Geico was great

Shaun @ Tru6 · 01:16 PM

My '10 Cayenne was backed into by some kind of big truck, like a DPW, while parked in Boston. Front bumper pushed in and creased, signal light broken, wheel liner even cracked. I was concerned about reporting it thinking they'll just raise my rates after the work in completed. They said since it was parked, not my fault, rate won't go. We'll see.

The whole process was incredibly easy and the customer service part was outstanding. Great communication via text and email. My policy has a rental car option and that needed to be extended, they took care of it, no extra charge. All in all great experience.

I wish i could say the same for Baystate Collision Center in Braintree, MA. They were overall terrible. I opted to use my own repair shop vs. Geico and chose a Porsche Certified shop that my friend had used for his 996 and he said they did a good job.

Job was to be replace bumper cover and paint. I also asked them to, at my expense, wire in Carrera horns and to touch up a pretty big chip above the windshield. They didn't wire in the horns because "it would mean running a wire across the front of the truck" and I just noticed they didn't do the chip.

Worse than than, take a look at the color of the bumper. Here's where I F'ed up. When I got the truck we met at the back of it and mostly talked about them painting the entire truck later this summer, i didn't even think about looking at the bumper. Well, here it is. And I paid $14/hour over what Geico pays (MA set rate) to have a Porsche Certified Repair center do the work.

herr_oberst · 02-22-2023, 12:48 PM

All or nothing at all. The story of car repair.

I hope the camera metamerism is making that mismatch look worse than it does irl, because that looks terrible. Will you be returning this for a redo?

WPOZZZ · 02-22-2023, 12:54 PM

I think mine is going up. I was backing out of a stall at Safeway and it was all clear. Then this guy is a Ram came down the aisle and said he didn't see me. Damage to both cars and Geico said they are taking fault because I was backing up. I told Geico the guy said he didn't see me and was barrelling through. He said wen you reverse, you have a duty of care... Hell, I know that and made sure it was clear.

rwest · rwest's Garage

That’s a terrible match.

How could they in clear conscience even present that to a customer?

Good luck getting them to do it right.

A930Rocket · 02-22-2023, 02:43 PM

Looks like they found a used bumper of similar color and installed it.

Take it back.

blucille · 02-22-2023, 02:51 PM

Doesn’t apply to my current situation but usually there’s a satisfaction guarantee. Check with Geico first but the body shop should stand behind the work and the match should be perfect.

RedBaron · 03:17 PM

That is not a good match at all. You should be able to access the horns if you take the front wheel liners off. You can’t access them on the turbo model but it’s pretty easy on the S/GTS. You don’t have to run additional wires.

WPOZZZ · 02-22-2023, 03:58 PM

Wow! I looked at it on my phone and that is no even a match. Couldn't really tell on this old laptop too much. That is ind of like my seal grey 997. Hod was touched up and it is a bit off. I added a front lip with rattle can mix from Napa. That is what the mix looks like on your bumper. They didn't even try to blend it.

Scott Douglas · Scott Douglas's Garage

Shaun - On my monitor, in the first pic you posted, it looks like the bumper matches the driver's door, it's the left front fender that doesn't look correct. I think the hood looks a little lighter because of the reflection of the sky.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-23-2023, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Shaun - On my monitor, in the first pic you posted, it looks like the bumper matches the driver's door, it's the left front fender that doesn't look correct. I think the hood looks a little lighter because of the reflection of the sky.

Scott, all Cayennes do that actually. Or more specifically, the front fenders don't match the doors and body. Lot of comments on BaT on this topic.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-23-2023, 11:39 AM

Emailed the pics to the shop and asked when was a good time to talk. They called an hour later. First they said that was the best of 13 sprayouts that they had. And they don't hand tint in-house. Then they said my original bumper was a different color too and that they still had it. I politely countered the sprayouts and bumper color. So they said they could blend bumper with the hood and fenders. Which is not a good option. So I asked if they could take the original bumper to the paint shop and get them to match it there. They said that's an option and they have someone that could manage that process. We left it at that.

Then I sent them these pics and they called back and said they'll match the bumper color.

This is a Porsche certified paint shop. This whole experience is what I thought I would get if a Geico shop did the work. I hate being constantly disappointed with experiences like this. It's honestly why I just do everything myself.

911 Rod · 911 Rod's Garage

That's so bad you could even blend it in!
So many things these days they figure push it through and if the customer complains we'll make it right.

Dan J · 02-23-2023, 03:48 PM

Well that's kinda,sorta ,not really.
I have 2 body shops I trust one of which does not take insurance. At all.
It's a different world these days

A930Rocket · 02-23-2023, 05:30 PM

Good for you for calling them out. They probably think, who’s going to notice and if they do, it’s the lighting, not the paint.

Marine Blue · 02-23-2023, 09:09 PM

They can and should do better. I had to have a bumper respray on our Mercedes wagon which is pearl white and I thought for sure that it would never be a match for the original. I was wrong, the only time I can actually catch that the bumper was resprayed is in very specific light at night when shining a flashlight on it. Otherwise it’s a perfect match and ironically the paint is actually more resilient than the factory paint. The shop said it took a few tries to get it right but they did.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-24-2023, 03:23 AM

If there's a silver lining, I got a new passenger side indicator light for them to put in. Driver being brand new looks amazing. Passenger with 150K miles looks OK. As long as I can get the special edition Lucas electrical system worked out on the truck, I'll "restore" it in August to look brand new again.

And I'm going to see if they do the horns. I seriously don't get people.