JL Auto. Joel is pricey but his work is flawless. You usually have to wait 1-2 months before he can take you.

 

My car is at TechOne still waiting to see the results but I am in for front, sides, rear, FG trunk, CF hood and Full color change.

 

Damn! That was the next place I was gonna call. That's a long *** wait tho.

 

whatever you do don't goto Dent Doctors for anything. The guy painted my aftermarket bumper on my gunmetal car purple (i got pictures) and said I was seeing things, then tried to hit me when when I asked him to repaint it. Finally he did and said "yea I guess it was purple". FAIL

 

Tried to hit you? WTF?

 

This Hawaii bish! Lol

Customer service is ridiculous at some of these places and level of knowledge is below average...

 

I agree with you. A lot of shops like to rip people off. And there knowledge is below average. I've been looking for a good shop that could paint my front bumper and it's ridiculous prices. One shop charges $300-$400 for a bumper and the others charge $700-$1200. Seriously it doesn't take that much and cost that much. I had a guy before he moved only charged me $200 to paint my front bumper and it was a flawless job and he also fixed the damage on my right fender for $200. He told me shops over priced. They charge you for the paint which only cost like $30 but they thriple the prices on what paint they use, coat and labor. Too me. Honestly. It should cost at least $400 to paint a bumper. $700 is over priced.

 

anyone have experience with sts808's paint guys?

 

I've only gotten things done at Gx before. I think they are definitely knowledgeable. They are expensive, but then again everywhere is.

As for actual costs. I had a friend paint my old aftermarket bumper in his garage before. And all materials came out to around $100. It was a flawless job. Glass finish, no orange peel, no dimples, nothing... Just flawless. Only thing was the paint didn't match that good. that is why I shelled out for Gx with my 2nd bumper. Bc I want the guy painting my bumper to mix the paint as well. So 1 person does everything and if anything goes wrong there's only 1 person to blame and that person has to fix it.

Seeing as materials alone was $100 for the garage job 3 years ago I don't think $400 is reasonable. Better paint brands = more money. Having someone mix the paint right (adding the right amounts of tint) = more money. Plus from what I understand things cost more today due to increased oil prices (living in HI sucks for this 1 reason) = more money.

There are cheaper places for sure. I even had a shop couple years ago desperate for jobs, calling me after I inquired on their prices, lowering their price everytime they called to get me to come in. Those are the kinds of shops that are in the $300-$400 range... Would u trust that? I sure as hell dont. Just like men, not all shops are created equal.

The reason I started this thread was to find an inbetween. Not Gx or techone prices but not bottom of the barrel shops either. When you have the reputation like these shops have you can charge whatever you want, because people know that reputations can't be bought with anything but quality work. This is USUALLY the case, which is why I'm surprised and interested to hear the Gx stories. I'm def. starting to question the idea of giving them more business bc of king's horror story.

Definitely not trying to pitch for any shops, otherwise I wouldn't even have made this thread, but let's not get carried away. $300-$400 isn't reasonable for the kind of shop most of us want to trust our cars with (atleast not w/o a hook up). There's a reason why we're all not flocking to maaco and why super pricey places like techone are even mentioned.

 

Well from what I've seen of Aiea collision I'll say I'm going there next.


Again GX does good work if your paying high dollar but for the average Joe he does an average job.

Times are crazy and labor here is a b!tch...

 

If you want to see a messed up paint job by GX let me know.Tiger stripes,orange peel,and frickin runs all over. sure can talk a good line.

Never will deal with them again.BTW it was a full color change. He painted it not to factory color code as requested but by his own mix,now when i need touch up paint i have to buy it directly from him becuase nobody has the right tints. 100.00 bucks for 80 grams....what a rip.

Thanks for hearing my rant..

Aloha

 

was waiting for someone to bring up the mixing paint issue.

I have a Frend that associates with gxauto. he had mentioned to me that he would see them trying to mix paints to match oem painted cars........instead of jus buying the oem paint to begin with.

of course oem paints(most) are cheaper than custom made paints. but I'm pretty sure wen u quote a customer for oem paint and u mix up your own u must be saving money

 

........and yet my Frend is still going to get his car painted with them. because he is a good Frend of there's and will be taken care of.........

 

Hawaiian hook up!

 

yea, the guy was 40 something and i was 17 at the time. I'll be honest, I don't sugar coat things when I'm giving my opinion, especially when I've paid for something but I was in no way disrespectful and the guy tried to hit me when I was a kid. I can't believe he's still in business

 

So what did they say to you when you brought up the problems? Did they not fix them either?

 

He will say your crazy and that it takes time to match up cause othe parts of the car has been affected by the sun


BS

He'll fix an issue but it's like pulling teeth to get it fix and more than likely will not be the last time you go to him

 

Dont like confortations. I gave every body a chance.. they screwed up.. never again will i do business with them.

Live and Learn..

your right about time..took three weeks to get that 80 grams of touch up paint

 

Me either I can stand shady or not telling me the whole truth...

I have done many side jobs for people and I always keep them inform on what I'm doing and what I can't do...

That's the way to do business....at least the way I would if I have a shop...

/rant

 

no no no... don't / the rant...

I and probably others want to hear more. You and Opunui are really helping sway my decision making. Lets put it this way, the things I like about Gx are that they are fast and did a good job on my kit. Things I don't like: They threw away my alum. bumper support, they are not the greatest on communication, and...(you guys go here). Please continue to share your experiences and frustrations, as other people besides myself will eventually need to make the decision of where they need to go and should see the good with the bad.

Of course, this isn't a Gx bashing thread, but a resource for future body shop seekers who can use this thread to use their own research/critical thinking skills to make these types of decisions. So don't /rant, if anything lets hear more details and from more members w/ similar experiences. I know there was at least one more member who had a Gx horror story and I want to see him post here.

Aiea collision is looking good right now, w/ no neg. feedback and a super sick G on their resume... Plus I know the family that runs that shop. I'm just waiting on my friend to answer his phone so I can get the buddy pricing I didn't even consider them at first because I know that they do mostly insurance jobs. But they ball hard (jacuzzi below a 50" hdtv INSIDE their house + buying their new facility for over 3 mill CASH), which tells me they must be good at the stock (non-fiberglass) jobs at a minimum. If nothing more comes from this thread, it has at least served it's original purpose (for my personal use) but like I said earlier, many more will find this and use it as a resource.

Frustration is a legitimate concern when picking a body shop, so all rants are warranted and welcome. No one wants to deal w/ a shop that has a history of being difficult to deal with, so don't feel as if you are just ranting, you are sharing w/ a captivated audience