Need help - front bumper cover alignment

[Sgt. Rock]

I know somebody out there can help me with this. The story:

Sept. 2013 - A guy made a right turn from left lane right in front of me - $5000+ in repairs. I didn't like the way the body shop aligned the front bumper cover. There was NO SPACE at all between the fender panel and the plastic bumper cover, just below the headlights. Body shop said that it was okay.

October 2014 - Back to body shop - top corner of bumper cover, at outside corner of both headlights popped out and paint cracking where cover is touching fender. Body shop took 3 days and fit was worse. Owner threw his hands up and said he was done with my truck because "I already have too much into this and I'm not getting anything back".

March 2015 - While washing the salt off, I find the new paint (from October) is cracked and peeling exactly where I predicted...where metal and plastic parts are touching.

TODAY - Insurance finally contacts me after I sent photos and description of my complaints. Going to send an independent adjuster to check out the problem.

Does anybody have any info on proper alignment of the bumper cover. I can only go by the rear of my truck. There is a space between fender and cover. I wou;d love to have an official Toyota reference indicating the need for a space between panels.

 

[3wbdriver]

I don't know of any specification, but it should be easy enough to get a picture of an undamaged one so you can show what kind of gap should be there. If that body shop was the same one that did the initial repair, I believe they "own" that repair, and will be required to do any follow up on it. Regardless of how much he has into it. If he didn't do it properly the first time around he should be responsible for making it right. That's what my body guy told me several years ago when they repaired a t-bone to the cab of my pickup truck. I can't answer for the east coast though.

 

[2014 Warthog]

[Edit] Er looking at the pics again it looks like they painted right across both parts. Is that what you meant about "no gap"? Yeah they should have painted each piece separately and then snapped them back together again...[/Edit]

Looking at your album photos of the problem area. There is essentially no gap in that area even new. The bumper cover there directly snaps onto the fender piece and they are expected to always move together as one piece so normally there is no movement between them. (The bumper cover in front moves with the body, not the bumper inside which is attached to the frame)

Now it may be that because of some bent mounting area on other parts of the bumper cover or something left over from the accident (Bumper cover rigidity itself may be compromised) that might be allowing more movement between those pieces than there would be new. That coupled with the fact that the new paint likely just doesn't have anywhere near the adhesion of the factory paint to the plastic is the real problem.

But lack of any real gap there is expected with how those two pieces fit together normally.

 

[K9trainer]

I don't know of any specification, but it should be easy enough to get a picture of an undamaged one so you can show what kind of gap should be there. If that body shop was the same one that did the initial repair, I believe they "own" that repair, and will be required to do any follow up on it. Regardless of how much he has into it. If he didn't do it properly the first time around he should be responsible for making it right. That's what my body guy told me several years ago when they repaired a t-bone to the cab of my pickup truck. I can't answer for the east coast though.

I had a shop do work on my Landcruiser, after a couple time of taking the truck back to them because I was unhappy with their work my insurance company sent a rep out to re estimate the damage and they paid another shop to fix it right.
Have your rep meet you at Toyota so you can compare your to a new truck.

 

[tristero]

After looking through your album I totally agree with Warthog. It looks like they just sprayed the outside. Another totally separate issue could be that they bought cheap collision parts that were supposed to come with primer already applied but the edges of the primer were messed up from handling. Regardless I would stay far away from that place.

 

[Sgt. Rock]

I agree...they own the repair. They have had two chances to do it right after the initial work. After my last encounter with the shop (one of the owners), I have no trust in them. I'm sure that they will be even less likely to do the right thing now that I have addressed the problem with the insurance company. That was also one of the comments that the owner made..."If you're not satisfied, call your insurance company".

 

[Sgt. Rock]

Tristero,
That's my feeling. I want another shop to fix the fix. Accoring to the original shop, they used (and billed) original Toyota parts...new fender and bumper cover. I'm going to do my best to convince the adjuster to let me go to a different shop. It will be kind of embarassing to take it to a shop that I probably should have used in the first place, but that's the price I have to pay.

 

[Sgt. Rock]

Finally, an outcome.

The paint started to de-laminate at the exact point I predicted. After a couple of calls and a letter with close-up photos, the insurance company said they would send an independent adjuster. Of course, I had to make a couple of more calls to get them to keep their word.

The adjuster finally arrived and said that the alignment was "within industry standards", but the original shop should fix the peeling paint. He was apologetic when he said that there wasn't much that could be done about the fit.

He said he would stop by the shop and tell them I would be returning for paint work.

An hour after he left my house, the shop called to make an appointment for additional repairs. They said that they had to order "a couple of parts".

I took it in last week. They had it for 3 days. Picked it up Friday.

I guess it pays to be persistent in demanding things you pay for are done right. The paint looks good and ALL of the misalignments have been corrected!

Why couldn't they do it right a year and a half ago? Certainly would have saved some bad feelings. I still won't recommend this shop. It took too much work to get them to do the right thing.

 

[nb rob]

Geez man, glad that's over!

They put them together neat-as-a-pin at tahara, and then some jabroni stabs at it in the bodyshop and throws his hands in the air. Sorry you went through the ringer for so long!

 

[Sgt. Rock]

The shop is run by the grandson of the founder. His father just died a couple of months ago, but was in the shop everyday. Maybe I'm out of touch, but if I had a third generation business, nothing less than perfect would get out the door. I'd be building for the fourth and fifth generation...hopefully inspiring them to be true craftsmen.

 

[nb rob]

The shop is run by the grandson of the founder. His father just died a couple of months ago, but was in the shop everyday. Maybe I'm out of touch, but if I had a third generation business, nothing less than perfect would get out the door. I'd be building for the fourth and fifth generation...hopefully inspiring them to be true craftsmen.

you're not out of touch (or maybe I am too)--- I would expect the exact same thing.

 

[Mistaken]

Was the replacement bumper an OEM Toyota one? Unless specified with your insurance company they may go with aftermarket OEM replica parts, which, in my experience, never fit like OEM.

 

[Sgt. Rock]

All the parts were supposed to be OEM. My insurance is very good that way. (New Jersey Manufacturers). They billed for OEM and are one of the preferred shops. NJM lets the shop act as their adjuster.

Just shouldn't take a year and a half to get a job done right..especially since the bill was over $5000.00!