[Ace F355]

First, pardon me for being late to put my review about KJ Antony Automobiles. I have been real busy with my work lately.

As you might know from the posts above, I was looking for a workshop to get some bodywork done on my Civic. I had inquired with Mr. Christopher and Mr. Augustine on phone and they asked me to bring the car to his shop.

Date my car handed over - Jan 27th, 2011
Date I got my car back - Feb 2nd, 2011

Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures (of the work needed) with me to post, so I will enlist where the touch up job was done on my car.

1. Front Bumper
2. Front Fender (LHS)
3. Running board (LHS + RHS)
4. Both doors (LHS)
5. Rear Bumper
6. Rear door (RHS)
7. Rear quarter panel (RHS)

Yep, there were lots of dings and dents on my car (most of them were due to my cousin's reckless driving done in first few days of ownership of my car). Total estimate of job was ~ 14,000, for which I got some rebate after introducing myself as a Team-BHPian.

My Experience -

Paint quality was nice and denting work was good too. However, despite that I told them to take care about the color match since Carbon Bronze Pearl color in Civic is a pain to match, they screwed the paint match first time. I was able to note the paint mismatch very clearly and reported the same to Mr. Augustine on Feb 2nd when I went there to pick up my car. At first, I was told that a little mismatch is always the case since you can never match to the factory finish of the original color. But after showing him the mismatch in direct sunlight and shadow situations, he admitted that the mismatch is more than 'normal' and will be rectified.

Mr. Christopher asked me to leave my car with them for 2 more days. I could not leave the car immediately since I had other commitments. So, we agreed to bring the car some other day. Final damage to my pocket was INR 13,300 if I remember correctly. I made the payment the same day since he committed to redo the paint work.

Anyway, I gave them the car on Feb 9th and got it re-painted in front of my eyes on Feb 10. This time, the match was near perfect and and finish was again, quite good. I also handed them the rear spoiler that I had bought later on to paint and match with the body color and it was done on the same day.

It took them a whole lot of time to finish buffing and rubbing my car on Feb 11th before I took delivery of my car. Finish was good and was up to my satisfaction. I paid INR 1200 for getting the rear spoiler painted.

My car's pictures can be seen in my ownership thread. I have the pictures in my camera at home showing the mismatch case and can post them too.

My Verdict -

Good place to get the touch up jobs done for reasonable prices. The final price I paid for everything was INR 14,500.

Products used are of high quality and final finish is very good!

However, they do have a lack of space and labour.

Both Mr. Christopher and Mr. Augustine are nice people to deal with. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.


PS: This lack of work space can sometimes affect the final results. In my case, when my car was being buffed and rubbed on Feb 11th. A white swift was being re-painted. They did not cover my car very well after rubbing and the small droplets of white paint got drifted onto my car's lower LHS. I noticed this only after a couple of days when I was washing my car.

Right now I am visiting Canada and wish to report this issue to Mr. Augustine once I am back to India and visiting Delhi. I hope this is not a big issue and can be resolved!!! (In case if KJ Antony Automobiles are reading this before I return to India)

[GT500]

Hello guys,

Got some work done from this garage.
Here is my take on it.

I don't have pictures to put up at the moment, So I'll be enlisting the work I got done from them:-

Car - Swift ; Color-silver

Denting and Repainting of

1.Front Bonnet
2.Front Fenders(both right and left)
3.Bumpers(Both)
4.Rear Left door
5.Rear right Fender

A quote of Rs.10000/- was given.

Got the oil,air filter,coolant changed too in that.(only labour, materials were mine)


The experience-

The paint job was good, although it is being done in an open area, the overall finish was upto my satisfaction.

It took them approximately 4 days to do this job.Materials used were of good brands,color was matched perfectly.

All in all : Recommended


Cheers

GT

[nipunkul]

Hi All, I have recently had some paintwork done with KJA Antony. Below are the details:

Car: Fabia
Colour: Magic Black
Scratches: small ones on doors, bumpers. Dents on running boards under doors courtesy rural speedbrakers/boulders. Paint chip in tailgate after previous dent repair, scrathes on the bumpers and one intentional keying by some idiot (in Pic)


In all, the work took 6 days and in order to match the black colors, all affected panels were repainted in full. But true to their name, the work was done very well and delivered on promised time. Pic of the same area below


The color match was quite good, and so if the finish quality. They also did interior shampoo within the package. In all, highly recommended.

[diiesoline]

This is the second time I had work done at this Garage. My cousin's i20 went in the first time with a smashed front headlight, a badly damaged front bumper and left fender. I had read up on Singh Sahab's report here and decided to use K.J Antony.

I do not have pictures to show you, but the work done on the i20 was fabulous.

My friend just got his swift cleaned at K.J. on my recommendation, both bumpers were all over the place, scratches and dents. Rear wheel arches required denting and painting, front left fender had dents and the paint had cracked out. It was a dismal sight, unfortunately I do not have pictures of the car in that state.

Here are the photos after they cleaned it up.

[Eddy]

How much did it cost ? And how many days did it take ?

[diiesoline]

Three days to get the work done.

We paid Rs.8500 for all the body work and painting, they included in that price polishing for the exterior and the interiors and also vacuumed the car.

I thought it was a brilliant value for money

[S.I.N.G.H]

i am so happy that my post is actually helping the fellow members. one thing that came in my mind was that did anyone check that what products were actually being used on the vehicles? its because we need to certify that quality products are being used on our vehicles and we post the correct reviews here!

[fine69]

Originally Posted by diiesoline

Here are the photos after they cleaned it up.

Is this a scratch or something else?



And the dent in the below pic isn't gone completely.



I know that the rear wheel arches are a tricky area to remove dent from (at least in the Swift) but wanted to check if nobody noticed this (doubtful though) or is it actually that the dent from this area isn't going to go off completely.

[vigsom]

^^ looks like a brush touch up on a scratch ; also , did anyone notice the screw on the front "bumber" below the left headlamp?

[fine69]

Originally Posted by vigsom

did anyone notice the screw on the front "bumber" below the left headlamp?

If the bumper clip breaks completely then an inconspicuous screw would be the way to go, inconspicuous though.

[Honda Monk]

Any update on this workshop.
On my last visit 2/3 months back, I had found the so praised mr Christopher pretty casual about the works. He seemed to just manage the costumer and the actual work was in the mechanic's hand.
Just to mention, I had complained about A/c blower issue (it was actually making noise) to which he straight forward recommended for replacement, whereas another workshop cleaned it and replaced the bushes and its done.
Casualness in business can't be accepted at any cost!

[sinhead]

I visited KJA a while ago. Quote given for painting both the bumpers of my Accent (white) is 5.5K. Is this a fair price?
Another guy in E.O.K market quoted 3.5K. Yet another quoted 2.2K. Can anyone help me understand how exactly KJA will be superior?
I dint get any satisfactory response from him regarding the the number of coats of paint / clear coat / usage of plastic primer etc. Got very vague answers. He appeared surprised when I mentioned clear coat.
I am asking this so that I can make an Informed decision. Thanks!

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by sinhead

I visited KJA a while ago. Quote given for painting both the bumpers of my Accent (white) is 5.5K. Is this a fair price?
Another guy in E.O.K market quoted 3.5K. Yet another quoted 2.2K. Can anyone help me understand how exactly KJA will be superior?
I dint get any satisfactory response from him regarding the the number of coats of paint / clear coat / usage of plastic primer etc. Got very vague answers. He appeared surprised when I mentioned clear coat.
I am asking this so that I can make an Informed decision. Thanks!

Don't know about others, But my paint guy, here in west Delhi, Quoted me 3500/- for both bumpers and bonnet, complete repaint and full car rubbing and polish, with interior dry cleaning. BTW my ride is ebony black Accent. He uses dupont and 3m products.

I got my santro done from him, 3 months back and was impressed with his work. It's just that, I am not getting enough time, to get it done.

But will get it done from him sooner or later. Full on VFM.

He is located in Janak puri, A-1.

[Honda Monk]

Originally Posted by sinhead

I am asking this so that I can make an Informed decision. Thanks!

Check the thread with the name given below in the same directory section. I am sure it will be of some help.
"discovered-wonderful-body-shop-back-lanes"

Cheers!

[Honda Monk]

[quote=sinhead;3042334]I visited KJA a while ago.
I dint get any satisfactory response. Got very vague answers. /quote]
Yes man, even I felt so on my recent visit to them. The attitude has become so, some what casual and as if he ain't interested in your issues and problems.
And very recently I saw a black indica near nehru place coming out of kalkaji with a T-Bhp sticker on it's hatch and WOW the car belongs to the owner of the KJA Auto!