Elise vs. Steel Gate Controller: Need advice on body shop

[swistun]

Hi there,

This is Dominika, Luke's wife. He is away on a training and I need help. Today I crashed the front of his Elise- ouch ! I know The front clam probably needs to be replaced. Can anyone advise me on a good place for this repair, near San Diego?


P.s. I know you are probably dying to hear how I did it, but I am too embarrassed to say. Maybe later….


Dominika

[Ian]

You may want to consider Specialty Car Craft in L.A. (However some recent threads have reported some dissatisfaction with their work as well).

Come on, what happened?

[Vantage]

Did you start the car without pushing the clutch in? If so, that has happened to many people.

Symbolic does pretty good work and it doesn't sound like their hourly prices differ from SCC's very much. They do everything from little fender benders to show car quality restorations. However, I don't really know of any other shops in San Diego with Elise-specific experience. There are likely a lot of shops that have fiber glass experience.

[nugg_dawg]

Originally Posted by Vantage

Did you start the car without pushing the clutch in? If so, that has happened to many people.

Sorry to stray off topic, but I did this one time about 6 inches from a curb. I ended up hitting the curb only with the bottom of the license plate mount and it looks like only the star shield took the damage.

Sorry to hear about that..........you must be scared to tell your hubby of the tragic news.



John

[tvacc]

Now this is the kind of post I would not want to read while I was away.....

but to be serious...it is only a car. Just glad you were not hurt....and I am sure Luke will feel the same way. ( I dont know him..just making an assumption)

[catapult]

i didn't think you could start the car without depressing the clutch. I always depress it outta habit.

[swistun]

O.K. here it is:
Since I drive an automatic on a daily basis, every time I switch between the two cars I get confused (this IS my excuse). So, I was approaching the slowly opening gate on the way out of our garage. I wanted to stop, but I think I just pressed the clutch…I don’t remember clearly what happen, I was just thinking “oh no, oh no!!!!”, and car kept going. I hit the metal box that is attached to the gate (it contains the motor engine for the gate).
The front looks really sad….
How long do you think the repair will take?

[codymac]

Originally Posted by catapult

i didn't think you could start the car without depressing the clutch. I always depress it outta habit.

You may not be able to - the Canadian cars are supposed to have a clutch pedal interlock.

Originally Posted by swistun

How long do you think the repair will take?

Did it damage the crash structure as well? If so, expect repairs to take considerably longer (4-8 weeks).

[swistun]

The husband finds out...

Hey, it's Luke. I typed this up yesterday but could not post it any earlier than now. I did not know my wife already posted... I'll just copy the entire message in its original form, sorry for backtracking here and there. Here it goes:

… so I’m away for a month training with the U.S. Marines in the beautiful mountains of Bridgeport, CA, 10,000 feet above civilization, when I get a radio transmission: Family Emergency. I get a hold of a satellite phone to find out from my frantic wife that baby Elise had been injured…

The party who shall remain nameless took the car out for a routine run to the coffee shop. Did not make it out of the garage – allegedly “confused the pedals” and rolled it into a steel gate control. Damage report: right front clam cracked in several places near the main intake, with tow hook bent inwards through the grille; right headlamp and turn signal both ejected on impact. That’s all I know.

Anyway, this Elise is about to take an all expense paid vacation to a body shop of your suggestion. Can anyone PLEASE recommend their BEST experience with a body shop for an Elise in Southern California? I live in San Diego…

The car is less than 2 months old and has 4700 miles on it, so here are my priorities:
- NEW and ORIGINAL parts, all which are required for the job
- Best color match on my Graphite Gray paint
- Extensive technical experience with Elises (the more they’ve done the better)
- Original Star Shield to be placed on the car at that body shop prior to pick-up by an experienced Star-Shielder (my original one was placed perfectly, dammit…)

Also:
- this car will probably be driven to the body shop, held together by blue tape, so I guess the closer the better… but I’ll tow it if I have to. This is TBD.


Bottom line, I want this car as close back to 100% as possible. I’ve heard good things about AMATO’S (?) in SD, as well as Symbolic of LaJolla as far as their body shop goes… PLEASE throw out some suggestions, even NAMES of mechanics you’d like to work on your car… PM me if privacy is an issue.

I know this thread sucks without pictures – I haven’t seen the damage myself either, I get back on the 22nd. I’ll post images as soon as I have any. Meanwhile, enjoy some photos of Marines setting up a Re-Trans COMM station on a Bridgeport mountain peak.

Thanks in advance for all suggestions…
Luke

[Cardinal]

I don't have any suggestions, but thumbs up to the US Marine Corps

[Randy Chase]

The only two places in SD I would consider are the two you mentioned. Or have it taken to LA.

[swistun]

Anywhere in SoCal works for me. We'll have it towed if we have to. Sounds like the best place so far based on my research is SCC.

Luke

[Serebo1]

My vote is for SCC. And, since my baby is in there as we speak having a total repaint (going stealth bomber black) I'll be there to keep an eye on it as I'm going to photo-document the job they're doing on my car from stgart to finish. While we're at it, I consider Steve over at SCC a personal friend. I've agreed to go over every time an Elise comes in, to peruse the work from a customers POV before delivery. I'm certain they'll send a flatbed to pick it up.

[dakotan50sw]

Luke I'm sure it will be fixed and look perfect as new. Currntly have 06. Prior was an Elan which I didn't have for a long time, but somewhat similiar experience with the Elan. Left the car at home and the wife decided she was going to take a girlfriend to the mall. Went to pick her up , of course wasn't ready so went inside and had forgotten to put the emergency break on, Elise took a ride on it's own down the street and struck a a telephone pole. She tried desperately to get in and say mech. prob , must leave the car for a day or two( you see that car was at the deler's day one more than any other car I've ever owned). repair was great! be EAS on her it pay's to have a wife that allow's you to have toy's.

[def]

poor GG clam. i'll pour some of my beer out for it tonight

[swistun]

Originally Posted by def

poor GG clam. i'll pour some of my beer out for it tonight

Thanks man... I'd kill for a beer right now, though... i guess it's in good faith.

[swistun]

Originally Posted by Serebo1

My vote is for SCC. And, since my baby is in there as we speak having a total repaint (going stealth bomber black) I'll be there to keep an eye on it as I'm going to photo-document the job they're doing on my car from stgart to finish. While we're at it, I consider Steve over at SCC a personal friend. I've agreed to go over every time an Elise comes in, to peruse the work from a customers POV before delivery. I'm certain they'll send a flatbed to pick it up.

Thanks, and thanx for the PM. I gotta go right now, but my wife might give you a call. I can't believe how proactive she is about this... she's one of those good ones, no matter what anyone says

That was a great thread about the flat black option. My brother is painting his EVO flat black too - I think it's just one of the most bad-ass looks available.

so far, SCC is still on top of my list.

Thanx again,
Luke

[Serebo1]

Originally Posted by swistun

Thanks, and thanx for the PM. I gotta go right now, but my wife might give you a call. I can't believe how proactive she is about this... she's one of those good ones, no matter what anyone says

That was a great thread about the flat black option. My brother is painting his EVO flat black too - I think it's just one of the most bad-ass looks available.

so far, SCC is still on top of my list.

Thanx again,
Luke

Ya, I kinda got the feeling she feels worse about it than you do! Sounds like a great lady.

I loved the thread too. Hats off to Randy and ET! The members of this board never cease to amaze me with their generosity of opinion and time. Hopefully the car will look as wicked as some of the PS's.

If your wife has any questions/concerns, I'm here. I'm going up to SCC in about a half hour to take some early pics of the car being dismantled, but the number you have is my cell.

Alan

[WhitePlume]

Ooh-Rah, Devildog! Sorry to hear about your baby. My wife did the "oops that's not the brake" trick while barreling up someone's empennage on the highway at 80mph, went for the ditch and spun the car (not the Liz). I guess it's an easy mistake if you're used to automatics.

Hey, are those OE-254's?

[EliseKid]

Today I shed a tear for my comrade luke.