• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

'95 Contour SE: Slppy Body Work Questions & Silver Bumper Strip Available?

Ferret II

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
66
Location
WA
Hi.

My '95 Contour MTX SE (Ferret II) had some minor body work done ($1150 worth) and it doesn't seem right. My car is the very pretty cranberry red..

The first thing I noticed is minor, but may not be fixable. The silver strip the '95s have in the bumpers (which I like; I know some others don't) is damaged. It has three very noticeable bubbles; looks like in prying it out from the bumper (so they could paint the bumper), it got bent. The shop's owner didn't tell me about it but I noticed it when I was looking over the work. He said he would find one to replace it, but Ford doesn't carry the part, so he's looking at junkyards.. Any ideas where to get this? This really sticks out, now the bumper's newly painted.

They also fixed a dent in a back fender and painted the fender and blended it into the door. The color looks pretty good, but today when the sun shone on it today it was full of swirls. It looked awful. Also, they neglected to fix a small dent in the back left corner, a little section that isn't attached to the fender, but was very near the larger dent and part of the damage. Also, the seam where the back of the fender meets the back body part looks very sloppily painted (drips & globby inside the seam).

Also, the end of the strip that runs along the top of my car is loose now and sticking up, and my husband said it will get water in it if left that way; looks like they hit it with the buffer or something. They were supposed to calk my taillights, which have been leaking, but I don't see a difference, except a rubber part is now loose.

They kept the car two extra days (Monday - Friday) until Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend. When I picked it up and they rushed to get me to sign a release to State Farm for payment, and charges on my card, which has me a little worried, given the sloppiness of their work. Also, State Farm will already be paying for a five-day rental; I wonder if they'll cover more, as it will have to go back.

The shop is run by a father and son, and was highly rated by Consumer Checkbook. They seem very nice and I got the sense they are honorable, but this work seems under par.

I have to leave on a business trip Tuesday morning (gone all week) and I'll definitely be calling the shop before I leave for the airport, but am wondering if I should call State Farm (my insurance) first and unauthorize payment until the job is finished. Also, I put the deductible on my credit card, along with the extra I paid for the bumper and another small job (rocker panel); not sure I want them having this money until everything's done either. I'm out of pocket $250 (the woman who did the minor damage had neither license nor
insurance so I probably won't get the deductible back).

I'm not sure how to proceed. Advice from anyone that has experience with this would be appreciated! Not even sure I want them doing more work...

Thanks, Lynn
 
Back
Top