How is Carstar for accident repairs?

[spikerS]

So my truck was in a minor fender bender, and now I need to get it fixed.

I am insured with Aviva and they are referring me to Carstar, but I have never heard of them, and asked for a list of their preferred shops. They gave me this nifty little link

http://www.avivacanada.com/mappingtool/layout.php

I am booked in for an appraisal and such for Friday with Carstar to get the estimate done up, but like I said, I have no idea how they are quality wise.

Has anyone dealt with them before?

[94boosted]

-1

My mom brought her VW there per recommendation of her insurance company. The repair was finished on time and all appeared to be well. They gave her the car back and it was absolutely filthy inside (bodyshop dust), not really a big deal. A few months later the area they repaired starts to rust and here is where they show their unprofessional side. After a few unreturned phone calls she got fed up and called her insurance company to advise them of what's going, and that must of worked because she finally got a call back from Carstar. They scheduled her in and after seeing the rust they reluctantly agree to fix their shitty work. Appointment is made (for quite some time later), she goes to drop the car off and then they claim that they can't give her a rental car for the time they need to fix her car (~1week). Again another phone call to the insurance company and then Carstar reluctantly agrees to provide a rental car.

[94boosted]

^This was the downtown location just off 9th ave.

[FraserB]

Just go to the highest rated shop you can find. With quality work, having it be insurance approved shouldn't matter.

[roll_over]

-1 for SE location repair was fine but left some places unpolished and refused to do a wheel alignment. After three weeks they finally agreed to also recommended by insurance

[E46..sTyLez]

I had a bunch of body work done by them, work seemed pretty good, but I had this rattle/rolling around sound in my trunk area. I looked everywhere...then had them look everywhere (over 3 or 4 appointments). They came up with some non-sense theories on what the sound might be. None of which were correct.
I kept saying "it sounds like a tool rolling around or something". They said "no way, that would never happen". I think you know where I'm going with this...a year a half later, after driving around going bat-shit-OCD-crazy from this obnoxious rattle noise on every acceleration, brake, and corner...I found the rattle. It was a screw driver left in the rear speaker housing. Needless to say I took it back to Car Star and had it removed for free. Awesome.

[quick_scar]

-1

Had to make multiple trips back to have my bumper re-aligned after the work they did. Never did line up correctly again.

Paint never matched (more then just sun fade difference) but they swore it was the exact color they were supposed to use.

Scratched a small painted section on my mud flap and had to argue with them to get it painted (required a second day with the vehicle)

Cut the weatherstripping around my fender flare and claimed it was like that when they got it and would not replace (pictures at the time did not have enough detail to tell if that was indeed like that from factory or not. 99.9% sure it was not as other side was fine, just the side they worked on was messed up)


Mine was the carstar express on macleod (near fishcreek station) and I would never go back there again (even though it is the aviva approved shop)


Sister went there for some hail damage repair and was happy but I know she doesn't pay attention to the details of her vehicle like I do.

[hellraiser456]

I had a large scratch on my bumper from someone backing into me. I think they did a good job...granted it was literally just a scratch. This was at the inglewood location. I was pleased with how everything went.

[elite]

looks like contemporary coachworks is on that list why not just take it to them?

[spikerS]

Originally posted by elite
looks like contemporary coachworks is on that list why not just take it to them?

I am leaning that way, but Aviva seems to really want me to use Carstar. I know I can go anywhere, I just don't want a multi colored truck. If carstar can do this small job, perfect, if not, yeah I will be making the trek way down south.

[relyt92]

Originally posted by spikerS


I am leaning that way, but Aviva seems to really want me to use Carstar. I know I can go anywhere, I just don't want a multi colored truck. If carstar can do this small job, perfect, if not, yeah I will be making the trek way down south. You're a lot less likely to be disappointed with Coachworks.

[FraserB]

Yeah, CC did my parents car when it was sideswiped. Only issue was that the job was too well done and the opposite side needed a professional polish to match it to the repair.

[Rat Fink]

.

[AndyL]

Originally posted by spikerS


I am leaning that way, but Aviva seems to really want me to use Carstar. I know I can go anywhere, I just don't want a multi colored truck. If carstar can do this small job, perfect, if not, yeah I will be making the trek way down south.

Pretty sure they cut aviva a deal - used to haul LOTS of cars there for aviva...

I think it's more the short turnaround time - most minor stuff is in/out in a day or two not a week or two...

[k1l4m]

Originally posted by spikerS


I am leaning that way, but Aviva seems to really want me to use Carstar. I know I can go anywhere, I just don't want a multi colored truck. If carstar can do this small job, perfect, if not, yeah I will be making the trek way down south.

Correct me if I'm wrong but they probably want you to take it there because they probably get a deal if they bring business to Carstar and its cheaper for them? To my understanding, the only difference is that with a preferred shop, insurance guarantees their work if there are ever any issues but most good shops guarantee their own work and provide a warranty on their work anyways.

If it was me, I would take it to a more reputable shop (I've had good experiences with screamin paintworks and used them through insurance as well).

[NRGie]

If insurance is covering it take it to maranellos. Contemporary coachworks in the se repaired my parents van and the color difference was noticeable.

[elite]

Originally posted by NRGie
If insurance is covering it take it to maranellos. Contemporary coachworks in the se repaired my parents van and the color difference was noticeable.

I have good things about maranellos but I thought they were more for high end cars?

Also did your parents take it back to contemporary?

[Stealth22]

I've had my car repaired twice at Carstar East Lake, in the deep south. Both times they did a good job, and their service was professional. Never had an issue with them yet. :dunno:

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by NRGie
and the color difference was noticeable.



Originally posted by elite


I have good things about maranellos but I thought they were more for high end cars?

Also did your parents take it back to contemporary?


Was the repaint repair work on a plastic bumper though? Plastic usually don't have exact same color tone than fenders, even from factory.

[NRGie]

We never bothered because the van was traded in. The rear bumper was replaced so yes a plastic piece.
Maranellos worked on my girlfriends scion tc and my uncles honda civic. Nothing fancy but both were only a couple years old.

[xnvy]

Maranello's won't work on cars with rust.

I don't think Screaming Paintworks will either. I haven't heard that from them but I'm sure someone has posted it before.

Which is annoying because I have no clue where to go for some slight paint damage or rust repair.

I can give a :thumbsup: for Contemporary Coachworks. When my mom's car got hit, they paint matched it perfectly.

[94boosted]

Originally posted by k1l4m


To my understanding, the only difference is that with a preferred shop, insurance guarantees their work if there are ever any issues but most good shops guarantee their own work and provide a warranty on their work anyways.




This is my understanding also.

[EK69]

Originally posted by spikerS


I am leaning that way, but Aviva seems to really want me to use Carstar. I know I can go anywhere, I just don't want a multi colored truck. If carstar can do this small job, perfect, if not, yeah I will be making the trek way down south.
They have a location in the NE too iirc

[Zero102]

-1 for Carstar (deep south location)

The whole story is too long to write but to sum it up, they missed their deadline by 3 weeks (on a 10 day repair), then I had issues with paint cracking and had to take it back, they painted a 1cm wide strip a different colour than the rest of the car and took over a week to do it (when they committed to 2 days and knew they had missed their first deadline). Now I have rust spots coming through the paint just 2 years after the initial repair. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

[zieg]

Wow, I must be the only one that had a good experience at the south Carstar. My truck was involved in a bad hit and run, which was paid through insurance. When I got it back, everything was perfect. Straight lines, straight moulding, and they blended the paint so well I couldn't really tell where the new paint began/ended. Very happy with the results, and they did it in a very timely fashion. For the sake of dating this experience, it was somewhere around a year ago.

[E46..sTyLez]

Originally posted by ZiG-87
Wow, I must be the only one that had a good experience at the south Carstar. My truck was involved in a bad hit and run, which was paid through insurance. When I got it back, everything was perfect. Straight lines, straight moulding, and they blended the paint so well I couldn't really tell where the new paint began/ended. Very happy with the results, and they did it in a very timely fashion. For the sake of dating this experience, it was somewhere around a year ago.


The work they did on my car was excellent, good as new. It was just that haunting screwdriver...I still hear it sometimes in my sleep.