Panelbeater woes

rua69, Feb 1, 8:01pm
Our 1993 Pulsar was crashed into just before Christmas, t-boned in a supermarket car park. Damage to driver's door and guard. Sub-80 km/h handling affected: unpleasantly juddery and pulled to the left. Covered by crasher's insurance. P/beater told of all issues at assessment; car off to p/beater two weeks ago.

We got the car back today. Top marks for presentation, looked as good as before. Took it for a drive - lo, no improvement, it handled as badly as it had since the accident. The door now has a mysterious and very annoying rattle, possibly because it doesn't seem to close as tightly as the other doors. What had been a nice car to drive before the crash was now worse than immediately after it.

I doubt the car would pass a WOF test. What do you think our next course of action should be! Get the car checked by someone else! Do we complain to the insurance company or to the p/beater!
franc123, Feb 1, 8:07pm
all of the above, its their job to restore the car to the state it was in before it was crashed.There may be damage to the wheel, or to the suspension area that has thrown the wheel alignment out, the rattle may just be a case of something loose inside or a poor adjustment.
rua69, Feb 1, 8:15pm
Cheers, I'll get onto it in the morning.
rua69, Feb 1, 8:30pm
Oh another thing, do yoou reckon we can get another p/beater to finish the job! Gotta say that after a fortnight and a crap job my faith in this one is well diminished.
lookoutas, Feb 1, 8:37pm
Was the P/beater a CRA member!
rua69, Feb 1, 8:42pm
Yes.

Edit: and approved by our insurers, State.
steve_t647, Feb 1, 8:42pm
Consumer Guarantees means they have the first right of refusal, it could be as simple as a wheel balance or the car could still be bent and need to go on a chassis jig for a tweak.

Have the same situation, you may want to pay for an inspection and have them measure the chassis.
franc123, Feb 1, 8:44pm
You will have to give the original repairer the chance to put things right first, I would however independently advise whoever you were dealing with in the insurance co that you weren't satisfied and clearly there maybe a safety issue with the car, keep them in the loop.
lookoutas, Feb 1, 9:16pm
Go back to the P/Beater and tell them your issues. Ask them if your car was given a wheel alignment as it's pulling etc.
Were they aware of this problem at the start, and was it allowed for in the assessment!
Point out the rattle/poor fitting door, and that you wish to have it fixed.

If all this is rectified without fuss, then all's sweet.

If you have no joy, this is your regional CRA executive : Wayne Houghton (Perfect Auto Body Limited) And you are extra lucky - Gary Greeves is the National Chairman and also in your area.
If they are as useless at looking after you as they are at sorting out the chargeout rate, then you go to the other shafters in the system, the Insurance Co.

If you really wanta piss the P/Beater off - go tell the Insurance Co first, and everyone will love you.
beno, Feb 2, 7:53am
Go back to the panelbeater and ask him nicely if he can have a look at the door rattle, and closing issue. Also advise him that the car now has steering problems.He will do his best to help you. nobody likes people bad mouthing them is business so please dont do that yet. If the panelshop does not comply and fix the faults then you can take it up with your insurance company.
rua69, Feb 2, 9:34am
All sorted!

Phoned p/beater when they opened, they said bring it in.

Turned out that the insurers had ignored the steering issue because the assessor could see no reason for one. It would have been obvious had he/she done a road test. Never mind, they agreed to a wheel alignment. So improved handling + door closing better with no rattles + fast service = me very happy.

The wheel aligner pointed out that three of the tyres needed replacement which was good to know, and will be done in short order.

Thanks everyone for your help. Last night I was frustrated and you helped me think. Beno, yes I was very nice to the p/beater, as they were to me. But I hope I don't need their p/beating services again for a long time ;)
elect70, Feb 2, 1:30pm
,Often things dont show up until driven a bit . Had falcon van t boned in front , tookanother visit & trip to engineer to check suspension geometry , after he ok ed it with assesor. "its the putting right that counts "
rob_man, Feb 2, 2:10pm
Sounds like the assessor needs a kick up the arse but the repairer could be a bit economical with the truth too. Maybe got allowed a wheel alignment but didn't get it done.
Wouldn't be the first time that's happened and it wouldn't be the first time an assessor got out of the wrong side of the bed either.
Still, all's well that ends well eh!
trouser, Feb 2, 2:12pm
No it's not. "its the getting it right the first time that counts"
ken_williams_nz, Feb 2, 2:12pm
#1 I would take it to the warrant station.I always use VTNZ, and have said to them in the past "hey its had a crash can you have a look" and they have always been very obliging in taking a look at the affected area.
lookoutas, Feb 2, 4:43pm
It's so refreshing to see that there's perfect people out there, and experts that know everything.
rob_man, Feb 2, 4:48pm
You would get better results if you took it to your local sheltered workshop and asked them to take a look.
rua69, Feb 2, 6:52pm
Got three new tyres this afternoon, so the car's safer and drives as sweet as honey.

I was there when the p/beater called the assessor and got the alignment approved. He told me insurance companies will try to get away with paying for as little as possible, including safety inspections for "simple" cases like ours. This shocked me: I'd have thought an inspection would be a matter of course after we'd reported the poor handling.
rob_man, Feb 2, 7:10pm
That's State for ya. Penny pinching bastards.
rscozzie, Feb 2, 7:23pm
take it bak , and tell them wats wrong, no 1s perfect every 1 makes mistakes
lookoutas, Feb 2, 7:24pm
Where ya been!
rscozzie, Mar 2, 10:16pm
sorry im just a dum panelbeater haha