Has Your Vehicle Been Vandalized? We Ease the Pain..

In the auto body repair business, we always get vandalism repair work,  and I always ask myself why?  Why it is someone walks by a vehicle and decides to key scratch it… mad that day, jealous, or just because you can.    This never really made sense to me, but I guess it falls under why anyone does what they do.  My sympathies always go out to someone this happens to, especially if you are in love with your ride.  I must say, my first car, a ’67 Mustang convertible, owned by my Dad, gifted to him by my Mom, who then sold it to me; and I was in love, and I mean in love with that ride.  I had it but a couple of months and someone key scratched it, deep, through all the paint and all down one side.  I’m a broke teenager, but I have to get it fixed – I mean it’s a ’67 convertible, and I LOVE it.   I’m sad thinking of it now, but I digress.  My small but real tale of sadness brings me to a recent auto vandalism.

A 2016 Subaru Impreza came to us with deep scratches down both right doors all the way to the quarter panel.  Unfortunately, photos didn’t show the scratches, but you can see the photo of how much we had to sand down the location just to begin the repair process.  The client had their car looked at directly with the insurance company and, as you have read in my previous writings and heard us say at the Shop, sometimes it is better to come directly to us to help with the negotiation process.  Though this did not have many of the problems some appraisals have, I do think any negotiation, whether a major collision or a minor one, is best left to professionals.  Our appraiser, Paul, is someone many of you know and have dealt with many times before.  Paul understands how to make the process as seamless as possible and that often means letting him negotiate for you.

This job required disassembly of the door handles and mirror, and then we had to address all dents and scratches.  It really is unbelievable how much damage is done through vandalism.  You can see the photos of the prep work.  Then off to the paint shop to do the entire side to ensure color match.  The vehicle is then reassembled, cleaned and ready for detailing.

This Impreza did need more than the original amount offered by insurance, but luckily this all progressed quite smoothly, and we were able to email the photos, and all adjustments were made over the phone via Allston Collision Center’s office staff and the insurance company.