Wednesday, June 23, 1999

Tacoma

Most vehicle owners that have accident damage repaired have no idea if the repairs were done properly, if all the work was done, or if they may have been ripped off. We are groomed by advertising to trust our insurance company to look out for our best interest. Inspections by a local repair shop are revealing that most customers are not in such good hands as they may have thought.

Tacoma’s Stroud’s Auto Rebuild has been performing post-repair inspections and diminished value assessments using the WreckCheck® system for Puget Sound area car owners for over a year. During that time, "we’ve only seen two cars that were repaired correctly," said Mike Harber, president of Stroud’s. "The more common thing is to find that there are varying degrees of sub-standard repairs, potential fraud, and most concerning to us, safety-related problems. Some of these vehicles shouldn’t be on the road."

Stroud’s is storing three vehicles in their shop right now that have significant safety-related problems. These are vehicles that were repaired by area shops. The cars’ owners could tell something wasn’t right, but they didn’t know what it was. "These customers heard about us or were referred to us by their friends because we have a solid reputation for taking care of the interests of the car owner and doing quality repairs," said Harber.

One of the vehicles is a 1998 Acura. This man’s insurance company had paid over $9,900 for repairs to one of its preferred shops. Stroud’s found that not all the repairs the other shop was paid to do were actually done, some parts they were paid to install were not put on, and there was significant remaining damage that made the car dangerous to drive. The insurance company inspected the car at Stroud’s after the owner made them aware of the problems, and admits that the shop on its preferred shop program did not do a proper, safe repair.

"The car owner told us he bought this car so his family would be safe. But the previous repairs did not restore his car to its pre-loss condition and endangered his family," said Harber.

"We recently looked at a 1998 Dodge Caravan. There are hundreds of dollars in parts that were not installed, and thousands of dollars of sub-standard repairs. The insurance company paid almost $15,000 in repairs, and it will take another $14,000 to re-repair it correctly."

Insurance companies domineer most local independent body shops, because insurance pays for the majority of collision repairs. Unfortunately, no insurance company in the area has a formal program to re-inspect vehicles after repairs are completed to be sure cars are restored to pre-accident condition.

That’s the niche that Stroud’s Auto Rebuild has filled, and it appears to be the only shop in the area willing to "tell it like it is." "It concerns us that many people don’t know what to do about their cars when the repairs aren’t done right," continued Mike Harber. "No one seems to want to ‘make it right.’ Consequently, these people will trade their car in, and some unsuspecting purchaser will be driving a time bomb."

More information about Stroud’s Auto Rebuild and its services is available on their web site at www.stroudsautorebuild.com.

Copyright ©1999 Stroud’s Auto Rebuild, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Some material Copyright ©1999 Wreck Checks, Inc. Used By Permission. All Rights Reserved.
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