Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

SShink · 3K+ Club

Bambi 1...Truck 0. Any body shop recommendations?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Perry's Auto Salon in Rush City isn't too far from there.

perrysautosalon.com/

I know Perry from the Model T clubs, but he's also into Chevy muscle.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

Bill's in Forest Lake is very good. My neighbor is a painter for Vadnais Collision which owns them.

I suppose you are not used to seeing a lot of deer on those grasslands down south.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Thanks Derek and Jon.

Derek-I called Perry, and he sounded helpful. It's a bit of a drive up there, but doable.

Jon-Bills Auto Body is one of the collision centers that my insurance company has 'pre-approved' and recommended. I called but got a machine, so I left a message. And yes, there are lots of deer down 'south' too. This one didn't give me any reaction time/warning at all, so it was a 'stomp/stay/steer' response when it popped out of the ditch. I'm just glad nobody was right behind me during the panic brake or in the oncoming lane when the deer was thrown across the highway.

SShink · 3K+ Club

I ended up going with St. Francis Collision.

A few good things came out of it:

1.) They have won awards at Back to the Fifties for cars they've done body work and painted. Not that my truck is that type of vehicle, but good to know they can do super quality work, and a future place for any Chevelle work I need done.

2.) A young guy that I worked with (Mark) really seemed to know his stuff.

3.) They have a loaner car I can use while the truck is in the shop, and they're going to prioritize it since it's 'non-driveable' according to the insurance company since the headlight is out and it's leaking a little anti-freeze.

4.) It's 15 min. from my house, and they can get it in next week.

5.) I found out they've sponsored Cruise for the Troops, and know the one and only Bryan F. since they buy parts from Friendly Chev! Bryan-Give them a great discount if you see any 2005 Chevy Colorado parts orders.

6.) I also discovered there's a Friday night cruise-in in St. Francis every week when talking to them, so I know where Tina and I will be on Friday's in the summer.

The estimate came in at over $4000, so glad I have a reasonable deductible on it.

bowtie · Secretary

SShink wrote:
I ended up going with St. Francis Collision.
A few good things came out of it:
1.) They have won awards at Back to the Fifties for cars they've done body work and painted. Not that my truck is that type of vehicle, but good to know they can do super quality work, and a future place for any Chevelle work I need done.
2.) A young guy that I worked with (Mark) really seemed to know his stuff. He does, and he's older than he looks. He's pretty well run the place for a few years since Joe has stepped back to play with old cars more.
3.) They have a loaner car I can use while the truck is in the shop, and they're going to prioritize it since it's 'non-driveable' according to the insurance company since the headlight is out and it's leaking a little anti-freeze.
4.) It's 15 min. from my house, and they can get it in next week.
5.) I found out they've sponsored Cruise for the Troops (for a looonnnggg time), and know the one and only Bryan F (blush), since they buy parts from Friendly Chev! Bryan-Give them a great discount if you see any 2005 Chevy Colorado parts orders. Best discount they can get! I'll keep my eyes out
6.) I also discovered there's a Friday night cruise-in in St. Francis every week when talking to them, so I know where Tina and I will be on Friday's in the summer.
The estimate came in at over $4000, so glad I have a reasonable deductible on it.

I know a bunch of shops up there, since so many are my customers. This is one I would recommend.

SShink · 3K+ Club

bowtie wrote:

I know a bunch of shops up there, since so many are my customers. This is one I would recommend.

Good to hear Bryan. They had good things to say about you too.

bowtie · Secretary

I think the parts request came across today. I have my (other) best guy on it.

SShink · 3K+ Club

bowtie wrote:
I think the parts request came across today. I have my (other) best guy on it.

Thanks Bryan! I dropped the truck off last night, so they should be tearing into it once the snow melts off the front end since it sat outside for 2 weeks. I had to wait for one of their loaner cars to free up since I thought I had rental car coverage, but found out it wasn't transferred when the policies moved from KS to MN. It's been added now, so lesson to anyone that doesn't have rental car insurance on their policy, it's a good idea and about $10-20 per month extra depending on which option you go with.

67ss · 1K+ Club

Did you borrow a Razor from the company to drive back and forth to work?

SShink · 3K+ Club

67ss wrote:
Did you borrow a Razor from the company to drive back and forth to work?

That would be a blast, and probably faster than following that snow plow as I could have gone 'cross country'.