I had a complete 1955 Ford that needed an update. It originally was my Mother's, and although tt was in pretty good shape (no rust or serious damage), it did need a freshening. I chose to take the car to Buffalo Restorations, based on a limited amount of internet research I had done (one good report on a message board). BIG MISTAKE!!! I told them I had a budget of $10,000, and along with a complete and straight car I had already bought a complete interior kit and many new trimp parts to use with the restoration.
I told BR that I wanted just a midlevel restoration (not a frame off), however about $50,000 later, what I got back was a car that was incomplete (most interior and some exterior trim parts were simply left uninstalled, sitting in the trunk). Poor door fits, inoperable locks, non-working parking brake, and a temperature gauge that always shows hot are additional issues. The car's new power top mechanism for which I paid thousands took 5 minutes to raise or lower the top, and only worked twice before giving up. Worse yet, a poorly installed electric wiper motor that does not work resulted in them choosign to cut out part of the hood support, but the wiper motor placement keeps the hood from closing fully.
I was called and told the car was ready, however when I went to pick it up the car was not able to be driven home. I was so disgusted (with BR and myself for choosing them) that since the car has basically sat in a garage, undriven and undrivable, while I try to pull enough money together to finish it. This has been a nightmare which had me depressed for quite some time. The only silver lining is that I did get something back to work with, although the car as it is now is going to take a lot more work. I have been working with a restoration expert in Vancouver who may be able to help me sort out the mess I received back from Buffalo.
While dealing with Buffalo I went through 3 different shop Managers. I also had to have a lot of work done during the restoration process undone and redone (for example I had specified rechroming of the bumper, however they would install the unfinished bumper, the would have to remove it to finish it. Door trim would be installed, then uninstalled, then reinstalled because they didn't get around to ordering gaskets. For the last part of the restoration they let the car sit out in the rain, rusting a number of new components.
I can say that work done outside of the shop seems ok (top, vinyl interior, rebuilt engine, and exhaust), although all of this was billed at huge markups. However, it does not appear that they replaced certain things that should have been during a rebuild (like the clutch, or pressure plate resurfacing), so the clutch chatters the same now as it did before they took the whole car apart.
When issues were pointed out there were plenty of excuses.in fact I should have picked the car up as soon as it was reassembled, and I spent thousands while they were trying to fix some of these last issues (like the wipers and interior finishing which were never addressed). Basically I feel defrauded, but given all of the issues I was dealing with at the time could not find the energy or time to work the issue, and was afraid that I would spend additional thousands going after BR with no resolution (you basically are given forms to sign including giving away your right to sue).
When reading recent posts on the web I now realize that this poor/costly/poorly documented work has occured for others. Give the customer a really low estimate for costs (I was told that $10K ought to do it), along with really confusing statements (paperwork measures over an inch thick) but they really don't tell you anything except that you owe multiple times for such listed items as "Alternator" with no description of what that really means, or what was done. From the amounts I was paying I should have gotten a frame off restoration, with a nearly perfect outcome. What I received didn't qualify as a daily driver (even worse, it cannot be driven in its current state).
When your car is sitting in parts all over the shop it is hard to tell them to stop work, as I wouldn't have known how to even pick up the pieces. They are really good at hounding you for money once the work is underway (5K here, 10K here, and on and on). I went into tens of thousands of dollars of debt hoping that I would have at least something positive (a restored car) by which to remember my family.instead it has been a nightmare.
Recently I began to receive letters from a law firm which is handling the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of New Guardian LLC (Consolidated with Buffalo Restorations). It appears that they are sending letters to all previous customers of BR (as myself) who may also be a creditor of the debtor. I was hoping any contact with Buffalo Restorations ended 5 years ago, however by sending these letters someone must think that I still might have some claim against them. Consumers might want to be aware of this bankruptcy action. Probably not a good time to send your beloved car off into what could be an even more unstable situation.
Would I go back to Buffalo Restorations? NEVER. Their manner of documenting work is atrocious (they were supposed to document work with photographs, however I received a total of just 2 photos-one being the day I dropped off the car). The quality of the work was just plain poor, and some of what they did is going to cost me a lot to undo (not to mention damaging the original nature of the car). Nothing "repaired" by them seems to work, and the car has never been drivable. From a distance the car looks good, but it also did the day I dropped it off. The work statements are a nightmare to interpret, with no way to really see what was or wasn't done.
I have friends who have used other restoration shops and while I know that restorations are expensive, I can also see that the value of what I got back is no where close to what I spent. They damaged or lost irreplaceable trim components (which were perfect when I dropped the dar off). To this day I don't know what has or hasn't been replaced. I am just hoping that someone else, someday, is going to be able to fix what has been done.
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