Sad news for a return. Help me find a body shop?

[kevlarcupid]

Hey, guys and girls.

Yeah, I've been gone for a while. I'd hoped not to come back with news like this, but alas, it happened. I did quite a number to the Scoob.

I'll get into the gristly details when I get home tonight (yes, I have a few pics, too, you bloodthirsty heathen), however I'm turning to you guys with a call for help. I need recommendations on reputable body shops in the area, and I could use 'em pretty quick.

Sadly, my car isn't too close to my hometown of Baltimore, but instead it's sitting in an icy lot in Rockville. It needs to be moved to the body shop tomorrow, or the insurance company will have its way with my precious, and yet-a-virgin cornhole.

Let me know what you've got, kids. I'll be around. More often, again, I do hope. Adios!

[Seeing StaRS]

Jehan,
Bah man, I'm sorry to hear about this. I didn't want to hear that your car got messed up earlier today on the phone. It's worse to read about it again.

My suggestions:

http://vpautocollision.com

Thompson Toyota body shop

Good luck man,

Joe

[kevlarcupid]

Thanks, Joe, I was trying to remember the guys other than VP you recommended. I'll def. keep you up-to-date with what happens (as well as the goings-on that have kept me from here and the club... those are much more fun to talk about!)

Thanks again, man.

[Speedette]

So tell us already! And post pics!!!


I'm worried to hear what has happened.

[302@12psi]

Hey man that sucks to hear. I dont know any body shops near us but Skips Auto Body in reisterstown seems to do good work. They seem to work mainly with MB's, lexus, bmw's, and other higher end cars.


2 more quick questions...first where have you been and second.....pictures for the blood thirsty heathen.

[twoturbos]

The body shop at Frederick Motor Company did an awesome job on my '03 when it was within a couple thousand dollars of being totalled. Frame work is perfect, paint is perfect, engine work is perfect. You can not tell the front end was crushed ( T-boned a car at 45 mph and hit another car head-on). Only down-side is they are slow. Took three months to get my car back. But, they did one heck of a job. The body shop is located in Frederick, MD. LMK if you need anymore details.

[Seeing StaRS]

Any updates Jehan?

[lordcon]

Sorry to hear this, was wondering where you disappeared to....

[kevlarcupid]

Ok. The flash drives that my pics were on died. Go figure But, I've got 'em backed up at home.

I had to decide by Wednesday, and my good friend (jh0l on here), his grandparents live next to a guy named Alex who owns a repair shop in Beltsville called Tanner Auto Body. Jon, his grandparents, and his brother have all had work done by this guy, and they were really happy with it. Plus, he's got State Farm's (my insurance company) certification which should streamline the process. I know their standards are pretty stringent, too, so, bonus!

I talked to him Wednesday morning, and explained where the car was, and that if there's any engine work that goes above and beyond what he normally does, I'd like Agile to do it. He was fine with that, said that he does some engine work, but he'll know better when he sees the car. He also said, "Well, your car's pretty new [it's an '06] so it's still worth quite a bit of money. If the damage you did is 70% of the car's value, State Farm totals it, but I don't know how you could have done that much damage."

He got the car yesterday, and I talked to him again.
Alex: "I got your car today."
Me: "Yeah, she's a mess, isn't she?"
Alex: "A mess. Ha. Yeah, you could say that. I didn't think you could have totaled it, but we'll see. There's a lot of damage to the underside"
Me: *sigh* I know. I know.

So, that's where we stand with the car.

Ugh, but enough bad news. I'm back. I've missed this place like crazy, but life's been too hectic to give me any downtime, recently. In a good way. I bought a house in November (awesome), got one of those late-model girlfriends in December (super awesome - easily the coolest girl I've met in years), and a new job in January with Under Armour (great place to work).

Add to that the fact that my fine-art photography has been getting a little notoriety, and yeah. The past few months have been a freakin' whilrwind.

[lordcon]

whats with the suspense man! tell us what happened!!1

[kevlarcupid]

Edit, Nevermind, I'm retarded.

[kevlarcupid]

Ok, ok.

Here's what happened.
My good buddy and and I went to another friend's house for the evening. We hung out, BS'd had an all-in-all great time. 4:00 in the morning comes around, and after more movies and debate and wings than we can count, it was time to go home. So Rauf and I get in the car and head out. I'm cruising along 270, heading home, when apparently I fell asleep. I've never been one to do that - if I'm tired I pull over an nap - but this one got me.
I snap awake when I realize my driver's side wheels are offroad, and by the time I figure it out, all 4 were off the tarmac. On Ice. Nasty Ice from a snowfall a week before. It had frozen and melted and frozen so many times that it was like 2" of just ICE. So when I puch the brake (gently) and turn the wheel (gently) there's no response. I knew better than to slam the brakes and crank the wheel, so I just woke Rauf (who was in the passenger seat) up.

I said "Yo, buddy. We're offroad. I can't control the car. I think we're gonna get in an accident."
He said, "Huh?" groggily. That's when we went up on two wheels.

It took me a second to realize that we'd driven up onto the very beginning of a guardrail, and while the drivers side wheels were on the ground, in a ditch, the passenger side wheels were in the air. Which meant that the car was scraping along on some number of parts of the underside of the car. After about 50 feet, we ground to a stop.

Rauf: "What?"
Me: "We just wrecked. I'm gonna get out of the car. I recommend you do the same."

Rauf reached for his door handle, and I said "Bud, you might want to get out my side."
Once we climbed out, we saw the passenger side door was about 4 feet in the air. Rauf would have had a nasty fall, for sure The cops came. The tow truck came. I got home around 7:30. Bed felt great.

Now, what I've been dealing with is that there are basically 2 outcomes.
1. The car is not totaled - that's cool, so long as the repairs are sound. It's paid off, so no car payments are nice.
2. The car's totaled - It leaves me with an excuse to upgrade. I was debating between a used M3 or a new STi. I'll let you guys guess which one I settled on.

[Speedette]

Geeeez louise!!!!! Atleast no one was hurt (besides the subie)!

+1 for pics, stat

[Sasquatch]

Glad you are both OK!!

I was wondering where you have been. Keep us posted and pics are a must. Please?

[302@12psi]

Hey Jehan hope all works out for you.

I was going to say I'll be trading in my 06 and would be willing to let you have it for trade in, but it appears someone is a BALL3R now and doesnt need used cars


Glad to hear about the job, house, and gf.

If you are in a position to get a STI let me know. Andy at Annapolis has been working great with me. Come spring I'm getting one from him.