Can anyone recommend a good paint and body place?
 

I got work done in Truckee at advanced body and frame this last winter when my employer damaged my car. They did a average job, a few specs of dust in the paint (said they would polish it out after the paint cured more), not horrible orange peal, paint built up the edge of my hatch, and one spot where they let the polisher sit a little too long.

I'm looking for someone who will wet sand and really take pride in painting my front bumper. Anyone have any experience with a shop that really goes above and beyond?

I've always been happy with Shaber Ave Auto Body. I've also sent a bunch of people their way and no one's ever been unhappy.

They're a really small shop over in Sparks, so sometimes there's a delay getting in there 'cause they've only got room for a couple of cars at a time.

775-355-1262: Bruce Monson is the owner.

Correction, Sperry:

I went to Shaber and was treated poorly. They did a messy job on the grill I had them paint and when I politely asked Bruce if they would be willing to fix it, he agreed. But when I went to pick it up, Bruce was super rude and wouldn't talk to me about it. He shoved it into my hand and when I asked him if he had to paint the black parts black again, and he just yelled, "I FIXED IT!" as he walked inside. Maybe he was just having a bad day. :?:

Also, the things they painted (grill and hood) show far more rock chips after this Winter than they have in previous years. Usage is the same (half a dozen trips over the hill and DD) so I blame the paintwork.

They did a really good job at color matching though.

Um, okay... well, no one's ever told me they were unhappy... that's the 1st I've heard about it that I remember. The last person I know that went there (last summer) had their truck repainted and was super happy and thanked me for the recommendation.

I've had my WRX painted there twice and both times had a great result, one of the times Bruce even completely stripped, sanded, and repainted my bumper just because he wasn't 100% sure the touch-up he was supposed to do would last, and didn't charge me a dime for the additional work. He's also gone the extra mile when it came to replacing my SVX's mirror when it was knocked off by a truck... was able to come in under budget and helped me pocket some cash from the money the trucking company gave me for the repair. That was $100 or so that he could have just pocketed himself.

And keep in mind... *any* paint job is going to chip more easily than the factory job. Unless of course you know of a shop that can acid dip your car and paint it with a static charge and bake it in an oven the way the assembly line does. The best you can do is get it painted so it looks right, then clearbra it or something. My SVX's bumper/hood (not painted by Shaber) looks worse now 4 years after it was painted than it did after 10 years on the original paint. When I get around to painting the SVX again, it'll be going to Shaber.

I mentioned it at a meet, but I don't know if you realized it was Shaber that did the work. No biggie.

I'm one for shaber auto body. I love the work they do and it has nothing to do with me being there next door neighbor. I see cars leave there happy all the time. Bruce does have bad days just like everyone else but he puts passion in the cars he paints and fixes.

My car is there as I type this post getting body work done. should be out in a week if you want to swing by Before you choose them to see the work they have done on mine I welcome you to take a look.

He also has fixed a couple of other dents for me for free just cause he was already working on the car and figured it wasn't that much more work.

Concours has done good work for me in the past and I am very picky when it comes to repainting. They even made the edge of the fender that is in the engine bay match the other fender, on silver imprezas the factory edge is not the same silver as the regular paint. Could not tell that side had been painted. Very happy.

Concours Auto Body gets my vote too. My experience with them is paint and replacement parts, not body work. The owner is car-club friendly, and one of Reno Region's SCCA members is also a Claims rep there (Jerry Olofson).

Hey thanks for looking out for that headlight... I ended up getting one off NASIOC


I do however need body work... a ton of it... I hit a snowbank with the front end this winter twisting the core support and just the other day some clown railed my rear end while parked in the campus parking lot.
Needless to say I need a shop with a frame rack for the front end. This also will be an out of pocket transaction so does he treat the non-insured nicely?

I had another shop quote me around $1,500, having me providing them with the needed body pannels... not really sure what to expect.

no problem norbeaster. That's good.

Actually I had him do a couple of things for me That my insurance didn't cover and I paid cash and he was nice about it and he also took two payments for the work. One up front and one when he was done.

Bringing this one back...

My car has been sitting at a shop for the past month now and I got a nice phone call today stating that they haven't even touched it yet... I'm not too happy at the moment.

I was curious about the previous shop mentioned (shaber) or any other for that matter. If they can handle carbon re-furbishing? I got a bunch of carbon body panels for dirt cheap and the hood is faded and needs to be completely stripped of the clear and re sprayed.

I still need a shop with a frame rack that will treat me fair$ but the carbon issue is something that I am unsure of. Time frame is not a huge issue for me but a month of no progression is a little out of hand.

I really appreciate you guy's input.

I'll ask Bruce if he can do any of that for you. I'll get back to you when I find out