[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

But if the scratches are all over the place, would the insurance company approve the claim? Doesn't that need to be factored into the decision?

I'm in the same dilemma right now, I have quite a few small scratches to take care of.

A good negotiator can convince one side repair + one end (F or R) insurance claim, unless its a vandalism claim. Otherwise its tough, you are correct.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

But if the scratches are all over the place, would the insurance company approve the claim? Doesn't that need to be factored into the decision?

I'm in the same dilemma right now, I have quite a few small scratches to take care of.

Are you thinking of getting the entire car repainted (because the scratches are there everywhere)? Have you tried waxing/polish etc? many of the scratched can be touched up with a brush.
if you go for repainting the entire car, it will cost over 30 K, they are going to dismantle the fittings (possibly the engine also) which is not a good thing. The paint work can never match the original factory painting and you are not sure about the long term reliability. Repainted cars loose heavily during resale.

[superutp]

Quick question, would these guys be able to do a better job than the Manufacturers Service Centre when it comes to repainting and body repair?
Ignore costs involved.

[nirmaljusdoit]

Yes, they do. I got my Honda city painted at Sai a few months ago. The bumpers, a door, mirror and running board were re painted. The color matching is exact and the finishing is really good.

I did consider Whitefield Honda center at KR Puram, but their facility is terrible. Attitude of the people there also sucks.

Costs are also much lower. Ananth and his brother Bharat are also technically capable and a pleasure to deal with. I have referred many people to them, have not heard any negative feedback yet.

[superutp]

Got my Beat repaired and re-painted by Sai Colorium. The damage wasn't big but it was spread over 2 panels and hence 2 panels needed to be repaired and repainted.

Showed the car first to Chevy and decided to also look at body shops. Settled on Sai because of the many positive reviews and plus it was a lot closer to my house and office. The solution given to the damage was the same at both Chevy and Sai.

Met Mr. Srinivas at Sai and he looked into my repairs. Gave the car in on Thursday morning and got a call that it could be picked up Friday evening. Finally picked it up today morning.

Customer service is a mixed bag, had to wait for 30-40 mins on Thursday morning to get someone to attend to me. I was there exactly at 9:30am which is when they open shop, so this could possibly be the reason for the delay. However, today on delivery I was glad to see several people attending to my car and my questions.

About the job quality-

Panels requiring work: Entire rear bumper and Right rear quarter panel.

Repair: Done very well. No remains of a dent, noone would even know there was one in the first place. Overall excellent.

Repaint: Colour match done perfectly. Only complaint is the finishing work on the rear bumper. To my eyes it doesn't look stock. Of course I am nitpicking here. I noticed this when I was checking out the bumper and how it reflected light and other objects. Some graininess is present when viewed with a focused reflection of light. I may be being paranoid here
Re-painting could have been done slightly better around the rear parking sensors but as I was told it is difficult to do since they don't want to remove the sensors. Hence its done manually. But overall well done.

Other observations: The car was a bit dirty since it was parked next to other cars being worked on so there was dust etc all over. Mr. Srinivas did make a point to get it cleaned before I took it.

Overall I am pretty happy, my rear bumper looks as good as new! I would recommend Sai to other people.

Ill post pictures once I am able to take few of the bumper post-repair.

[superutp]

Pictures with regards to the post above

DAMAGE:

Rear Left Bumper, caused due to scraping against the wall while reverse parking. This had actually increased as there is no escaping this wall.


Rear right Bumper and rear right quater panel, caused by a Red Jazz scraping along the two panels.




POST REPAIR:

Rear Left Bumper


Rear right Bumper and rear right quater panel



There was another dent in the middle of the bumper, photos of which I forgot to take. Its disappeared completely as well.

On second thoughts, the panel gaps may have increased in the rear bumper by say a few mm and one side is slightly more out than the other. But these are negligible differences.

[amitoj]

Superutp, looks like they did a great job. How much did the whole job cost and how long did it take? I am thinking of going there some time this week.

[superutp]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Superutp, looks like they did a great job. How much did the whole job cost and how long did it take? I am thinking of going there some time this week.

The entire cost was INR6000, around 2.2k cheaper than what Chevy quoted.

I gave the car in on Thursday morning at 10:00am and Friday evening by 6:30pm it was ready for delivery.

I am pretty happy with a dent free rear bumper now!

[sourav21]

Got some body shop work done on my Punto a few weeks ago. My impression of them is somewhat of a mixed bag. Things I got done:
1. Front left door dent repair and painting - Rs.3800/-
2. Front bumper painting (almost full) - Rs.2800/-
3. Rear bumper painting half (Left) - Rs.1500/-
4. Right ORVM painting - Rs.500/-
5. Left door upper frame painting - Rs.500/-

Took 3 days - While taking delivery noticed that the rear tail gate had some dents. Well I did not see them earlier and neither was it recorded in the job card. When I pointed these out, they were good enough to provide me a free repair and paint job done (but were somewhat reluctant to accept that it happened in their workshop). Took another day. About item # 5 above, I am not convinced the whole upper frame was painted. The issue was some mild black spot was already present since delivery and I wanted to get it removed. What I can see is some matte effect over the area like it was rubbed off. Even after waxing, the area does not look uniform when viewed carefully from an angle where the rest of the frame gives off a glossy reflection. I suspect some local job done, the whole frame was not painted. About #1, there was a small barely noticeable dent on that door which I had shown - it was not fixed.

People who I dealt with - Khan, Bharat. Nice people to chat with but personally I prefer to keep interactions formal when there is money being exchanged

Pros:
1. Perfect repair
2. Perfect color matching

Cons:
1. Paint masking and cleaning could be better.
2. Paint brush touch ups for chipped paint not done properly - I suspect they do not have expertise. (well, it was complementary, may be that's why !!!)
3. Emblems taken out not fitted with exact alignment.
4. Not exactly much cheaper than authorized service station.
5. Swiping machine not working. Had to go to a nearby ATM.

[lancer_rit]

^^^ sourav21, you seemed to have a mixed experience... It was commendable of Sai to do the free repair of the tailgate dent...

Been to Sai Colorium on the weekend with shazikon. Since mid-April, painting and tinkering prices have gone up significantly. Have taken a photo of their 'stock' price card posted. Of course, bhpians may get some consideration :-)

Need to check how the A.S.S. painting prices look nowadays.

[lancer_rit]

as posted above, here is the new pricelist as pasted in the Sai Colorium workshop. Prices are significantly up - sign of the times where everything is more expensive - it seems input costs like paint, labour are all up!

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

as posted above, here is the new pricelist as pasted in the Sai Colorium workshop. Prices are significantly up - sign of the times where everything is more expensive - it seems input costs like paint, labour are all up!

Thanks this is really helpful, yup prices are up. A colleague whom i referred mentioned the same. Apparently he was quoted the same by Suraksha, price differential is going off i guess. Still overall i like their work compared to others.

Should be taking Santro in soon

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Thanks this is really helpful, yup prices are up. A colleague whom i referred mentioned the same. Apparently he was quoted the same by Suraksha, price differential is going off i guess. Still overall i like their work compared to others.

You're welcome Jaggu. Well, interesting if Suraksha and Sai Colorium prices are matching ? Both were good in my experience though I have used SaiC several times (including full paint of car).
Just to give an idea, when I got my car repainted in mid-2008, a full outerbody paint=~18k (leaving denting aside), while the same at sticker price ( tbhpians/old customers may get discounts)=30k. Probably, one can say about 45-50% increase in 4 years...

BTW, they have improved the partitioning / structuring of their workflow in the body shop area. Instead of cars parked helter-skelter, and being worked in any order, they have created some specific bays, get one car worked on by more than one person (as required)! Seemed to be a good step taken.

Another anecdotal point is that I never saw their bodyshop having even 2 cars' free space, but this time, it was about 1/4th empty.

[itwasntme]

Pre & Post pictures.

Pros:
Excellent denting, shade matching and bumper repair
Knowledgeable, helpful and not a rip-off.
Reasonable at around 8k :-)

Cons:
Dinged my undamaged front door during the job but have promised to repaint it FOC later
Credit card machine 'not working'

Overall happy as Chevy would have probably suggested replacement of entire panel followed by major repainting.

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Overall happy as Chevy would have probably suggested replacement of entire panel followed by major repainting.

That's a wonderfully executed job. I'm still surprised by the way these guys colour-match.