Follow-up: Details...

Last Saturday, I spun my car and hit a metering light on a freeway on-ramp. The irony is that I just finished washing my car. Now the car is covered in dirt and wounded. :eek: The extent of the damage is yet TBD, but here's what I can clearly see:

* Left front fender, just behind the tire has a dent the size and shape of the light pole I hit.

* Left-front steering/suspension is broken

* Front deck lid, top left-hand corner has a dented and is buckled along edge, next to the front fender damage. There is some paint cracked and pealing. The alignment of the deck lid is off but opens and closes easily.

* Windshield is cracked on the driver's side.

* Lower front nose is a bit messed up from plowing dirt.

* Left-rear wheel has lots of toe-out

So basically, during only one 360 degree spin. the car hit a small asphalt curbing with the left-front tire, then encountered the light pole with the left-front fender, then the left-rear tire hit the same curbing.

Initial inspection of the car didn't reveal any body damage other than the left-front fender, front deck lid, lower-left corner windshield area and lower front nose. Both doors and trunk are still properly aligned and open/close ok.

The things that concern me are:
* possible frame damage
* possible drive-train damage


Click thumbnails to enlarge pics.


Please note, in the first pic, the deck lid is not closed which makes its alignment look worse than it really is.

ouch Gary sorry, I guess bad stuff does happen to the nicest people...
don't know out of that list who is the most qualified but you might consider sending it to who did mikec's work cause that car looks insane
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88993
if you need any help with anything let me know :wink:
 
Gary,

Dude, so sorry to hear about your car. I'll talk to you soon about it.

I got my parts painted at Brooks Motor Cars and after seeing their work and facilities, it'll probably be the only place I bring it to whenever needed (hopefully not often). Each time I went there (4 times total) I always saw exotics there, which may or may not mean anything, but could. Also, they are certified to work on aluminum chassis, which is a big plus if you find that the car frame has damage. Their certs are from Audi and others (not Acura) but I don't know of *any* other place that's certified to work aluminum frames.

Good luck in your search and on the repair of the car. Glad to hear you're okay, BTW.

J
 
:( Sorry to hear Gary. Thankfully, you are fine. Did this happen after the get together in Milpitas?
 
Ditto.

If for whatever reason you want to consider also shops outside San Jose area, we have excellent shops here in town who have worked on many NSXs.

Distance isn't an issue. Have any recommendations in the Sac area?

:( Sorry to hear Gary. Thankfully, you are fine. Did this happen after the get together in Milpitas?

No. It happened in the evening and just after I had washed the car - go figure. :mad:


Thank you everyone for your kind words and info. Keep it coming... I can certainly use it cause I'm still in a state of morning... :frown:

I hope to choose a repair shop by the end of the week.

-g
 
Gary I'm sorry for what happened, most importantly though glad ou're okay and not hurt. The car could always be fixed and life goes on. Perhaps this is a good chance for you to make some changes (aftermarket mods) if there were any you wanted to make previously. Again I'm glad you're okay and I hope the car gets taken care of and comes back out soon. Let me know if you need anything!

Jimmy
 
Distance isn't an issue. Have any recommendations in the Sac area?

-g


Gary we have three shops.

Jake Tomlinson & Co in Auburn. 530 885 0183. Jake is a car buff and dealer as well. Has done some amazing things. He services all the problem issues for Niello Company and has done many NSXs, including one where a street post sign fell on the roof of an NSX and he fixed it without cutting. Jake has hosted our club for detailing days and NSXPO 2003.

Pettinato's on 18 and E Street - downtown Sacramento. 916 444 6448. Have known the owners Ron and Elaine for some 20+ years and they too do great job. They have worked on our family cars before, as well as many NSXs - Ron the owner is Kip's neighbor.

Fabrication Specialties in south Sac. 916 391 4159. Don Joe used to be with Comptech many years ago and he is a certified NSX mechanic as well as aluminum repairs. He has worked on a few of the local NSXs as well. He too has sponsored our local club and NSXPO 2003 (luncheon at RPM).
 
Gary

I am glad to hear you are okay. That is the most important thing. And now, secondly, sorry to see your pride and joy in a bit of a hurt. Lemme know if you need anything or if I can help.
 
Gary,
Lisa and I just saw this post (Blury told us about it on Sunday) and we are very sorry to see this.

Hopefully it will all get squared away for you soon.

I had work done at Brooks Motor Cars in Oakland. Ask for Daniel (Dan) Kim. He is the owner.
 
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Hi Gary,

Sorry to hear about the incident with your NSX. As others have said, we are happy to hear you are alright.

I'm sure you know this already, whoever you decide to take your NSX too, be sure they have a frame rack and there is someone in the shop who knows how to work on aluminum.

I'm not sure if there is anything I can do, but if you think of something, let me know.

Mike
 
Whoa! Sorry to hear about your incident. I hope that you were not hurt.

To answer your question, I would not recommend Autobahn. They painted the green NSX in 11/2004 when the transport company crashed it. Their paint work quality is not bad, but their attention to detail in putting things back together is lacking, and the owner and writers are very arrogant.
 
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Gary,

I'm glad you are ok. I can just imagine what you are going through.
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Take your time finding a good bodyshop and don't be afraid to nitpick.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Otto
 
I've had a great experience at The Works, but they only worked on body panel, not frame. I can't comment on their frame work. There were plenty of exotics parked in the shop when I brought my car in (Challenge Stradale, Vipers, Maserati's, etc etc), so at least you know he's got a high-end clientelle. Best of luck.
 
Sorry to hear about the accident and I'm glad you are alright. As for body shop, I would highly recommend Body style at Brokaw, San Jose. Cecil, the owner, installed the GT3 body kit on my 996 C2 and his work is flawless. He is extremely pricy but his work is guaranteed. Most of my Porsche buddies went to his shop for body work.
 
Sorry to hear about the mishap. I would recommend going to Brooks Motor Cars and talk to Daniel Kim. He will do a great job on your car. He has an Austin Martin that he recently spun out on an on ramp and damaged the right rear quarter or something like that. You can go over there and take a look at his car and see the quality repair on his car. I don't think you will ever be able to tell it was damaged. I have a very good eye and I couldn't tell.
 
Gary, I am so glad you are ok. If you need anything pm me, my cars when something happens always goes to Autobahn, good fair people and pretty good turn around time.
 
Sorry to hear the news Garry; glad you're okay. Wish you and your car a speedy recovery :smile:
 
Yowch! Sorry to hear about you car Gary, but glad you're ok. You kept it in great condition and I know you'll accept nothing less when it cames back to you.
 
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your car Gary. I'm glad you came out unscathed at least.

If you're out checking places, you might also talk to Conner...
Conner's Body Shop
1098 Stockton Avenue
San Jose CA 95110

He's not too far from you and, although he hasn't worked on my NSX, he has done work on my wifes car and on my friends BMW 640. He does good work, I can vouch for that.
 
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