Finally after having the car at the body shop for 8 days I'm back in the saddle again. Or at least the driver's seat. Things just kept coming up with the previously owned door. First the molding along the bottom was too wide requiring them to remove the molding off the old door and put it on the new door. Then there was more dents to smooth out than they originally thought. Again requiring more labor. Then it was realized the molding around the windows was black instead of chrome like my old door so they had to take that off the old door as well. All these delays combined with the Christmas holiday and weekend prevented my car from being done until today.
But I'm very happy to say the wait was worth it. The door really looks amazing. They matched the paint about as perfect as it could be. They washed and vacuumed the whole thing. I felt a little guilty about this because my car was absolutely filthy inside and out. I would have washed it prior to taking it in but my window was covered with cardboard and it was just too cold to do it by hand. I imagine it had to be washed to get a good color match on the paint but to open the door and find every spec of gravel vacuumed and the sweet smell of some air freshener quite overwhelmed me.
I also remember the door I got at the wrecking yard had a light grey interior and my interior is black. A fact I was perfectly willing to overlook, but somehow they managed to take the interior off the old door as well. The only things that are different on the inside are the handle which is black instead of chrome and the window switch which is oval instead of rectangular.
I've said before my wife has been in more than her fair share of accidents and I really am impressed at the magic these body shops can do. At least the ones I've been to seem to take an extreme amount of care and pride in their work. They just seem to go above and beyond the basic repairs that are needed.
I'm so happy with how it turned out I really must give credit where it is due. If you are ever in the need of a body shop I strongly recommend Brendel's Collision & Paint. They are very reasonably priced, pleasant to work with and as I've said, seem to take a certain amount of pride in their finished product. Incidentally, they also install lawn sprinkling systems. (Brendel's Lawn Sprinkling) if you're in the market for that as well. I am very much a satisfied customer.
I must thank my good friend, Steve who, I might add, has a very entertaining blog at http://steveatrandom.blogspot.com/, for the recommendation of Brendel's in the first place. Thank you Steve!
Deepest gratitude must also be extended to my Mom and stepdad for letting us use their Blazer so we wouldn't be inconvenienced by only having 1 vehicle in our 2 vehicle family. Thank you Mom and Jake! Last week would have been a lot more miserable without the use of that car. Even though I am now officially spoiled with the 4-wheel-drive experience. We definitely will be at least looking at some SUV's when it comes time to replace my jalopy. Especially with the December North Dakota has had.
As I've said in my other blogs. This really was a miserable expensive thing to happen, but it could have been so much worse. I was not harmed, my kids weren't in the back seat, my car is almost as good as new and I have a family and friends that are more precious than words can describe. As my Dad says in his blog, "Life is good if you let it." I quite agree.
2 comments:
Thank goodness the people at the Body Shops, such as Brendel's, do a good job. I remember the first time Belinda was in a wreck with our new car. I felt so terrible I wanted to sell it. However, by the time Brendel's finished their magic, everything was back to "new." Glad you had a great experience...and thanks for the plug on my blog.
Well, it sounds as though the saga of the deer is finally over. Nothing left but memories. I am really glad it all worked out in the end. (Even though it was expensive and nerve wrecking. As we usually do in our trials and tribulations we always seem to learn something.
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