Esposito’s in North Hollywood still OK to deal with?
 

People with recent work done feeling OK about the work they have received?

After the photos in the botched bodywork thread anyone even considering going there?

For that kind of money they talked about in the thread one should get no bondo metal work not a filler sculpture, period. Nothing else to talk about, no justifications, nothing.

No wonder 911's are so expensive to build in the states and there are so many cars with damaged bodies (every time I visit US I never stop wondering) when bodywork prices are just insane and work quality is just ****.

Thanks for the response.

They did a good job on my 912 a couple years ago, just making sure all is still well.

This should be posted in the "marketplace" section ..

I have no skin in the game.. just a lurker who has read about this here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-marketplace-discussion/974583-53k-body-work-73k-body-work-you-decide-7.html

Read the above thread...looks like John Esposito's family has taken over the shop, and the quality is, ahem, a bit different than what was done on your 912.

You're sig says you're in So Cal, why not go to the shop and look at what they are currently doing. If one thing came out of the train wreck of a thread it was that you need to choose a shop where you can be vigilant about making frequent visits to check on the progress of the work they or any shop are doing.

If it was me i would be direct and ask them for their side of the story and also re read the thread (ignoring the fire stoker comments from posters like Pmax) then when you have some info to make a more informed decision.

I will chime in on the thought of being close enough to the build to keep an eye on it. I made the mistake of sending my car out of state, across the country, after a strong recommendation from a fellow club member. I did my own research and it all lined up. The shop owner made a lot of promises and had in the past done what appeared to be excellent, concours work. I got a lot of pictures but it is hard to see that kind of detail in pictures. I was able to make one trip to the shop after about 2 years and the work appeared, at that time, to be solid.

I believe the shop planned to bondo the heck out the car and "sculpt" the finished product, paint it and I would not know the difference. Of course until it all started to fail a couple of years down the road probably. They knew I would never send it back across the country for any issues.

As it turns out, quality work was not what I got. I pulled the car from the shop after 5 years of snail-pace progress and thank God I did. The work that had been done was terrible and we had to re-do almost all of it. Cost me a ton of money for crap work and then had to pay to have that crap work un-done, corrected properly and then build from there. My car is now about 400 miles from me, in Torrance, CA in a shop that truly exemplifies craftsmanship and attention to detail. Everything is metal worked and done to perfection. My chassis will be better than the day Porsche made it. My initial experience, out of state, was so bad I considered abandoning my project and selling it as it was. I am so glad I found the new shop and it has worked out better than I ever dreamed. Because they are relatively close, I am able to go down and visit with the shop and see the work semi-monthly.

The lesson I learned the hard way, if you can't keep in close contact with the shop, personally, you are taking a big chance. I was lured across the country by a person who talked a great game, had apparently at one point done some nice work, a decent hourly rate and the promise to do the complete project, "turn-key". In the end I was just throwing my money and time away.

After the fact I have been contacted by several people who suffered much the same fate as I with this particular shop. They however never posted of their experiences and I paid the price. I am still trying to recover some of what I paid in the form of parts I let the shop owner have in exchange for labor, about 10% of what I paid to him-the rest was cash. We will see how that goes. That is the only reason I am not mentioning the shop in this thread.

Thanks for the discussion, know this is a difficult topic to fairly discuss.

I went John’s shop frequently on my 912 build and would do that again (or with any shop).

Glad you got yours back in track Cairo.

Body shops.
 

Not one body shop I have used in the last 20 years has done it right the first time.

In some cases the car went back as many as four times.

For all instances I used a "Classic" car repair shop.

All these guys cared about was money & taillights.

Sure does keep our Bureau of Automotive Repair busy.....

I don't know of any body shop that gets it right the
first time.

They shop where my '67 911 was done got it right first time and the guy is more meticulous than I am.
It took about 16 months from the day I brought the car over and thought it was slow but here people say they have had 5 years? Gee :O

TD,
If you do go to JE shop please post your experiences to the thread in Marketplace. it was interesting before people with no skin in the game started a witch hunt. The OP who had the standoff left a few questions unanswered, and no one who attended the PCA tech session at the shop reported back. The OP was very much supported by the dealer who sold him the car, the majority of the rest of the comments were just internet pile on, obvious familial support for JE, and a couple of sharks looking to advertise.

Now the (bondo) dust has settled somewhat, i think it would be helpful to get a real experience & current perspective.

Thank you for a thoughtful post.

I will do exactly that.

Bump in case anyone is still interested in this topic.

I would encourage you to PM me before makin any decisions.

Why not just post?

Good morning Matt.

I debated that but decided via PM is better.

This will be my only post in this thread.

Post what you know and please do not solicit in this technical forum.

No one is soliciting, and taking care of the community is what the forum is all about so unless a moderator asks me not to I will leave this post here.

Why start a thread and then keep all your posts secret only to be revealed to the few that make the effort to contact you directly? If it's accurate, just post any information you have publicly and take care of this community as you profess to do.

Your assertion above is not accurate.

I recently got a couple inquires (here and on another forum) with people asking what my experience was so I wanted to make myself available but not broadcast. There is background / history here that you are not party to that makes this approach a reasonable one.

Odd. Ask the community for input and feedback and then don't share your personal experience. Clearly it was less than stellar, or you would be sharing it. Just tell your story.