Patrick Tran
I chose this shop for my repairs because they previously helped me with the claim process for my totaled Prius. Based on that experience, I assumed that good customer service would also translate into good workmanship. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with my 2015 LS460. I live in Garland, so each round‑trip is about 2 hours meaning the three visits I made added up to six hours of driving + finding someone to take the car home and wasted effort. I brought in my LS460 along with a brand‑new, unpainted factory bumper purchased directly from Lexus of Plano for them to install, paint, and repair the quarter panel. The quarter panel repair turned out great; however, the bumper paint job was full of defects. On my first pickup attempt, the bumper looked fine from a distance. But because the car is black, I inspected it closely and immediately noticed paint dots all over the bumper. They acknowledged the issue and said they would buff it out. On my second visit, I found that only some of the dots had been buffed many were still visible. On my third attempt to pick up the vehicle, I specifically asked them to double‑check the bumper to ensure all defects were gone. While the dots were finally removed, the excessive buffing left swirl marks and scratches across the entire bumper. Their proposed solution at that point was to repaint it. A couple of days later, I received this text from the shop: “Greetings Mr. Tran, so we spoke to the owner and paint guy, and unfortunately we would hate to paint your bumper again and end up with the same results. We feel that we can't meet your expectations. So at this point the owner suggests we just charge you for the repairs done to your quarter and leave it at that. Your new balance is just $200.00. If you have any questions feel free to give us a call or a text. We are here till 6PM.” Breaking down their message: “We would hate to paint your bumper again” – shifts the risk and responsibility onto me. “We can’t meet your expectations” – reframes an objective quality issue as a subjective preference. No acknowledgment of the scratches or paint dots. This is a common tactic businesses use to avoid liability. The underlying message is essentially: “We don’t want to redo the work, so we’ll reduce the bill and hope the problem goes away.” My response to them was: “Hello, Thank you for getting back to me. I understand your position, but I do want to clarify my concern. The issue isn’t unmet expectations—it’s that the bumper paint job was not completed to an acceptable or standard quality. The visible dots throughout the bumper and the scratches caused by repeated buffing. I appreciate the offer to only charge $200 for the quarter repair; however, I want it noted that I am accepting this resolution to move forward, not because the bumper work was satisfactory, but because the paint job itself was unsuccessful and will now need to be corrected elsewhere. I will come pick up the vehicle today.” I was fully willing to work with them to get the bumper corrected as long as they were willing to stand behind their work. But repainting the bumper would have cost them additional labor and materials, so instead they chose to only charge me for the quarter panel repair. A reputable body shop would have taken responsibility and repainted the bumper to uphold their craftsmanship and quality. It also makes me question whether they would have honored their “lifetime warranty” had I paid in full before noticing the defects.
