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View Full Version : You know what sucks? And what is super awesome?


kijip
03-09-2011, 02:06 AM
Suck: People who hit your parked car and drive off, leaving unsuspecting you to find the issue in the morning. We had 2 such dents like that on our car and then a bumper issue from my dad's driving and a tiny, almost hidden dent on the front where I pulled too far into a parking spot and crunched against a rock retaining wall about 2 weeks after we bought the car 4 years ago. Nothing massively terrible, but all told irking me but I am too cheap to pay for body work and to risk a hike in our insurance rates, because our car was actually more seriously hit twice before these dents already and I did make claims. Note for those parking on the street in my part of Seattle: don't. At least not everyday, eventually something will happen.

Super awesome: three men in a truck approached me and my husband in a parking lot this afternoon and offered to fix the dents on the spot. Noting that we were in a well lit public place, having heard of such men from friends and family and feeling that we could obtain cash without being robbed, we decided why the heck not. They fixed all 4 dents for a grand total of $200 and we drove away less than 20 minutes later with a smooth, undented vehicle. I felt like a member of an underground, and likely under the table, economy. If the recession means that handymen have taken to driving around looking for dents, I decided I don't mind making a deal. The fender hit and run alone would have been more than $1000 based on what our insurance paid the first time someone hit the fender. $200 is my personal bargain of the month.

Why do body shops charge so much money?
fumofu
03-09-2011, 02:35 AM
That's awesome! Reminds me of driving on my folks' street not too long ago and there was a man with a mini shop in his truck sharpening knives. He double parked on a street corner, put a sign up on top of his truck, and looked like he had a lot of business!
sunshine873
03-09-2011, 09:06 AM
That is great! I'm glad you were in a well-lit place & your DH & you were together, so you felt a little better about saying "go for it." :)

Oh, and I wish the knife sharpening guy would show up on my street corner. Me & my kitchen collection would be there in a heartbeat!!!
daisymommy
03-09-2011, 09:09 AM
Oh wow! I have never heard of such a thing. I didn't know they could fix dents without being in a body shop. Very ingenius!
egoldber
03-09-2011, 09:09 AM
That is awesome! I have been approached in parking lots for this as well, but usually when I was alone or with the kids and did not feel comfortable accepting.


Why do body shops charge so much money?

Building costs, overhead, salaries, benefits (if they offer them), % back to the company if it is a franchise, etc.
jenfromnj
03-09-2011, 09:48 AM
Wow, I wish that roving band of car repairpeople would come to the East Coast and find me! Someone smacked my bumper while I was inside the grocery store and then drove off, and now we're getting outrageous estimates to fix a little crunched in spot.
kijip
03-10-2011, 12:56 AM
That is awesome! I have been approached in parking lots for this as well, but usually when I was alone or with the kids and did not feel comfortable accepting.



Building costs, overhead, salaries, benefits (if they offer them), % back to the company if it is a franchise, etc.

I get that, but sometimes it seems that the standard line is that they have to replace it rather than fix it and the parts are so darn expensive. We were backed into by a truck at a stop light (ugh) in our old car and many of the resulting issues were smaller than this fender dent, which was pretty bad, and I think his insurance company ended up paying to replace a quarter of the exterior. The costs were close to totaling the then 8 year old corolla even though there was nothing but body damage.
GvilleGirl
03-10-2011, 08:35 AM
That's awesome! Reminds me of driving on my folks' street not too long ago and there was a man with a mini shop in his truck sharpening knives. He double parked on a street corner, put a sign up on top of his truck, and looked like he had a lot of business!

We had this as kids! He rode the 'burbs on a bike with a sharpening stone on front. He would show up every couple of years and I would have to chase him down. He was amazing, and much better than the place I just used.