Botched repairs send two cars to an early grave

It seems that vehicle was in his shop during the latter part of 2007. His shop is a certified Mercedes-Benz (MB) repair center. The vehicle was towed in with damage to the front bumper, grille, hood, headlamps, left fender and apron, and core support. It also had mechanical and frame damage.

For the next year and half, the owner complained that the car pulled. She took it to a couple of alignment shops (toe and go types) and after wearing out a fairly new set of front tires, took it to the dealer to be examined. They sent the vehicle back to the original body shop, the one that contacted me, to determine the extent of structural misalignment still existed after the repair.

Here's a list of some – not all – of the repair mistakes I spotted:

• The driver's side jig was missing a locating pin.
• The left front apron was hammered out, but no filler and paint was applied.
• The front bumper reinforcement was still damaged where it attaches to the left lower rail.
• Hood mounting holes were elongated in-order to align the front hood to fenders.
• Lower driver's side rail was down by 4 mm. This also was evident considering the poor gaps on the driver's side door.
• Driver's side lower rail was misaligned.
• The lower bolt hole would not align with jig on the driver's side lower rail.

During this time, a second vehicle, a 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK 350, arrived at the shop with a similar story. This vehicle also was steered out of a certified shop to the DRP shop by the carrier. After the repairs had been completed, the vehicle was sent to a MB dealer for an electrical problem (the body tech had cut a wire in the rear during the repairs).

As badly as the first CLK had been repaired, what happened to this vehicle was downright sinful.

For example, the MB repair manual states that the car needs to be mounted with jigs in four specific holes on the bottom of the vehicle. The DRP shop used pinchweld clamps to secure the vehicle, which is evident by the pinchweld marks left by the clamps (see Fig. 1). Note the large hole in rocker panel used to mount the frame bench. Fig. 2 also shows where pinch weld clamps were used.

We removed the rear suspension and tried to mount the vehicle on the bench using factory specifications. Note in Fig. 3 that the bolts will not align and that the jig sits forward compared to the specified holes. The vehicle is still misaligned on the passenger's side of the vehicle. I also noticed in this area that the gas tank had been damaged in the accident (see Fig. 4).

Next, the estimate of record called for a complete passenger's side rail to be installed, but the DRP center only sectioned the 15 inches on the rail. Note the sectioning joint in Fig. 5. When we checked inside the rail, we discovered the internal reinforcement had broken loose and rust had formed at the weld sites; no cavity wax had been installed, and no epoxy primer had been applied.

On the other side, the driver's side rail was still damaged after the pull. Note the broken seam sealer in Fig. 6.

At position C of the vehicle, the factory repair manual calls for rivets and adhesive for attachment to the rocker. Instead, the DRP shop plug welded the quarter panel.

Note that the quarter panel was not rolled, as required, on the replaced passenger's side quarter panel (see Fig. 7). Plus, there were only three spot welds when the part needed 12 (and the tech used a MIG welder instead of a STRSW).

The picture in Fig. 8. was taken showing the rear quarter panel where it is attached to the inner quarter panel and truck floor extension. There was no evidence of spot weld penetration in this area. When we inserted a separation tool between the panel joints, the panel separated with one strike from the hammer. There was no weld thru primer applied. This was evident by the formation of rust at the weld sites.

The rear body panel was replaced with a new part. The factory manual specified using rivets, but the tech used MIG welds.

The door gaps on the passenger's side of the vehicle were larger than specified in the factory repair manual. The deck lid gaps also were out of spec by as much as 2 mm. The leading edge of the deck lid on the passenger's side of the vehicle was 4 mm forward and 3 mm higher than the driver's side of the vehicle. To compensate for the body still being misaligned, the technician "slotted" the rear deck hinges to overcome the structure problems that still existed.

There were numerous runs in the clear coat. It should have been obvious to anyone looking at the door that it had been repainted due to the overspray on the seal (see Fig. 9).

After looking at these "repairs," I'm left with the following remarks:

• This type of bad shoddy repair is more common than our industry will admit.
• Insurance companies are more concerned about their bottom line than their policyholders' vehicles.
• Many body shop and insurance personnel are not fully trained to estimate and repair today's vehicles properly.
• Most insurance companies do not want to pay for jig rentals.
• Some sort of technician, estimator and adjuster licensing program is needed.
• Technicians should be bonded.
• Insurance adjusters should not be dictating repair procedures.
• Repair information should be free for all shops.
• OEM training programs need to be opened to all in the repair industry (if the shop meets the equipment criteria set forth by the OEM).
• There should be a financial penalty for insurance companies that direct repairs to DRPs where the repairs are substandard.

One final note: The insurance company will make the body shop purchase the 2006 vehicle. From there, I believe the car probably will be sold to some unsuspecting individual, and both the insurance carrier and the original repair facility will be off the hook. This car should be declared a structural total loss and both the carrier and body shop (they call each other partners) should share the financial loss.