Anyone have work done on your truck out of state?

[tiddlar]

So say I find someone that does restoring. I decide to go with them. How can I protect myself from being ripped off? Pay pal works great but does not cover you for services rendered. Say I send my truck over 4 states away, send him all the parts, a check to start and then I never hear from them again? He would be getting all the parts and a check. Anyone ever have work done? Lots of scammers online now a days. If you did what did you do to protect yourself.

[Chris.]

Never done it myself, but I'd make sure to write up a detailed contract with them

[dwcsr]

Its not that uncommon to do what your asking. Some companies specialize in a series of vehicle like early mustangs so they get mustangs from all over the country. Sending a 47 Chevy to just any body shop that hasn't seen a early truck in years or ever is in my opinion not a good idea. There are very subtle differences between early Chevy trucks that you only know because you have specialized in that year or series. We only do 47 59 Chevy trucks, no other years and no other makes. We fix metal parts from anything but only restore 47-59

Find someone that's had work done by them or get pictures of what they have done. Your gut is about 80% of a deal so if you get even a little hesitant don't do it. In all honesty you really have no more protection in you home state than you do in another. If the deal goes sour its just as bad at home.

If your sending all the parts it can get sticky sometimes and slow progress if the wrong stuff shows up or its damaged. I can see the major parts fenders, doors, large panels being sent but don't get into the nut and bolt type purchases.

Pay for progress don't just dump a wad of cash every so often. If the cash burns quicker that they expected you need to know why. It might be a good idea to give them a cash card to purchase small items with that way you get a documented list of purchases toward your vehicle. Find out what they need to start and what is expected to be done with that cash and as I said only pay for progress, with that said sometimes it will take longer to complete tasks due to unexpected rot or damages so you will have to be flexible on the progress but don't let it get out of hand.

Don't be afraid to pull the project out of the shop if it drags on into a very long process. A year for a custom project , LS swap, AC , new electric, suspension swap and the like is not unusual, 6 - 8 months for a complete stock restoration is not unusual. 2 weeks or 6 week is abnormally short conversely 2 and 3 years is abnormally long.

Make sure you have title in hand in your name before you send it to anyone, Its the only proof you own the vehicle if you need to recover the vehicle

[OrrieG]

do the same due dilligence that you should be doing even in your own town or State. Get references, look at finished work if possible, check with BBB and local government to see if there are problems. Make sure they are licensed, insured (they can get a copy of policy outline with one phone call to agent at no cost), etc. As DWSR said make sure they are familar with the specific truck, and modifications you will be asking for. Get firm estimates based on a good description of the work to be done and completion milestones. Reasonable down payment with progress payments as the milestones are met. Follow your gut. Is there some reason you cannot find a good shop in Tucson or Phoenix?? Be wary of a low ball estimate, you will not know where they cut corners until there is a problem.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by tiddlar

How can I protect myself from being ripped off?

do the work yourself, that's the only person i trust with truk

[tiddlar]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

do the work yourself, that's the only person i trust with truk

O man if i knew how to do the work myself id save a boatload of money, i was not blessed with that talent, I am not an artist. . So say they are not licensed or insured? I found a guy on here, seen a lot of his work, googled plenty and he is well known around and in a lot of other forums. Don't know if he is licensed or insured. Don't want to bother him as i have yet to find a truck:wash: As soon as i find one and have built up the budget ill definitely start asking more.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by tiddlar

O man if i knew how to do the work myself id save a boatload of money, i was not blessed with that talent, I am not an artist. . So say they are not licensed or insured? I found a guy on here, seen a lot of his work, googled plenty and he is well known around and in a lot of other forums. Don't know if he is licensed or insured. Don't want to bother him as i have yet to find a truck:wash: As soon as i find one and have built up the budget ill definitely start asking more.

What would licensing and insured do for you? It makes no statement on workmanship, insurance doesn't cover bad work or no work. Licensing doesn't mean they are qualified, you only license the shop not the quality doesn't mean they conform to any repair standard.

Your best bet is what you have seen already, do you see anything that gives you pause. If they do bad work today you can find anything on the internet and plenty of people love to post their negative feed back as you can see from the vendor section here.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by tiddlar

O man if i knew how to do the work myself id save a boatload of money,

we learn as we go. we also subscribe to forums like this to find out how.
i could write a 'how to' book from this forum just using copy and paste functions.
no one is born with this knowledge

[flashed]

Why not buy a completed truck from someone on this board ,for some the joy of these trucks is the building of them. And its cheaper sometimes than rust repair .

[tiddlar]

Originally Posted by flashed

Why not buy a completed truck from someone on this board ,for some the joy of these trucks is the building of them. And its cheaper sometimes than rust repair .

The quality of the work is not an issue. It's the I'm going to send a check and buy parts that there is a possibility I may mever see... The check is a good way of having proof on who cashes it...

[Highsider]

I may have missed if anyone mentioned a photo-journal done by the shop.
My "Roof" project was only thirty miles away, but the boss emailed me a bunch of cool photos at least every couple of weeks.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Highsider

I may have missed if anyone mentioned a photo-journal done by the shop.
My "Roof" project was only thirty miles away, but the boss emailed me a bunch of cool photos at least every couple of weeks.

That should really be done regardless of distance if the owner doesn't come by frequently. Most of my customers like the photo journal so they can document whats been done, it also adds value if its sold.