Rate and Review Auto-Graphicks Auto Sales

- My experience at Auto-Graphicks - - LovingDad - 4/27/2011 - comment
This was my experience at Auto-Graphicks. I came across their website and was impressed by their auto-restoration services that they described online. So I thought I would give them a try since those were good skills to have and I only wanted the best body work. I decided to bring my vehicle in mid-March 2011. This was even though I got the estimate back in December 2010 but I wanted to wait for the weather to warm up so they can do their best work while not freezing. As you can tell I am into the little details and care about how things are done. My vehicle had paint missing on the rear quarter and the panel was slightly pushed in. I was told that the bumper and panel would need to be painted and a bracket repaired. I was quoted nearly $900 for this repair which was going to be out of my own pocket. After they had my vehicle for approximately 5-7 days, I picked up my vehicle. My vehicle was only a year and a half old so I was still in the phase where I notice every little thing. Well I can see some type of boundary in my paint. So I brought it to their attention. The company told me it was a primer line. Huh? I never saw a primer line after a repair job before. During my estimate, I was told that they would paint the rear panel all the way to the front part of my vehicle where it leads to the windshield. That’s understandable so the paint job would seem continuous of course. I brought this up and asked them why would there be a primer line if the panel and area leading to the roofline and towards the windshield was suppose to be painted as a whole. The company then told me it was there because of the dents that had to be fixed in the bracket area. Remember folks, I never had any dents only a pushed in panel, already they making me feel like a customer who does not know what he is talking about. I think I know my damage. During our discussion on the so-called primer line, I brought to their attention about a paint nick I created while cleaning the car before I dropped it off to them. I asked them why that nick was not covered by paint since the panel as a whole was supposed to be re-painted. They proceed to tell me that they missed that part. Are you kidding me? The reason I went to these folks was because of their auto-restoration skills. You would think that the purpose of auto-restoration would be to bring the vehicle back to it’s original condition. At this point, I started to carefully look at my bumper because they told me they would have to remove it so they could fix the bracket and repaint the whole bumper. Well, what do you know, I also see a primer line in my bumper too. Not only that, I still see a nick on my bumper that was there before I brought it in. So even though I was told that my whole bumper would be repainted, it seems that it was not done since nicks in the paint would have disappeared during the repair. I know I did not ask for restoration services but I was hoping to get regular body work done where you cannot tell the difference before the repair. As in original condition. The company never offered to repaint over the so-called primer lines. They did offer to use fine grit sandpaper to buff it out. Moreover, I was also told to let it cure in the sun for a couple of days and it would disappear. Well it’s almost May and the primer lines are still there. You can tell where the new paint and the original paint separates at this boundary and this is on my rear panel and bumper. On top of that, there is some bumps under the paint job as if the company painted over some grit or dirt particles. You can actually see and feel it which turns me off to say the least. Not good! I had to pay nearly $900 for this repair out of my own pocket and everyone is going through tough times in this economy & recession. I feel that I didn’t receive the work that the company explained to me during the estimate. In my opinion, I felt I should not have paid for work that was not done the way they said they would do it. Money could have been saved in helping pay for more baby supplies and food for my little girl instead of me having to see primer lines on my paint job! I got what I paid for, I guess it was an expensive learning experience.