Quijeeboe

Well I just got my car back from the shop today. Amongst other things a Sic MSP bumper was installed. However I have to say I'm not happy with the work in some regards and wanted to get other peoples opinions.

The car was in the shop for over a month and kept being delayed. Every day I called it was the oh it'll be ready tomorrow story. I'm inclined to think it was a last minute rush job due to procrastination.

First issue I saw right off the bat. No emblem, the crossed flags were missing from my new bumper completely. Raised the issue with the shop and they tried to remove the flags from my old bumper but were having a hell of a time (I watched). So they're ordering new flags.

Second issue, fitment of the plastic "body guards" (the mud flappish piece that protect the rear paint) at the rear on my wide body panels. If somebody could take a picture of how theirs meet up toward the rear I would much appreciate it, as the fitment on mine looks rushed. Mine don't sit completely flat against the panels.

Third issue, driver side fender panel gap. The panel gap between the driver side fender (which was replaced) and the hood is completely different than that on the passenger side. Should be easy to fix but annoying nonetheless.

Fourth issue, the bumper. As I understand the Sic bumper is about as good as it gets. Having picked it up myself, I honestly believe that to be true, it's a really nice part. However if care isn't taken during installation you can have the nicest part in the world but it won't help.

I'm not sure if the bottom "tray" for the bumper was even installed. Is it normal to see the ground through the grill on the Sic bumper?



Additionally the fog light fitment on the driver side was really butchered by the shop. The picture explains everything.



Oh and I almost forgot, upon driving the car (my Dad followed me in the Vette while I returned my rental) I noticed there was a new check engine light. I've got plenty of friends back on the east coast in custom shops and dealerships and if there is one thing I've learned from them, you don't return a customer car with a CEL.

I'm going to be talking with the shop on Monday morning. Any insight that you guys might have would be great.

Thanks and Merry Christmas to those of you whom observe.



Note: This shop never fully corrected the problems in their work.
They are located in Hawthorne CA.
Please PM me if you need further information.

jpuli28

I can tell you as nice as it is, the bumper isnt "oem perfect". However, No you should NOT see the ground... tray not installed. The fog lights wont fit perfect, its the mold of the bumper but your fogs should not have been scratched because of it. The rest of your issues are with the shop

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

Your shop definitely did not do a very good job with that install. I would be pissed if it were me.

Also, as previously mentioned, they didn't even install the lower support that comes with the SIC bumper. You SHOULD NOT SEE THE GROUND through the bumper. You bumper has no support.

I should know as I over saw every step of my SIC bumper install and made sure it was done right, including the fog light fitment.

This is how it should look.







Support that is missing:



I'll take some closer photos of the areas in question in a little while for you to see how they should look.

VETFEVER

As Randy pointed out your shop did a lousy job. The under tray is key component to the whole install. Without it, the bumper will be very flimsy and will flex A LOT while at speed. I installed the bumper myslef and can tell you that getting the tray to fit right took a little work with trimming and fitting and I got it right.

I am no body guy and I can tell you thatany decent shop should have been able to figure out how the fit the tray - sounds like they did not want to take the time to do so.

GL with going back to them and getting them to make this right.

SilverScorp

They did a crappy job installing it. I would threaten to sue them for damages or have them replace that foglight and PAY to have someone else install the bumper again. In either case, you should leave appropriate feedback on the BBB website about them.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

Here are some better photos of the fitment on my car.

Since they did not use the lower support piece, there is no way that they could have reused the OEM brake ducts as they should have since they attach to the lower support.

FYI, I personally did some pre-fitting of my fog lights on the SIC bumper before I took it to the body shop. I did have to 'work' the stubs some where the fog lights attach, to get the fitment the best that I could. They will not fit very well without some adjustments.










Good luck with getting the shop to CORRECT their unacceptable work.

AORoads

if this is the job they did for a month, what makes you think it's going to get magically better next week? I'd have no confidence in them. and even if it were going to cost me more, I'd go elsewhere. they obviously don't know, or care to make things right the first time. which means they figure you and all their customers to be chumps, not complain and not come back.

for whatever reason or research, you picked the wrong place. go find another---most will have true angst correcting someone else's mistakes (just like carpenters, electricians, etc.), but the really good ones know how to do the corrections much as they dislike doing them.

Quijeeboe

In all sincerity thank you, that is exactly the kind of feedback and pictures I needed.


Luckily I have 3 options to take care of this now,

1 my insurance co. would likely pursue this guy for trying to scam them and me.

2 I paid with a Visa card and losing one's merchant account can be a huge bitch.

3 the legal system is a great last resort if options 1 and 2 don't work out.

I'm going to be on the phone with the shop first thing Monday morning and explain my options to them.

Thank you everybody for the feedback, any other comments or suggestions are much appreciated.

Merry Christmas folks

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

Be sure that they install the lower support that came with the SIC bumper. It replaces the similar OEM piece. The OEM brakes ducts should be reused and connected to this lower support in a similar fashion as stock.

Also, the lower OEM flexible air splitter that is back under the car stays on the car as well.

0SicMSP - Daniel

Let me know if you need any help - thanks to everyone else for responding quickly to his questions.
The tray is an important piece, so make sure they didn't lose it either, but let me know if you need another one.
Have a great Christmas and PM me if you have any questions until Monday.

-Daniel

Quijeeboe

Thanks Daniel

Your sterling reputation for customer service is well deserved.

Quijeeboe

Given today I wasn't running around trying to round up the last few remaining gifts I was able to spend a little while inspecting the shop's work and man do the hits keep coming.





















Missing Parts

• Grill/Radiator Shroud Assembly
• Sic MSP Bumper Tray
• Rear Brake Ducts
• Driver Side Windshield Trim
• Driver Side Fender Gasket
• Driver Side Fender Vent Grill
• Air Daim Assembly

The most insulting part of this is that all of those parts with the exception of the rear brake ducts were on the car and in good condition before this debacle.

To say I'm pissed at this point would be an understatement.

Quijeeboe

I should clarify I don't believe the panel gaps to be the fault of the bumper. It's clear time was not spent during assembly by the shop. There are missing screws and pins all over the place.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

I feel your pain. I would be totally pissed.

That is one half *** shop. They are not professional at all. If they didn't know what they were doing, they should have contacted Daniel if they had any questions.

That's one reason I took mine to a body shop that I had previous dealings with and I knew they stood behind their work. But even then I went to the shop EVERY day to double check what they were doing. That prevented a couple of errors that they were about to make that they would have had to redo.

I hope you get it done right to your satisfaction eventually. I'm not that sure that the original shop will/can make it right.

Quijeeboe

Sad thing is this shop is a Corvette only shop that has been in business in SoCal for over thirty years. I'm withholding the shop name until such time I deem it necessary to divulge the parties responsible. I don't want to start a revolt until they get a chance to explain themselves and rectify the problem or pay somebody to rectify the problem.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

I know what there excuse will be......."It's an aftermarket bumper and there were no instructions."

If they are a Corvette shop and you gave them the lower support that you should have gotten from Daniel with your bumper, they should have known how to connect everything up (ie, brake ducts and such) as Daniel's part is very similar to the stock one. It may have taken some massaging to get it to fit really good but that is there business. What have they been doing for 30 years?

Besides that, WHAT did they do with all of the left over OEM parts and the lower support that came from Daniel? What did they think it was for if they didn't use it?

I'm not even sure why they would have taken off they lower air splitter.

I would say that maybe they were late in getting it done because they weren't smart enough to figure out how to make the OEM parts work with your new bumper. And instead of admitting they were stumped and asking some questions, they decided to do a rush job and see if you would not notice.

Good luck!

I learned as much as I could from others who did this before me, so I had a pretty good idea of how everything went together in case my shop had any questions. I also told them to contact me if they weren't sure about anything.

AORoads

I think NC has hit many of the points (I'd be interested in knowing what things he prevented going wrong by stopping in at his shop). While I can guess, it almost seems as if they put their least-experienced person on it and let him go with no supervision.

If this is a Corvette specialty shop, I think many CFers, esp. those in the area, would be very interested in their name. Not to bash them because things can go wrong. But I guess we'll know just how good they really are (when you report back) if they fully correct this situation especially with the missing parts.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

Well I had the Race Mesh stainless steel grills for installation but I wasn't sure if they were going to get the smaller middle scoop to fit correctly so I bought some separate stainless steel mesh to use, if they couldn't get the Race Mesh to work. At first they were going to use the mesh I bought and just place it behind the opening.

I went by the shop and they had it mounted with the square openings horizontally instead of diagonally to match the bottom grill.

They ended up using the Race Mesh after all.

Secondly, and this was really dumb, I went by the shop and the guy who was installing the larger bottom grill had it mounted all wrong it would have definitely had to have been redone. He had drilled holes and bolted the grill out further than it should have been and he would have had to have bent both ends back in to get it to be back against the bumper on the ends. It would have looked terrible and just didn't make sense.

The owner of the shop MAY have caught these problems but I don't know that for sure. The 'help' just wasn't using common sense.

When I told the helper that the bigger grill couldn't be mounted the way he was doing it, he said "I'm the one who is responsible if this bumper falls off." I told him, "It's my $60,000 car and it will be done the way I want it."

In the end it turned out great, but because I keep a watchful eye, it saved some potential problems.

mountain ride

you got a hose job is what you got...take your wife back with you...SHE will straighten them out...no man can contend with a woman's scorn...

Quijeeboe

That's funny.... wife

No married man would be able to do half the admittedly stupid crap I do.