I have a 1969 camaro. I just need some help and didn't know where else to turn. I bought my camaro about 4 years ago (November 2012) with the intent on slowly working on it to turn it to my dream car. After only having it a month, I came home from work to find that my dad had pulled it all apart and started a full tear-down restoration. We then took the car to a local shop in Torrance California (AutoCraft) to have all the body work and paint done. When AutoCraft got sold to Caliber Collision and they ceased classic car work, the guy I was dealing with at AutoCraft bought all the classic car stuff from the old owner of AutoCraft and said he would finish the work. Now we skip ahead to October of 2015, I got tired of playing phone games and never getting any responses from the guy so we went and got my car back. Some of the body work had been done, but none of the things I asked for (shaved drip rails, flushed bumpers, mini tubs), and not all body work that was needed to even get the car back to factory was done. Now the guy still has my transmission and other miscellaneous parts and I'm stuck up a creek and out $10,000 without a paddle. Ultimately, I just need the body work finished and painted. This car is my dream car, but it's slowly been turning into my 4 year nightmare with no end in sight and it's stressful beyond anything I can explain with words and about to just break down in frustration any day. Any help that you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

What is it exactly you need help with...the $10k you're out? How to get your parts back? Where to take the car now?

 

yup huge loss ,but live an learn ,a good shop should not need money until the job is done ,6 to 8 weeks should have been done ? 4 years later ,why did you wait so long ,huge clue was .takeing that much money down ,the sad storys are endless of people like myself that are to trusting of others ,but not to the tune of $10.000,why in the world would you give someone that kinda money upfront,sounds like you need to get your parts back ,an have someone who will do the work an pay when they are done ,with a contract on paper .? did you not have written estimate from the guy ,you need to make sure things are on paper an start over ,or sell it,as for the person that took your money Karma,s a bish ? thats, the whole truth

 

I'm looking for help on how to get my parts back when he won't answer his door, texts, or phone calls, and where to go to finish it properly this time.

As for why did I give that much money up front, it was because my dad and he were work related acquaintances. I trusted my dad to pick someone who was legit and upfront. My dad is now bummed that he mislead the whole situation, but he's my dad and I can't hold it against him.

 

well thats to be debated you need to police ,to help get your parts back

 

I have never heard of ANY shop taking on a restoration with out a deposit. 50% is average. I know a one body shop owner (higher end paint jobs) and one restoration shop owner. On most sites you hear about people complaining about shops. You should hear what the owners of the shops go through. Unlike on TV it can take a full year to restore a car. There is a lot of hurry up and wait on most project and its never 5 guys working on one car. At best it is one guy working on 3 cars that way he always has work. In the real world you can not shut all work off because the gas tank did not get here on time.

Problem one with no deposit.
Imagine you had a shop with 26 restoration going on. That finishing a car every two week. Now both the cars you where suppose to finish in a given month changed something at the last minute. Now you have no income for a month. Shop owner still needs to pay everyone and pay for the shop and eat. It would be a cash flow nightmare. Even one car not being picked up on time could put you out of business. Remember if the shop has to buy a $5000 worth of parts for your car they are paying interest on working capital now times that times 26 cars. Body shops that are dealing with insurance companies trust they will get paid because they know most of the adjusters. They don't mind risk, they also deal in volume so they have cars finishing everyday.

Problem 2 with no deposits,
A year is a long time. Life changes, people pass away people lose their jobs, and some bankrupt, but the most common thing is people get divorced. Even with a 50% deposit a restoration shop can lose money on a car in a divorce because now its the wife's car and she ain't giving you a penny because she just does not want him to have it. So now there is a 15k outstanding bill on a 80% restored 74 Gremlin that no one wants or a pink 79 camaro with diamond tucked interiors and all the shop has is a mechanic's lean.

For every one time a customer get jacked there are 10 situations in which the shops loses. That assumes it was a real shop at some point and not a con from the beginning. Most of the time when you are talking about a well known well liked shop going out of business its can be tied back to several failed jobs that where big losers in most cases because of the customers.

 

I never heard of takeing that kinda money down I can say that .$10,000 was the point ,an I would not give my car to anyone ,that was not starting it that day if I did give deposit again like said would be a written contract ,an I would be at there shop every few days until done .my engine swap I did not pay until we were done ,so its different in different places ,the po needs to contact the police to get there parts back an start over ? is would they want to put another $5000.00 down I would not ,do it your self righthey they could take them to small claims if they had a contract ,not that it would help as we know ,but I know one thing in newengland we do things a bit different hear hand shakes are no longer a way of doing bussness its to bad ,I like a hand shake but not to the tune of $10,000 ,ever hear the old saying that moveing from one state to another can be like moveing from one country to another si senor

 

I assume that means you have never had a car restored or been involved in a professional restoration? Most good restoration shops have a line of people that want to give them a deposits just so they can get inline. Even with 50k in your hand you are going to be told don't even drop the car off for 6 month. Without a deposit they would just say just step to the side please the guy behind you has money for us. .

Many shop closed up in 2008 & 2009 with the economy crash. Before that people where throwing money at them. Most restorations take between 400-1500 hours at $70-$100 per hour and another 10-25k in parts. Do the math. On 98% of the cars that are out there professionally restoring a car is a money loser. That means the shop restoring the car has 40k invested in a car that may only be worth 25k. Unless the owner is rich (most are not) he has borrowed that money from the bank so he is paying short term interest on that money. That means you are asking the shop owner to float a unsecured loan to someone for up to 150k. If you did not pay a deposit he would have to charge 10-12% on top of the 40k-150k just to cover his bank loan. If they have to seize the car for non-payment it can take 6 months to a year to get the cars title. So now the owners been paying short term interest of almost 2 years just so he can get half his money back. Deposits cover the parts and some of the labor, in most cases the deposit will cover the restoration cost less what the car would be worth when done. In theory the shop would break even if you skipped.

I was talking to my friend about how he takes deposits, he was trying to figure out how not to take deposits. He saw one company that actually writes and invoice every week with pictures and parts bought and the work done that week. From a business point of view that would be a positive cash flow, which is huge but he is worried that the added labor of doing paper work taking pictures and tracking payments will add to the cost of the restoration. He thinks he will need a full time person just doing that. He wants to do this not because he can not get people to pay deposits but because he want people to understand the costs of changing something and he wants to know ASAP about a major life change by the owners. If the checks stop coming in he knows in weeks not months that the project needs to stop.

 

yes I have I don't want to debate how they do things there ,an how they do things hear ,a good shop with a good solid car can sell the car later if the person never picks it up for more then the cost to fix one so a good shop does not need money down they have wrttien contract that would say in fine print if the car was not picked up at a certain point it would be theresif the person does not pick it up .on the other hand this person had nothing in writeing wiich is just plain wrong ,I think someone got way off track ,we had 57 Belair years ago restored an it was similar situation my father new they guy ,same as this no money down my father paid when it was done .? we are talking about paint hear as the po said it was sent to get painted asumeing his father who took the car part was puting it back together so they only had it for paint is what it sounded like to me anyhow

 

I guess what I'm asking is, do any of you know any good paint and body shops for classic cars in or near torrance california?