I took my car to a new car wash near my office 2 weeks ago, right before flying out of the country. The car wash has conveyor belts to carry your car through the brushless wash, to accomodate low-riding cars, rather than those regular guides.
Apparently, when the employee (actually the manager of the place) got out of my car after driving it onto the belt, he either left the car in drive or accidentally knocked it out of neutral. The car drove right over the 1" guides and into the wall of the car wash. All of this with me watching through the window, which I have to say, was pretty disheartening.
The owner of the car wash also owns a body shop, and they say they want to totally fix up my car, not just the damage done by the crash (there is some bumper damage in the back and highway rock nicks/scratches since I live in NYC and this town beats up cars). They have admitted fault, and say continually that they want to do right by me, although he also seems to be trying to subtly threaten that it will be more of a hassle for me to try to fix it elsewhere.
I gave them an estimate from a body shop my friend knows, that I know deals with higher-ed cars. They felt that estimate was too high and I think may give me a hard time paying it.
On the other hand, I went by their shop today, and although the guy seemed really nice, they didn't appear to work on many higher-end cars. They had a suburban, pathfinder, and I think a Hyundai in the repair area. They did have a large drive-in 'hut' looking thing in which they were baking the paint onto the pathfinder, I think. Not sure what that was.
So my question is - if I let them repair it, they said they would show me all the receipts that they purchased the parts from Lexus, and they will take care to every little detail. But I'm not sure if there is a way for me to really know right away whether or not it was a good job. I just have limited knowledge of body work.
Any advice???
Thanks!
Sean