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Old 12-02-2009, 11:07 PM   #15
markeb01
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Spokane Valley, WA
Posts: 8,356
Re: Cost of restoration

Quote:
Originally Posted by LILRED66 View Post
One thing I find very important, is communicating, in writing, what your expectations are and the scope of services you want from the shop. By doing so, you have a firm grasp on what will be done and this opens the door to the dialog, that will explain the processes and costs of doing your project.

Some customers fit a shop's criteria and some customers do not, conversely some shops fit a customer's needs and some shops do not.

The relationship with your shop, through this process is a marriage, not a one night stand
I feel compelled to revisit Tony's comments. For anyone that truly wants a full restoration at a professional shop, what he offers is the answer. Most of us have a body shop horror story or know someone who has been shafted, but if the above advice was followed many of the ones I'm familiar with could have been avoided.

A few years back I needed NOS rockers installed and went to two different places. My first choice did mostly full Packard and Rolls Royce restoration, and I thought the estimate they provided was meant to put me off. The place I ultimately had do the work gave me a price closer to what I felt was reasonable. In the end, they trashed my truck to the point I almost got rid of it. In my case it would have been much cheaper to have believed the first guys that were actually being very truthful and I didn't see it at the time.
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