Unfortunately my paintwork pain hasn't ended yet. I'm looking for yet another shop to help and have narrowed it down to one or two options.

I had some paintwork done by an Aston Martin certified body shop last year and the results did not turn out as expected. Despite that shop telling me they would be blending the refinished panels into the surrounding panels, and then afterwards saying this work had been done, they didn't actually do any blending. Aston Martin corporate seemed to be helpful at first but in the end haven't done anything for me and the Aston Martin certified shop who failed to complete the blending has turned into a nightmare to work with. Turns out the Aston Martin certification isn't a guarantee of anything, other than high costs. I'm now having to find a new shop to help out.

J&B Body Works in Mount Vernon, NY seems to be the best option insofar. They're recommended by Miller Motorcars and seem to have top tier cars in their shop frequently. Google reviews all look good, Yelp reviews are a bit lower. The contact there seems like someone who would be good to work with.

Scandinavian Coach Craft in LA is my secondary option. Also reviewed well but their team seems a little less eager to work on the car, but potentially still decent for quality of work.

Does anyone have any experience working with either of these shops? Would love to hear any feedback from anyone who has had their car there.

 

If your going out of your area I would recommend European Motor Car Works in Southern California.

 

Appreciate that, looks like they have great facilities. Going to reach out today. Have you worked with them yourself?

 

I have, and will say that they do not skimp or cut corners. Not the cheapest place but if your a perfectionist they will satisfy.

 

Appreciate the feedback and the recommendation, they were not on my radar at all previously.

I just spoke to Holly there and just based on our initial conversation seems like that may be the best option out of all of the California based shops I've spoken to. J&B also still looks great but European Motor Car Works should be cheaper to ship to and easier for me to get to if I need to be there in person.

 

Back about 13 years ago, when I had a new 2009 Vantage, a dog ran into my car and cracked the quarter panel (you just can't make this up, and yes, the dog was fine, only a scrapped paw). J&B Body Works in Mount Vernon, NY did the replacement and repaint, which looked perfect, not to mention was someplace acceptable to my insurance company.

They were local to me, and someplace acceptable to my insurance company, so an obvious choice for me. I would hope there are other good places around the country that can do a good job. It was also a while ago, so just because they were good then, doesn't mean they are now, but its a data point.

 

Haha that is quite the crazy situation for needing a quarter panel replacement! Appreciate the feedback and glad to hear you had a good experience. They have presented really well and seems like they have quite a bit of experience. Any chance you have before and after pics of their work?

 

There was not much in terms of before pictures because it the quarter panel was just cracked, so it was replaced with a new one, no actual body work. It was all paint work and disassembling everything in order to paint and blend it properly. After reassembling it, they brought it to Miller Motorcars for them to verify that everything was still functional, so when I got the car everything was good. Total cost (to insurance) was $15k, the only car insurance claim I've ever made on one of my street cars (somehow the insurance companies always come out ahead, don't they).

As far as "after", I have some pictures of the car, but I don't remember if I took them before or after "the incident". The color of the car was Tungsten Silver, so I don't think it was the toughest color to do, but even my detailer couldn't tell the difference after it was fixed, so it seemed like a pretty good job,

 

Appreciate the additional feedback! I looked at buying a Tungsten Silver car before that had mismatched paint, so while it may be an easier color to work with I've definitely seen someone else mess it up.

Good to know Miller Motorcars was willing to do an inspection afterwards to make sure everything was good to go. That could make sending my car to J&B even more feasible/appealing.

 

+100. Have used them before for another British car. Quality work. Kye is crazy meticulous.

 

Of course, you could just forget all this headache and have the car wrapped in some color no one has seen on an Aston before.

 

Thanks! Appreciate the additional feedback and happy to hear you had a good experience with them as well. Hoping to get a preliminary bid from them this coming week.

Haha that's true I could do that, but the perfectionist in me would be bugged until it's really fixed. I've had a few recommend just repainting the entire car at this point, it's on the table, so if that ends up happening I'm somewhat considering having the car repainted in the same color but without the metallic flake.