Hey everyone! Hope you are wrapping up this holiday season quite merrily.

Driving home yesterday my MCS got taken out by a flying window. (at 70ish MPH), Consequently I’ve got a big old scuff mark on my hood and gouges in the paint. A cracked windshield, gouged windshield wiper arm, pitted passenger window and some scuffs on the black roof trim. A few nicks in the paint on my side. <siiiigh>

Anyway, I called Hendrick and they said they could do the windows but they didn’t do body work????

Is this true? Am I gonna have to run all over town to get this car repaired? And if so … any recommendations on a body shop to repair the paint damage? (no dents fortunately).
I am real fickle about paint matching, so I need a place that is going to be spot on.

thanks in advance for any info.

 

Loren at Import Paint right up the street from Hendricks should be able to take care of the issues for you. Here's the address:

Import Paint and Body Shop
6173 E. Independence Blvd.
Charlotte, NC

 

2nd Bump for Loren.

He is 'Da Man' with MINI painting in this area, and is a certified MINI enthusiast himself. He owns an all-black MCS, and I mean ALL BLACK (window tint, painted wheel arches, top, body colour, etc.).

He does all the paint work and fitting of factory Aero Kits that Hendrick MINI sells, and did a great job on my Aero Side Skirts (check out this piccy, and many more in my Gallery).

 

thanks for the info. I'm feeling a bit better about this. My only experience with this type of repair work is Corvettes ... just a few differences between working on a vette and a MINI.

 

You got that right! Gelcoat vs. basecoat/clearcoat paintjobs is just one major difference when dealing with those 'Plastic Fantastic' (fiberglass) cars.

Good luck with your repair. ANY kind of body repair has always given me 'High Anxiety', no matter who did the work.

I find that it always pays to touch base with the OWNER (or General Manager) of the shop before the work starts so that he knows how picky I am, and how critical I will be of the result. So, make sure that you talk DIRECTLY to Loren himself, so that he can understand your car is something special and that you expect his best work. I am sure that he will take good care of you.
.

 

I hate to be repetitive and unoriginal, but Loren does a great job. He's not only a MINI owner, but a member of this club. That, by itself, isn't enough to make me recommend him, but I've seen his work -- on MINIs and more expensive cars -- and it is truly first rate.

I live 120 miles away and have had a bit of experience with MINIs and bodyshops. The next time, I'll take the car to Loren, even if I have to pay the towing bill myself, then walk/hitchhike/ride a bike back up into the mountains. Go see him.

-- Lee

 

thanks again everyone. Import is closed till after the New Year, so I'm sure I'll be stopping by once they are back from the holidays. In the mean time I'll just have to live with the big ol scuff marks.

 

Dang Lorraine!
Did you find out whose window hit you so they can be held responsible?

 

nah, happened so fast I wasn't able to get the house numbers.

L

 

BSQ...

Let me know if you do use the guy recommended in Charlotte... I got some goodies I am working on that need paint. I don't trust many to handle it and would love the feedback.

SoCar S

 

Will do SoCar S. I have a much better warm fuzzy about it all. The insurance adjuster I met with yesterday went on and on and on about Loren's work.

 

please define a flying window? i'm gonna lose sleep over this.

 

Me too!

 

sleepless now....

 

flying window - a window that becomes airborne.

a window (frame, glass, etc) was lying in a lane of the interstate. The car infront of me ran over it which sent it flying up into the air. It landed on my hood & windshield.

 

ouch, that's no good.

 

Ouch!! Well, at least I can sleep now..

 

It's been over a months since the day the window came crashing down on Mr. Q.

Today was the day Mr. Q came out of the shop. I had the surprise of my life. After all the great things I heard about Import, I was not prepared for what I saw.

The scuff and gouges on the hood are now gone. The windshield is no longer cracked. Instead, the pillar post is now cracked. The pitted passenger’s window is replaced, but I could stick my fingers through a gap between the window and the rubber. The chipped mirror cap is still on the car, and the scuffs and scratches along the sides are still there.

While the paint on the hood is beautiful, I was surprised that everything else was missed and the car was released to be picked up before someone took the time to check to make sure all the work was completed and done correctly. Breaking a part on a car and not telling the owner in my book is a major No-No.

While I would not go to them again, I like to think this isn’t a normal incident. Too many people I talked with had nothing my glowing things to say about the shop and their work. It got my hopes up and when I saw my car, it was crash n burn. I had to laugh. That’s all I could do.

 

Wow Lorraine! I'm certain this is an isolated anomaly! Did you speak with Loren about it?

The windshield pillar is a replacement item. It's plastic, so it's not the kind of thing that can be fixed by bodyshops. They have been known to just fly off the car if loose, so the dealership is the place for a new one of those. Same thing applies to the mirror cap--I figure Import knows they need to be replaced outright, and the bodyshop guys wouldn't attempt to repair those two parts. (I'm suprised they didn't inform you, either way).

If the windows don't seal right, they just need to get re-initialized. I believe this is done by running them up then holding the toggle switch up for 10 seconds. If that doesn't do it, the dealership might have to.

Are you sure they knew from the beginning that the scuffs along the side were from the same accident and part of the original quote?

 

Yeah Joe, I'm hoping it's just an isolated incident as well. The major paint part look nice though I haven't seen it in full sunlight yet. The other stuff Loren said was the detail shop's oversite. Apparently they had all the parts and didn't install them. The window guys cracked the pillar and didn't tell them ... though if anyone would have inspected the car before releasing it, it would have been caught.

While everything that didn't get fixed is minor, it was all listed item by item on my work order. To not have inspected everything before releasing it, IMHO is bad for business.