Car Back From Body Shop

[sir john]

1 month ago an elderly gent drove into the back of my 93 LS. I was stationary. he was doing about 10 mph and didnt attempt to brake. "I must have been watching the car in front of you" was his excuse for not seeing me. Easy thing to do, big silver Lexus, about 2 tons, sitting in the middle of the road, starionary.

The damage was a crushed rear bumper, a bent boot floor pan and a boot lid 1/2" higher than it should be.

Its just come back from the repair shop. brand new bumper, nicely sprayed the correct colour so everything should be fine. But im sure that the boot floor is still higher than it should be. I seem to remember that the boot floor trim lay flat over the spare and rubber thing to the right. Now it seems to sit up by a 1/2" or so. Lower than after the accident but still higher than pre-accident. The boot lid is also a mil or 2 too high and the OS front of the lid is a couple of mil forward of where it should be.

Am i being too picky or should i take it back and demand that these faults be put right? the accident was not my fault and in my opinion my car is not as straight as it was before. The other niggle is that when i collected it the Battery was flat and now, when i turn on the ignition, i get a loud beep from a speaker in the rear. This hasnt happened since i took the Lexus cell phone out 12 months ago. The OSR chassis leg or strengthener has also still got a crimp or crease in it. When they inspected it pre-repair they said it didnt need a new floor but would pull the damage out.

Apart from the asthetics im planniing on getting it converted to LPG and the tank for that sits in the spare well.

Should i take it back or be glad I have a nice new bumper?? Does your boot floor mat sit flat??

[jamesholden]

Personally i'd take it back or sell it and get another since your planning an LPG installation. After all it's likely you'll be paying as much as the car is worth for the installation, so if your not 100% satisfied with the car now, it's unlikely you'll ever completely accept it, it's often how people feel after having a brand new car accident repaired after a couple of weeks, you never feel the same way about it again.

[runbly]

You expect your car to be repaired to how it was before the crash - simple as that.

Was it a Lexus dealer or insurer approved body shop who did the repair? Either way tell the insurance company - when I had trouble with a repair years ago and I got the insurance company involved in trying to get my car back to how it should be, they were going to withold payment to the repairer until it was sorted.

[sir john]

You expect your car to be repaired to how it was before the crash - simple as that.

Was it a Lexus dealer or insurer approved body shop who did the repair? Either way tell the insurance company - when I had trouble with a repair years ago and I got the insurance company involved in trying to get my car back to how it should be, they were going to withold payment to the repairer until it was sorted.

Thanks for that guys. No it wasnt a Lexus dealer. My insurance comp arranged for teh car to go to one of their approved repairers. I will definately have to get my insurance company involved again because i left my car in the pub car park on saturday night as usual. When i went back to collect it yesterday the Battery was flat.

This is a new problem. 100% reliable pre repair, Battery flat when i went to collect, and a load beep when ever i turn on the ignition.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Did you sign a statement of satisfaction with the repairers?

[Parthiban]

Take it back as the others have said, everytime I've had bodywork done it's always been back at least once because I'm really picky!

If you're not sure, why not take it to a Lexus bodyshop to have it inspected - if they confirm that it's too high then the original bodyshop can't really argue it and will have to sort it out.

[Steve]

Battery was probably disconnected and they have not put the connectors back on correctly, get the connectors cleaned up and properly tightened.

[sir john]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I thought i was being a bit of an arse about it but it seems im not the only one who thinks that things should be put right. Cheers guys.

[ManicMark]

Hi you 100% want it put back as was or its not been repaired, thats what I would want anyway. I think its the least you should expect.

[Manc]

Take it back defo...

i was going to suggest the phone for the bleep, but u said its out now??

The wiring loom in the boot hinge is known to be a trouble causer of gremlins in the electrics.....this could do with being re-wired if its not your bill