Incidents with pilson automotive
Our 2007 Nissan Altima was struck in the rear passenger side quarter panel, rear bumper on August 14th. The collision also did damage to the trunk and drivers side quarter panel of the vehicle. We drove our car to the closest body shop which happened to be Pilson Automotive. Our insurance company (Travelers insurance) came out a few days later to do an estimate. The estimate was for $3302.32. We paid our $500 deductible and our insurance paid the remainder of the balance. My wife and mother-in-law picked the car up after Pilson's called and said the car was ready. I went over the car that evening. Found some small things wrong but did not think it would amount to a lot so went on and thought nothing else of it.
Our first trip back to Pilson Automotive was around nine or ten months later when the paint started to peel badly from the passenger side quarter panel right in front of the tail light. Also it was starting to come off at the bottom of the rear quarter panel at the bottom of the back door. I took the car back by for Jerry Pilson to look at and he said he would make it right. He stated Kenneth Steele gets in a hurry sometimes and must have hit that spot with the taillight before the paint dried when he put it back on the car. The problem at the bottom of the door, which Jerry Pilson tried to blame on my wife's driving, he just hit with touch up paint and put a piece of body tape over so it wouldn't look as bad. That was not the agreement we made when I took it back for him to look at. There was also a nick on the top drivers side rear quarter panel where the trunk touched it when the car was hit that was allowed for repair in the original estimate that our adjuster did that he also just touch dup with touch up paint instead of re-painting it like it said to in the adjustment. I pointed that out but he did nothing that time but put more touch up paint on it. That time he kept the car another five days. After that happened it made me wonder about the rest of the work that was done on our vehicle.
About two months passed after that and the paint started to peel all the way across the top of the trunk right under the spoiler, Which Jerry also tried to blame on my wife. He said it was where she was shutting the trunk by the spoiler. Jim Mills Nissan and two other body shops from which I have other estimates said it was not true and that was about the only way to close the trunk. They also said he was trying to make excuses for what he had not done correctly. So I Called my insurance company and had them send the original adjuster back out to look at the kind of work that was being done on my car. He was dumbfounded and could not believe that the shop let the car leave looking like that. Also there were some places he noticed that had not been repaired with anything but touch up paint that he had allowed for in the estimate. One of which was the spot on the top corner of the drivers side rear quarter panel mentioned in the previous paragraph. He took some pictures, made a report to take back with him, and he said he would call Jerry Pilson and talk to him. He also noticed that the trunk was out of alignment as well. The next day Jerry Pilson called me and told me to bring the car by yet again and he would make it right. When I got there Jerry tried to act like the adjuster did not know what he
Was talking about but said he would fix the problems. This time he kept the car seven days. I went to pick the car up the evening he said it was done after work and was told he would not release my car unless I signed a copy of his warranty paper. So I went over the car with a flashlight as best I could in the dark and found a visible tape line at the rear corner of the driver's side back glass. I made him note it on the paper before I signed it. I picked the car up and left.
About two days later the paint from under the spoiler started to peel again and I opened the trunk to get a better look and when I went to close the trunk it would not close and seal properly. I called Jerry and he told me to bring the car by and he would fix the trunk. Jerry told me that the snow over that weekend must have pushed the trunk up. And he told me the same thing when I took it by that evening and said to bring it back that Friday and he would adjust the latch down. None of this made sense to me and after the past few times he had worked on the car I took it to the Nissan dealership where we bought the car on 3/5 and let them look at it. They looked at the car extensively and saw that the majority of the trunk bolts were missing and the ones that were in there were the wrong ones. The Nissan dealership replaced the bolts for us so that our trunk would close and not be damaged any further. They also looked at the paint issue under the spoiler and found the spoiler had been re-installed wrong which was causing it to rub the paint off. They fixed that as well but the paint has been rubbed off already. I do have a copy of the invoice from Jim Mills Nissan to prove this.
By this time we had it with Pilson Automotive and their constant disregard for our vehicle so we then called Travelers insurance back who informed us that we should get an attorney and sue Pilson Automtive to make them pay to have the car repaired by another shop so it would be done correctly. They also told us to get some estimates on what it would take to repair what Pilson's had messed up. So I took it back to Jim Mills Nissan and did exactly that. They gave me a detailed estimate to the tune of $2519.66 to repair what Pilson Automotive had either failed to do or messed up in the process. We do have documentation of all of this and what we do not have an attorney can subpoena from Pilson automotive and Travelers. Travelers said they would do everything they could to help after their adjusters reported the sham job Pilson's did on our car. They have already e-mailed me all of the original paperwork and said their adjuster would be made available to testify to his findings if necessary. All the people that gave me estimates said the same thing as well.
All we ask is that our car is repaired and we think Pilson Automotive should bear the cost since they have already been paid once to do it right and have been given two additional chances that should have not been required. We do not want the money to even pass through our hands if it does not have to. We are asking that Pilson have to pay the Nissan dealership directly. We are not trying to make money. We just want our car to be repaired properly and to look like it is supposed to without recurring problems. The only place on the car we have had problems is where Pilson Automotive attempted to repair it. We also
Have pictures of two other cars here in our community that were repaired by Pilson Automotive less than four years ago that are having paint related issues as well.
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