thanks for the advice

[Ben Dixon <Ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I took the car to a local crash repairer who turned out to be very friendly
and extremely competant, and who, in hindsight, I should have gone to to get
the smash repair and repaint done.  He went over the whole car with me,
spending at least half an hour of his time giving me the word.  The original
repairer however, was the official 'alfa specialist' in Adelaide.

according to him, it was probably bad prep.  he spotted numerous cracks and
bubbles that I hadnt even noticed, but which were very obvious once you had
a closer look.  The more I look, the more ripped off I feel, and the more
worried about the impending confrontation with the original repairer I feel.


in the original accident, the front passenger side guard was totalled, but
luckily it was only panel damage.  the chassis is still straight as it ever
was.  the repairer claimed on insurance for the repair and repaint of front
apron, the bonnet (hood), guard and pass. side door.  I cant remember
exactly how much I paid him to do the remaining panels, but it was somewhere
in the vicinity of $1300 USD.  He seemed to think he was giving me a pretty
good deal.

Im feeling angry that Ive been taken advantage of, and even more upset that
my beautiful GTV is tarnished, and I want some Alfa-Rosso blood!   I
sympathise with repairers out there who do a job for a price, and then have
to deal with unfounded complaints and people demanding resprays because of
stone chips, but Im left feeling that there must be some basic industry
standard that should define what is acceptable and what is sub-standard, and
I feel like Ive landed on the wrong side of that divide.

ben

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