Body Paint shops in Bothell/Woodinville/Millcreek ?

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » February 2nd, 2007, 1:31 pm

Well I've been meaning to take my GSR in and have some work done to fix some dings and such in the body. But a little incident with a truck who's trailer I didn't see (long story, involving dark roads, frosted up windows, and a largely unlit truck that just kept going after it hit me) has now left me sans about half my front bumper cover, and a good portion of the bumper was well.. (before anyone gets riled up, it was MY FAULT, so there's nobody for me to 'go after' but my own self.)

So apparely the gods have told me to stop dicking around, and that YES the car should have a new front end (man I wish I could find a way to get PosterT stuff here in the states), get the other bumps and dings taken out, etc. (Lambo doors might be in the mix as well)

So I'm looking for a good body-shop, someplace that does good work, but won't rip me off on the price since this is ALL coming out of my holiday bonus (Ins won't cover this, and it's my fault anyway). Need a good painter also.. I'm toying with the idea of letting the Killer Paint guys in snohomish have their way with it once the body work is done, but I've been to scared so far to check out what they charge.

I'm also interested in hearing opinions on places that should be avoided at any cost, due to prior bad experiences etc.

I live up in Maltby, which is near Woodinville.. so anything in the general vicinity of bothell/woodinville/mill creek/snohomish would be best..
I should probably just break down and buy a Mazdaspeed 3 but I love the MX, and my wife rightly says that if I ever sell it, it's gonna be a giant 'shoulda' for the rest of my life (e.g. shoulda kept it and fixed it back up)

So I'm really in need of someone I can work with on this that won't take forever (I'll have to rent a replacement car), and won't require me to pay in body appendages

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » February 15th, 2007, 4:35 pm

bump... what? nobody in the seattle area has any recommendations? or warnings?

Josh · Post by **Josh** » February 15th, 2007, 9:49 pm

Stay away from Maco. RnR in Bellevue is really good, it cost but they are good. if you prep the car then pay Maco for there high end paint job not the 400 dollar one then its not so bad.

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » February 15th, 2007, 10:35 pm

Yeah I know better than to go anywhere near maco.. I had a car for a while (while the MX was laid up without a working engine) that I'm pretty sure was painted by them before I got it. both oxidized and peeled like it had a bad sunburn..

I'm sure their paint jobs look ok for a while, probably not bad if you are trying to fix a car up and make it look nice to sell it.. but they don't last.

I'm finding that there's lots of outfits that will be happy to repair simple collision damage, but once you utter the words 'body kit' they want nothing to do with you.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 22nd, 2007, 12:32 pm

I'd be interested in what you find out as well man.. I am not yet near the body work stage of my GS project.. But I will be around summer time. So If you do find a decent place with reasonable prices.. Post up please

Also.. when your mentioning "Body Kit" to them.. make sure they know you dont want a molded body kit.. those take a lot of time and almost always crack.. so body shops dont like to do them. Dunno if thats why they are giving you the cold shoulder.. but something you can check on.. bolt on body kits are pretty easy to install and line up.. most shops shouldnt mind doing that. Cheers

Tunes67

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » February 22nd, 2007, 1:32 pm

So far I am leaning towards a place called Lee's that's in woodinville. I don't think they are inexpensive, but from what I can see they do good work.

I'm a bit confused as to the distinction of a 'molded' body kit.. All these things have to be made with some kind of mold/form right? Is there a one of them that isn't technically 'molded' in terms of how it is created? Or is it more about materials?

What I have is the Erebuni 47 kit. It's the only one I've found (other than mazdaspeed style) that I personally feel fits the lines of the car. Reminds me a bit of the front ends of old late 50's early 60's GT (e.g. LeMans) racers such as the Lotus and AstinMartin. (I'm sure the people that like 'combat' or 'drifter' style front ends will think it's ugly, but hey to each his own) I believe it's made from fiberglass. not sure how 'bolt on' it is.

I seem to have a few strikes against me in terms of the work I want done.

1) I don't just want to replace collision damaged body panels.
2) I'm talking about a full paint job, not just color-matching and blending of damaged parts.
3) paying for it myself (as opposed to repairs done under insurance) so I care about how much it costs.

Seems like a lot of these places, all they want to do is bolt on parts, color match and bill insurance.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 22nd, 2007, 2:20 pm

No what the "Molded" body kit is referring to is molding the kit onto the body of the car seemlessly. It actually looks very smooth and cool.. but.. when you hit bumps & potholes.. it could actually crack. Some jobs are done better than others of course. But if you just leave the seams rather than try to hide them (with bondo or fiberglass.. etc..) then the parts can flex better and you wont have anything there to crack. I'll see if I can find some pics.. This isnt a area I have all that much experience with to be honest. Gregory Christian here on MX-3.com is probably one of the more knowledgeable body guys here. Maybe shoot him a PM for a better description

Seems like a lot of these places, all they want to do is bolt on parts, color match and bill insurance.

Of course thats all they want to do.. thats where they make the most cash.. You and I as reasonable adults would never pay the prices that insurance companies do as a matter of recourse. Its like the Government paying $457 for a clawhammer. Its stupid.. retarded.. and unfortunately.. its the way the system works. So when you or I go into a body shop to have custom work done.. they have a smaller margin of profit than what they can just charge an insurance company.

Tunes67

Tempus · Post by **Tempus** » February 22nd, 2007, 2:27 pm

ah I think I get it.

by that definition then this kit would be a little of each. the bumper covers are surely 'bolt on' as they would retain the existing seams between parts.

The sideskirts would I think be a different matter since they (at least in the erebuni photos) appear to be blended into the car, and made to look much more seamless.