Celica Forums General Discussion General I got ripped off.

So as some of you might know, I bought a full VS-1 replica kit from GroupBuy4Celica. So I take it in to the body shop 3 weeks ago and get an estimate, and they said the job would be no more than $500 for paint and installation.

A week later they start on it, and they delayed the finish date 3 times. They kept telling me they had trouble fitting the kit. One day it's the front, the next, they can't get the rear to fit. They also find waves in the fiberglass that need to be sanded out.

Anyway, Friday is the day I could pick up my car. I call and ask when I can come get it, they tell me around 5. I ask what my total will be and they say $930.00. NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

My first reaction was shock, the second was sadness knowing that that takes all the money I have saved at the moment..ALL of it..Plus $20.

I call back to ask what the deal was, why the price got jacked up. They give me this bullshit about the paint on my fenders and hood being cracked, and so they fixed it so it wouldn't rust. Did I ask them to do that? They also said they had to work 6 hours just on FITMENT. Don't GroupBuys kits come PRE-fitted?

So I'm really freaked out, because I spent over $700 on this kit, and I'm for sure it's gonna look like crap, because I'm relying on some shithole small town Oklahoma body shop..but I have nowhere else to go. So I go to the place, and the people are taking pics of my car, you know, so I don't come back trying to BS them or something. I look around, and on the driver's side, where the skirt meets the door, towards the back, there's a gap between the skirt and the car. I can stick my fingers in it.

All these guys come up to me and say "Yup, that's the best we could do."
I say, "So why are you charging me 900 fucking dollars?"
Then they start givin me all this crap I didn't wanna hear, I could tell they didn't give a shit..and there's nothing I could do about it..except write a check for all the money I have saved..and drive off.

I feel so taken advantage of. I have the reciept..and everyone who looks at it says I got ripped off..I know I did. I feel so dumb..I wish I could do something..but there's nothing I can really do..I don't wanna get in a big deal situation about it or anything..so I dunno. I mean it looks good..except for the little gap, and certain other minor details.

It's times like this I wish my dad was still around, cause he was a real big guy..and he could take care of it for me..I'd just say "Dad, what do I do? Can you help me with this?" But instead, here I am, a 17 year old female standing there in front of 5 big guys..being pissed off, knowing they're taking my money..Do you know tax for that thing was like 200 bucks? That's crazy.

But anyway..I'll have pics of it soon..it looks really nice and all..but yea..thats a lot of money. My rims savings. Now I have to start all over again. Dammit.

And that's why I paid extra to already have a kit on my car, haha

I've heard a million stories just like yours because people are dealing with the wrong shop (or the only shop around) I don't give ANYONE money unless there's an agreement on how many hours of labour they are performing and the job to be done.

I know what it feels like to have work done on your car and feel like you've almost wasted your money because you hadn't planned on spending so much but that's life.

Lesson learned.

Post some pics up

I paid extra to already have a kit on my car too..but ended up liking Veilside better..lol.

yea...pics tomorrow.

Pics...now

Take them to small claims court. You may have to have someone to file the suit for you since you are only 17. It's cheap to file.

Email me the best digital pics you can take, and I'll print them and mail them back (my company has a photo printer). You will need them for evidence. Good luck!

ok wait...

first of all you bought another vs kit???? if i remember well you got into an accident and iam assuming your original vs kit was non fixable?

anywho the way i see it you should have expected fitment issues since its a replica(ive heared nothing but good things about groupbuy so maybe the one you got was just one of the bad ones - and oh i dont think his kits are pre fitted )

the $500 was an estimate, agian an estimate. thats assuming that the kit just needs to be painted and would fit perfectly
now any other additional work would obviosly bump the price
price for paint and installation will cost you between $400-$1500
depending on where you go and what needs to be done(i guess you fell in the $900 range )

the only thing i agree with you is why did they repaint your fenders if you didnt ask them too. i dont think they can do that unless you where aware of it
(my thoughts are maybe they damaged it and just told you the "rust excuse )

now since you paid them already you preety much accepted there work as acceptable so i dont think sueing would be an option(which even if you win would you get anything back after attorney fees?? )...


bring up some pics

930 is actually fine.
you bought a replica for one thing, so fitment was going to bad and they would have to work with it
paint alone would be 500 for the whole kit
they didn't expect the kit to fit bad

and you think that's a lot?
lol buy a real kit, and have a stupid bodyshop do it for you and it being 1800

lets see somes pics!

I got an *all authentic* trd front and rear w/ WW sides... installed it with a buddy and got it painted and cleared for $300... damn how much do they charge you for paint out there?

sorry to hear..

I've gone through a similar situation before, thankfully the shop I went to was nice enough to stick to their estimate even though the bumper didn't fit all that well.

This time around I'm doing all the fitting myself and just having the shop sand and paint.

Good luck saving up for your rims!

i got the vs kit form GroupBuy4Celica and there charging me $2,200 to install
the kit and piant. they said there's no way they can but the side skirts on
whit out molded it so i was like

that's almost exactly what i was going to say... haha
i bought a replica kit and it was CRAP... (i bought it off ebay so.. haha) frankly if i were you i'd be happy they got it looking semi-decent... my dad's body shop had to mold the whole entire kit together to get it looking good... it took them 2 freakin months to get my car done (but they did soooo awesome on it... it's PERFECT) but how much would that have cost you??? if you wanted them to just slap the kit on and paint it then i guess you should've specified that you wanted it to look like crap... but at least you would've saved some money, right? if i were you i wouldn't complain... so you paid a couple extra hundred bucks... at least your car looks decent...

VSCeliChick.. are you saying that you got ripped off by me, or the paint shop company...? If its with me, then I apologize for any problems this may have caused but if you would have called me or even PM'd me we could have resolved any problems you had with the kit... i have not yet had a bad VS1 Replica kit sent out... and even if by some misfortune it did happen I would be more then willing to work with on getting it replaced for free..

from your statements tho it seems like you are pissed off at the paint shop.. you cant really expect them to quote you a price for paint and install till they see the kit, depending on how many curves, edges, etc etc they determine prices.. but let me know if you have a problem with my kit.. i dont want this matter to get out of hand..let me know what I can do to help.

Now thats great customer service! I'm buyin from you whenever I get a job.

Call the Bank and get a stop payment on the check.

I agree, call the bank and get a stop payment, ive done it b4 its not hard to do.

I believe she got banned, again. Someone posted her underage boobies on here, and also was being wierd with isaac.

thats what I thought.. im just upset if its me whos she says ripped her off or the body shop.. sigh..

did the body shop follow up with you before starting each body piece?

when I had my kit installed there was a lot of work to be done. I went over the car with the manager so we BOTH knew what I wanted. Then before they started anything new ie. fitment, filling, paint... I went down in person and again went over the car with the manager to make sure we were both on the same page. This way I knew what I was getting charged for and they knew what they were working on.

When dealing with body shops theres really no better way to do it, cause they'll try to take you for everything they can

Makes me glad I got a factory body kit

I got a vader kit ... VS replica more or less and FIT was HORRIFIC... but i have a GREAT body shop. They sanded on my skirts for 3 days to make them fit and they were still bowed to much to stick on .. .they used a window epoxy to hold them on and it pulled the backing off the fiberglass so i was like fuck... i cant afford to buy new ones... lets make them work... The guy that installed it goes... "the way i see it your going to have to sand all this epoxy off to repaint it later on anyhow .. why dont you let me put in some finishing rivits so itll at least stay on. I was like I dont care make it look good. And he messured them off and drilled them in. They actually look ok. Ill post pics with them if i can find one.

well guys I talked to her and she said it wasnt my kit she was complaining about it was the body shop.. looks like im still 100% for my VS1 Replica kits on the fitiment and quality.. yay

they should have called you and work out the details and prices for the extra work they had to do.

remember wut an estimate stands for. but you shouldnt pay them and were possible to take them to court. but you had to read their invoice before you sign anything. there usually 2 spots where you sign. gotta read these tiny letters. legally in cali, if the price goes higher than the estimate, the shop has to inform the owner about it to see if he/she is ok with it. if so, the owner of the car will give another authority to work on the car with the new charges agreed upon.
if i were u, i wouldve paid the 500 and left. tell them screw u, noone wanted you to paint my fenders or do anything else, and you have my # you should have called me to let me know about the price. if you said this, they would automatically drop the price. BELIEVE THIS WHEN I SAY IT. theres just good profit in this business. if they really had fitment problems, 900 sounds like a normal price. but they still made a mistake and tried to take a bit advantage of you and you didnt get lucky.

sorry about ur fathers loss, that really hurts when you say that since im pretty close to my father and dont know how i would live without him. BUT this gives you a great chance to be a strong woman, and this experience will teach you a great lesson, just thank it wasnt anymore hurtful and was just ripping some $$. what goes around comes around. learn from ur mistakes and dont let ppl roll over you next time

That SUCKS BIG DONKEY BALLS but the problem seems to be with the body shop and not with the kit. If I were you I wouldnt have paid SH*T. From my experience, I havent had ANY problems with the VS Rear Bumper or the Side Skirts that I purchased from GroupBuy4Celica. I remember the fitment being PERFECT. The body shop even said and I quote The fitment on the skirts and the rear bumper was as good if not better than the authentic VS front bumper and I had to agree because I pre-fitted the sides and rear bumper myself at my garage. Well, at least thats just my experience with the GroupBuy4Celica kit.