MX-3.com

[color=red]Hey everyone. I was at Bugaboos in Calgary a couple nights ago and someone left a card for this website on my windshield. Well it just so happens that i was rear ended by a drunk driver with no insurance on Monday and my car is almost completely screwed. Now i love my car and it has a lot of sentimental value to me so i really don't want to write it off. If anyone can help me with suggestions for a good autobody shop that will take good care of my car and knows what they're doing i would really appriciate the help.[/color]

Thanks so much!

Nikki

Ah NO! Thats not a good intro to the site!

Anyway welcome and hope you have some luck getting it fixed soon.

I thought that the point of this site was for people who had mx-3's and loved their cars. I'm sorry that you don't like the way i'm asking for help, but that really wasn't the most polite way to say welcome. I was really just hoping that someone out there would realize that all i wanted to do was fix my car, and to see if anyone could give me a hand by giving me the name of a good body shop, I'M NOT ASKING FOR A DEAL, just a shop that has access to parts for a fair price. Sorry if i offended anyone, i just figured that if anyone knoew a good place to take my car, it would be other people who own the same car and have had work done on it.

Easy there miss.. Grants didnt mean it that way.. I feel safe saying that when he said "Ah NO" That he was dismayed that your car had been wrecked. He did not mean any offense I am positive of this. And yes this site is devoted to people who love their cars and want help and want to help people take care of their MX-3's. Being that I am not in your area.. I do not know the body shops around there.. but I am sure someone from that area will see your post and answer within a short period of time. Be welcome and rest assured that if anyone here can help you with your car.. they will.

Tunes67

Thanks Tunes. Thats exactly what I meant.

Nobody wants to see a wrecked MX3. Just wanted to say welcome and hope you can get it fixed soon. You should get a lot of good info on this site and I'm sure someone local will be able to give you a push in the right direction soon. I'd like to help but we're so far apart its not even the same day over here.

Welcome Nikki,

At always makes me mad when some bozo is either drunk or on the phone and your car gets screwed.

I assume you are in Calgary, AB. There are a few guys over there and I am sure that one of them will chime in soon to point you in a right direction.

If not, or even if you get a few suggections, always go to visit a shop with someone who knows cars, preferably bodywork, and get at least three estimates from various places. Ask around your friends, co-workers, family. Word of mouth is powerful. In my experience, a smaller more family oriented shop is a better choice. They usually take longer, but will do a better job. They do not rush jobs to make most money they can. Bodyshops that are into fixing custom, antique or modified vehicles could be a good choice as well. Some too popular choices may not be that great, because that is what an insurance company may prefer - because they are cheaper. Do not always go with what an insurance company may suggest, as explained before. But do go to a certified and approved collision repair facility. Also, do not trust referrals and suggestions from car dealers, they always have a "preferred" shop and sometimes not for a good reason. Also, remember, despite what an insurance company tells you, it is YOUR choice where to take your car to be repaired as long as the shop is certified.

Hope all will turn out for a better for you,
Please come back and let us know how it turned out.
Good Luck.

PS: good to see another person that loves their Mx-3

Hey, thanks and sorry Grants, i guess i'm a little oversensitive about my car right now. And the bad new is that i've been to 3 different shops and i'm getting between $8000 and $10 000 quotes, which really sux cuz according to auto adjustors the car isn't even worth that much. The problem i have is that all the shops that I looked into used all new parts in their estimates and i figured that a shop that dealt with MX-3's on a regular basis might have a bit of selection on used parts, so she may still be saveable. Hope to hear from someone in Calgary soon

what was the dammage that occured. the quotes do sound high but if the rear end of the car is non existant than it may not be worth it to fix. What needs to be repalced I might be able to see if my brothers friends shop can do the work, but I need to know how extensive the dammage is. I ll try to find out what the name of the shop is

What area of the city are you in? I could possibly swing by and take a look at it and give you some suggestions.

When my Red MX-3 was trashed, I wanted to completely repair it but I needed a vehicle. It was just easier for me to start fresh with another MX-3. The only problem was my new white MX-3 was not maintained anywhere near as well as my old one. Oh well, it's a work in progress.

But anyways, let me know and perhaps I can offer some help. I live 20min east of the city limits but I work in the NE close to Barlow & McKnight.

The damage is pretty bad. My frame underneath on my drivers side is non-savlvageable, my hatch window is pushed about 3 inches foreward and up, my bumper is complerely done, the pannel on the driver's side is drnted in two place from the pressue of the collision, my spoiler is cracked... and that's just what you can see. My hatch is stuck closed so there's no way to tell how much damage there is the the back inside. Oh, and one of the tail lights is cracked. I know it sounds like a lost cause but i'm not ready to let go without a fight.

Rece i would really appriciate the name of that shop, if you talk to them and they would consider taking it on as a project, knowing that it's gonna be a little bit of work

Wyldside, I actually work at McKnight and Deerfoot, so only a couple blocks from you. If you have the time to have a look i would really appriciate it.

Thanks so much, you guys have been really helpful!!!

Hey Nikki, welcome aboard. Sorry to hear that your ride has been damaged so badly. I'd almost like to see how badly it is, but at the same time it would be a sore sight to see, y'know? Anyway, I used to live out in Falconridge, and although I haven't needed major bodywork before, a few buddies back home tell me a few good places around town would be...

Maranello's on 40th Ave. NE... around just off Center St by a couple of blocks.

Concours Collision Center - 2 locations... the closer one to where you live would be in the Crowfoot area. It's like Crowfoot circle or something like that.....

A-1 Autobody is off Macleod a little bit around 50th Ave SE. A bit farther to go, but they do good work as well I'm told.

I don't know how cheap a quote you might get from any of these places, but keep they all do great work. Keep in mind that based on the description of your damage, it does sound quite severe and extensive so you may have to unfortunately fork over a lot of cash for a repair of this magnitude. Best of luck!

Oh man! I feel terrible. Like I jinxed you or something

Yeah, that was me who left the card on your window. I only showed up there at about 11:30 or so, and I missed you heading out.

I live out in the NW-ish, I don't know many good body shops or anything, but if you need a hand to grab parts or anything, just let me know, I'd be glad to help out.
Not too many out-of-province MX-3s in Calgary usually, but I like tagging them all with mx-west cards. Surprisingly enough, you're the first who's ever come here after getting a card.

LOL, no hard feeling Darcy, everyone here has been a great help so far. So I have some good news!!! Well for me at least, a friend of a friend just got in to and accident and totalled the front end of her MX-3. She's fine and she's already got a new car so I don't feel so bad calling it good news. My friend passed on to me that she's going to be selling her car for parts, so I figure that i'll just see if i can buy the whole back end. I have to get in contact with her tomorrow but I'm thinking that that will take the price down quite a bit cuz now i'll have all the parts, therefore I'm not gonna have to pay for new parts and the body shop isn't gonna have to spend time looking for them. I'm sure it's still gonna cost a fair amount, and i still gotta try and get some money out of the idoit that hit me, but at least I sort of have the ball rolling, now i just gotta look into body shops AGAIN, and see how much the price changes... or maybe i;ll just chop the two cars in half and weld my front end to the back end of her car... if only it were that easy

Well hopefully that works out. From what you showed me on your car yesterday, I can say that the car is fixable but there may be some extensive labour envolved. I think the rear end is not hard to fix especially if you just throw on your friend's rear bumper, tail lights, & and hatch. Some metal behind your bumper cover may need some fixing but that's pretty easy. Your hatch didn't look that bad so you could repair that if needed. That frame piece under the driver's side could be costly even with the replacement piece from your friend's MX-3. I think most of the $$$ will be in fixing that piece. Good luck with that and let us know if you need any help. At least your car is still drivable. It just doesn't look so healthy.

One place I can recommend is a frame alignment place, if your alignment happened to get out of whack. It's called IMpact Frame & Alignment and it's just off of Edmonton Trail on 40th Ave NE.
They pulled my frame a few months ago, and it didn't totally break the bank. Plus the guy is a Miata owner, so maybe he had some sympathy for me

But in any case, hope it all goes well, and maybe we can even see you at a meet or two in the future.