Cars

[St. Clown]

Re: Cars

I had my car at the auto body shop because some lady rear-ended my car a couple weeks ago. The body shop, I learned after driving away shortly after they closed for the day got some metallic paint on the steering wheel and a window control button. Does anybody know how to get that sort of automotive paint off those surfaces without destroying said surfaces?

Right now I'm just trying to prepare for these people pushing back. I already had to reject their fix once as they didn't match the color of my bumper cover to the color of my car, and I'm not looking forward to this conversation as I have driven the car off their lot. We'll see how this plays out, I guess.

[alfablue]

Re: Cars

If they push back, compain to your insurance company- assuming that this repair is being covered by them. In theory, the shop is "approved" and if they don't do quality work, you should complain to the people who told you to go there. They will make sure it gets fixed.

[goldy_331]

Re: Cars

My kid got in an accident a couple weeks ago (his fault but slushy streets contributed). Four year old car, initial estimate $6,100. As they started work on the car, they then discovered frame damage, new estimate $8,500 which puts it into the area of maybe totaled. Answer from State Farm is "totaled" and the offer if we keep the car is $10,200, more if they take the car. I asked the shop about the damage and if they might discover more damage as they progressed. The guy said he didn't think it was a good candidate for buy-back and repair. We wouldn't know how damaged the frame might be until it's too late.

I appreciate his frank response since it seems in their best interest to take the repair work if possible. But on the other hand, couldn't they have put the car on a lift and seen the frame damage in the first place, thus saving us almost a week in this process?

Good thing it's a car we don't "need," we just have to drive the kid around more without it (he goes to a private school with no bus service near us).

[St. Clown]

Re: Cars

If they push back, compain to your insurance company- assuming that this repair is being covered by them. In theory, the shop is "approved" and if they don't do quality work, you should complain to the people who told you to go there. They will make sure it gets fixed.

The lady's insurance called me yesterday to ask about the shop's work. I told the guy to call back once I received my car; and I did mention that they messed up the original fix already. This will not be a glowing review for the shop. They gave every excuse you could think of for making a bad repair the first time rather than just owning it and fixing it when called out on the problems, and tried to push the bad paint job on me as a finished product.

As to removing the paint from inside the car, they did that in a few minutes this morning. It's not perfect, but now that I know the paint is water soluable, I can take care of the rest with a stop at Autozone on the way home.

[walrus]

The lady's insurance called me yesterday to ask about the shop's work. I told the guy to call back once I received my car; and I did mention that they messed up the original fix already. This will not be a glowing review for the shop. They gave every excuse you could think of for making a bad repair the first time rather than just owning it and fixing it when called out on the problems, and tried to push the bad paint job on me as a finished product.

As to removing the paint from inside the car, they did that in a few minutes this morning. It's not perfect, but now that I know the paint is water soluable, I can take care of the rest with a stop at Autozone on the way home.

If the paint is water soluble how come it doesn't come off when you wash the car.

[huskyfan]

Re: Cars

That's how women navigate. Truly. Survey after survey have shown that most men (except for Brent, apparently) navigate using directions and street signs while women admit to a heavy reliance upon "when you get to the place with a bunch of trees" landmark direction.

I'm late to this discussion, but this is so true. give me "just past the pink house" any day and forget the rest!

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cars

Cross post from the lodge, thought I'd ask this thread if they have any ideas at what I'm looking at for repairs.

I just started hearing a grinding and squeaking (like rubber pushing on metal) when I turn my wheel. Awesome.

[walrus]

Re: Cars

Cross post from the lodge, thought I'd ask this thread if they have any ideas at what I'm looking at for repairs.

I just started hearing a grinding and squeaking (like rubber pushing on metal) when I turn my wheel. Awesome.

Front wheel drive? If so CV joint, look to see if outer boot on either side is ripped

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cars

Rwd

[brookyone]

Re: Cars

Rwd

Couple wild guesses, Wheel bearing or hub / bearing assembly depending on vehicle. Steering rack or steering gear also depending on vehicle. Steering coupler shaft. Generally if steering components are at fault you feel it in the steering wheel in addition to noise.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cars

03 Mustang coupe.

. It sounds horrible (mainly when I'm turning left at low speed). I can feel the noise somewhat but I don't get any feedback in terms of difficulty turning. No more than normal.

I'm going to have to take it in, that's obvious. I'm just trying to figure out if this is a "take it in the minute they open" or "take it in next week when you have a free moment."

[walrus]

03 Mustang coupe.

. It sounds horrible (mainly when I'm turning left at low speed). I can feel the noise somewhat but I don't get any feedback in terms of difficulty turning. No more than normal.

I'm going to have to take it in, that's obvious. I'm just trying to figure out if this is a "take it in the minute they open" or "take it in next week when you have a free moment."

Wheel bearing, I'd get it in. How many miles

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cars

140000

[walrus]

Re: Cars

140000

Yeah, if you had a way to jack it up you may be able to feel some side to side play by pulling on edge of tire or you may be able to hear it just by spinning tire.

[brookyone]

Re: Cars

Mustangs are pretty healthy cars. A relative few problems in my experience. The last new Mustang I owned was a 1997 Cobra...which is the SN95 platform same as the 2003 I believe. Two of the more common failures on those are wheel bearings and that steering shaft. The steering shaft doesn't actually fail, but it has a coupling joint sometimes called a rag joint that gets noisy with age / wear.

At 140K There's likely to be some worn items past their service life, like wheel bearings...steering, chassis and suspension components and abnormal noise as you describe is a primary symptom. I wouldn't delay an inspection. Some of those failures can be dangerous.