Classic Automotive

I recently had to have some body work done on my vehicle. I choose this shop because of the good reviews. This shop also houses other types of services, mechanic's, detailing...etc. While I was there getting an estimate another fellow confronted me with an offer to have my oil changed there. My vehicle was due an oil change at the time it was put in the shop so I took them up on their offer of 10% off my 1st oil change. Well, so far the body work was good - BUT the oil change was horrible. The cost when I picked the car up and I complained about it - just for the oil change - with a 10% discount was $71. And that IS NOT using synthetic oil. Come to find out - the oil filter was not tightened properly. It took more than week to discover because I went on vacation right after the car was picked up so it did not sit in a spot long enough to detect. My car lost half of the oil it should have had in it...dangerous! I called the shop when it was discovered, left a voicemail because they were closed. Requested a call back - never received a call back. So a little more than a week later they get reviewed. DO NOT GET YOUR CAR SERVICED HERE!

Summary: If I could give Earl's Auto Body 6 stars I would. I can't say enough good things about Earl (the owner), John (the manager) and their team - honest, friendly people - and the work they did (excellent quality, completed on time and for a great price). What one shop estimated as ~$4600+ to fix, Earl fixed for $1932. I highly recommend Earl's Auto Body to anyone needing their services.

Long version: Three weeks ago while out-of-town, I was rear-ended in my 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. The contact point was at the driver's side corner of the rear bumper: the bumper was cracked beyond repair, the rear body corner was indented several inches, the tail light was askew and there was some deformation of the quarter panel. The car itself was drivable, but it needed to be fixed. The next day the other driver's insurance (State Farm) admitted fault and mentioned that they had an adjuster at the Caliber Collision shop at 7700 Progress Ct. I had previously had a good experience with their sister shop (there are 2 Caliber Collision shops a few hundred yards apart), so I took my car to Caliber to be fixed.

Caliber generated an estimate ($3792) by Friday at noon, but it took until the FOLLOWING THURSDAY for State Farm to have all documentation. Since State Farm valued my car at $6080 and the repair cost was under the threshold for totaling the car ($4560 - 75% of the vehicle value, not 100%), I expected my car to get fixed. However, when it was time for State Farm to make the "total loss" determination, Caliber added a $800 supplemental charge ostensibly to cover any additional damage that might not be seen until they began work. In my mind, it was an excessively conservative number arbitrarily chosen to bump the cost above the 75% threshold to total the car.

I was given 2 options - total the car (get ~$6300 and sign the title over to State Farm) or keep the car (get ~$4400 and fix it myself). Caliber told me at this point they do not fix totaled cars and wouldn't even give me an opinion as to whether $4592 would be enough to fix the car. Furthermore, the once drivable car was now disassembled, so I'd need to have it towed, at my expense, to another shop just to get an estimate so that I could make an informed decision!

I took the estimate and photos of the disassembled car to Earls Auto Body for their advice. Even though it was past closing time, I was met by John Lanham, the manager. He studied the estimate thoroughly multiple times, comparing the line items with photos of the car. John realized that the gap between the quarter panel and trunk lid was the result of the quarter panel being deformed downward by the impact, rather than the trunk lid being deformed upward. That realization made it very probable that trunk lid didn't need to be replaced (a savings of at least $600). He then showed them to Earl, who did the same. They both reached the same conclusion. They didn't see anything that was missed that would require the supplement, were optimistic they could fix the car for the value of the original estimate ($3792) and suspected even that was high. They certainly thought it was worthwhile towing the car to their shop.

Earl called a tow truck and inspected the car when it arrived to verify their earlier conclusions were correct - staying more than 2 hours after closing time to do so. I called the next day to ask about how long it would take to fix. He thought they could get to it by Tuesday and finish it by Friday ... which he did. In total, my car was at Earls for less time than it was at Caliber and they did the work! Of course, the best part was the work was outstanding and the price was about half the original estimate - not even counting the supplemental!

While I hope to never need Earl's Auto Body's services again, there is no doubt where I'll be taking my car if I do.