Need Auto Body Shop Recommendation, Norther Virginia

[jonroe]

Folks,

Last weekend my MM received minor scratch/crease damage in a parking lot. There is a scratch/crease on the bottom panels of both driver side doors. Can anyone recommend a reputable auto body shop or some to stay away from in the Northern Virginia area?

Thanks.

Jon

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

LOL. I am in Springfield. There are tons of body shops around here (I think all of the van dorn street area is body shops, and they're all pretty sketchy).

I have been told that Precision Collision does great work, but their prices are so outrageous for walk-in customers that I could not see using them. For insurance work, maybe. They wanted $600 to touch up a quarter sized buff thru the clear on a fender and to re clear it. That was double the nearest other quotes I got. They quoted me to completely remove the front bumper cover to re-clear the fender. I was like, whaaaat? Most shops would only loosen the bolts and drop the cover on that side and mask it. I would actually prefer that, because more damage could be incurred removing the cover entirely than just loosening it. The hours they quoted for labor were also very high. A MM fender has about 1 ft square surface area, tops! It's a sliver of metal...

I have seen some of the work out of Best Auto Body. They seem to do an okay job "for the price". They are on the lower end price-wise, and offer a good value. But not top notch work.

Excel Auto Body in Springfield also does "okay" work for the price. He is priced lower, around what Best charges. He's a 1 painter, 1 downdraft booth operation. The job I saw from him had typical dirt nibs in the clear here and there. Not terrible but not great either. The owner seems like a nice enough guy.

The type of damage you got is by no means minor, because both of your doors are going to have to be repainted, and blended into adjacent panels. If the paint texture is not good enough it's going to make that whole side of the car look like crap. There is a maroon MM that I have seen around Springfield mall, where I live, a couple times. He has a repainted right front fender that you can tell is a respray, from probably 50 feet away. It's a horrible repair.

[jonroe]

Thanks for the info. I'm in western Fairfax and am looking in this area. The local Ford dealer where I go for warranty work uses Craftsman Auto Body in Chantilly but they are expensive. My local mechanic (who helps me with all non-warranty work) recommended Moe's Collision in Manassas.

I'm also thinking of getting the hood re-sprayed as there have always been two noticeable spiderweb flaws in the hood and I just didn't have the patience to try to work that through warranty. Jon

[Breadfan]

I'd recommend Precision Auto Body they are a sponsor of our local Mustang club, they are in Manassas. I will send a PM with their address.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

It sounds like I would do an all over respray on your car. There is no reason to respray only 3 major panels at that point. Even the best respray will not quite match in texture, so I wouldn't want a car that is 35% resprayed and 65% original paint w/ wear and tear on it

[DJCV]

I have used Craftsman Auto Body with good results. You get what you pay for.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Not always. I have had some very expensive collision paint work done that was pretty terrible before. You'd hope that more $ = better work.