Colorado Checking In

[Aardvark]

I got pummeled by a large hailstorm on I-70 in Kansas. The glass all survived, but the body didn't.
Can anyone recommend a good paintless dent repair company you've used in Colorado Springs or Denver?
I'm closer to C-Springs and that would be my preference, but I don't mind going to Denver for quality work at a reasonable price.

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[TollKeeper]

Whoever you contact, make sure they are proficient with Aluminum.

Surprised your glass survived, and the body didnt, as weak as the glass has been to simple pressure from hands or whatever.

 

[Spaceball1]

I got pummeled by a large hailstorm on I-70 in Kansas. The glass all survived, but the body didn't.
Can anyone recommend a good paintless dent repair company you've used in Colorado Springs or Denver?
I'm closer to C-Springs and that would be my preference, but I don't mind going to Denver for quality work at a reasonable price.

I used Pro PDR in COS for my minor hail damage. They were good and were recommended to me by a friend. They technically aren’t an authorized Rivian body shop, but they have experience with Rivians (they had just finished one before mine that was in worse shape). It’s dumb what they make them go through to become an authorized Rivian shop; they can’t do it because they only do PDR and not full on body work. The only downside was I had to order the parts they needed, which was just the bed rail caps, and they took it off my bill. They worked well with my insurance (State Farm) even when they needed a supplement.

Our only choice in town for an authorized shop is Eurocars and they suck (I’ve used them a couple of times for my Tesla). I went to Jewell in Denver for my tailgate damage and I would NOT recommend them either, for multiple reasons, even though they are an authorized Rivian body shop.

 

[COdogman]

I got pummeled by a large hailstorm on I-70 in Kansas. The glass all survived, but the body didn't.
Can anyone recommend a good paintless dent repair company you've used in Colorado Springs or Denver?
I'm closer to C-Springs and that would be my preference, but I don't mind going to Denver for quality work at a reasonable price.

One more reason to avoid Kansas

 

[richpike]

I got pummeled by a large hailstorm on I-70 in Kansas. The glass all survived, but the body didn't.
Can anyone recommend a good paintless dent repair company you've used in Colorado Springs or Denver?
I'm closer to C-Springs and that would be my preference, but I don't mind going to Denver for quality work at a reasonable price.

Sorry to hear that. Hansford in Colorado Springs did amazing work on our Audi. Highly recommend (they even fixed a previous PDR that was good, but not perfect - to perfect).

https://www.repairhail.com/

-Rich

 

[Aardvark]

One more reason to avoid Kansas

I make the CO to east coast drive 2 to 3 times per year. Until last night, my biggest issue has been brutal winds. This is the first time I've encountered hail.
It could have been worse. As I was parked on the shoulder with dozens of other vehicles, in zero visibility from torrential rain, heavy hail, and 40 to 50 mph crosswinds, I kept waiting for a funnel cloud to lift me to Oz. I spoke with a trucker in Oakley, as we were trying to get our heartrates down below 220, and he was thinking the same thing.
There was a nice showing of humanity, as two pickups took in 4 motorcyclists to get them out of the rain. Afterwards, their rather large bikes blew over in the wind

And, completely unrelated, but speaking of unlucky, at the Tesla Supercharger in Spiceland IN, some poor non-Tesla soul had to abandon his/her expensive Lectron adaptor when it apparently became stuck on the NACS plug. It must have been one of those early versions that had the locking hardware installed backwards.

 

[Lsthrz]

I used Pro PDR in COS for my minor hail damage. They were good and were recommended to me by a friend. They technically aren’t an authorized Rivian body shop, but they have experience with Rivians (they had just finished one before mine that was in worse shape). It’s dumb what they make them go through to become an authorized Rivian shop; they can’t do it because they only do PDR and not full on body work. The only downside was I had to order the parts they needed, which was just the bed rail caps, and they took it off my bill. They worked well with my insurance (State Farm) even when they needed a supplement.

Our only choice in town for an authorized shop is Eurocars and they suck (I’ve used them a couple of times for my Tesla). I went to Jewell in Denver for my tailgate damage and I would NOT recommend them either, for multiple reasons, even though they are an authorized Rivian body shop.

I went to Jewell a couple of years ago and they did a good job on the Rivian but personal has changed there and I’ve had a ton of trouble getting them to respond to yet another tailgate dent.

 

[COdogman]

I make the CO to east coast drive 2 to 3 times per year. Until last night, my biggest issue has been brutal winds. This is the first time I've encountered hail.
It could have been worse. As I was parked on the shoulder with dozens of other vehicles, in zero visibility from torrential rain, heavy hail, and 40 to 50 mph crosswinds, I kept waiting for a funnel cloud to lift me to Oz. I spoke with a trucker in Oakley, as we were trying to get our heartrates down below 220, and he was thinking the same thing.
There was a nice showing of humanity, as two pickups took in 4 motorcyclists to get them out of the rain. Afterwards, their rather large bikes blew over in the wind

And, completely unrelated, but speaking of unlucky, at the Tesla Supercharger in Spiceland IN, some poor non-Tesla soul had to abandon his/her expensive Lectron adaptor when it apparently became stuck on the NACS plug. It must have been one of those early versions that had the locking hardware installed backwards.

I had something similar happen to me in KS years ago in the middle of the night. A tornado warning came over the radio for the little town I was driving through and I couldn't see anything but rain and wind outside my Subaru. I just had to park and hope I didn't die.

I hope the PDR guy can get you sorted out. That is just the worst feeling when you see/ hear hail starting and you have nowhere to hide

 

[Spaceball1]

I went to Jewell a couple of years ago and they did a good job on the Rivian but personal has changed there and I’ve had a ton of trouble getting them to respond to yet another tailgate dent.

I had a tailgate dent from a trailer ball. Should have just had the PDR guys take care of it but since I filed a claim I figured I’d get it done right with repair and repaint.

Jewell tried to repair it and said they couldn’t get it right after putting 10 hours of labor into it, so needed my insurance to approve a new tailgate. They ordered the part and did the work without approval, then held the truck hostage from me until they worked it out with my insurance. They were at a staggering $6500 for the bill and fighting for weeks with my insurance. They even had the nerve to blame State Farm for being difficult, yet I’d be pissed if I was paying the bill and it was that much to paint a $600 part and install it! State Farm kept saying they couldn’t get a hold of them to discuss it and Jewell was saying they hadn’t heard from State Farm. I kept having to play middle man.

To top it off, once they finally worked out the issues and I picked up the truck (on a Friday, July 5th) they only had the one guy working in the office so when I had concerns he could only jot them down and said I’ll have to talk to the manager Monday. Keep in mind I’m in Colorado Springs and drove up to Denver for this, dropping off my rental beforehand. The tailgate alignment was garbage, there was a rattle in it when closing (like a screw was stuck in there), and they lost my extra emblems (I had supplied the AS blackened logos). Talked to the guy the next week and sent photos. He scheduled a time for me to come back in, which is a huge inconvenience considering how far away I am. The guy never even came out of his office to greet me and discuss my concerns. The lady in front was nice, gave my key to the tech. He left for a while and came back saying he got my hood all adjusted and it looked good. ? uhhh I wasn’t here for the hood. You guys didn’t do any work on the hood! Whoops! Honest mistake I guess. Go out there and show the guy the alignment issues and he reiterates the other guy that said Rivian parts don’t always fit well on existing trucks and they see this a lot. I wasn’t happy but they weren’t going to do anything about it.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had an appointment with Rivian SC for a few minor things. Asked them about the tailgate and if there was anything they could do to adjust it. The advisor was pretty confident they could get it to look better, and they did! They didn’t even charge me, even though I was willing to pay (they originally estimated $200 to do it). More negative points for Jewell!

 

[Aardvark]

Thanks for the warning!

I had a tailgate dent from a trailer ball. Should have just had the PDR guys take care of it but since I filed a claim I figured I’d get it done right with repair and repaint.

Jewell tried to repair it and said they couldn’t get it right after putting 10 hours of labor into it, so needed my insurance to approve a new tailgate. They ordered the part and did the work without approval, then held the truck hostage from me until they worked it out with my insurance. They were at a staggering $6500 for the bill and fighting for weeks with my insurance. They even had the nerve to blame State Farm for being difficult, yet I’d be pissed if I was paying the bill and it was that much to paint a $600 part and install it! State Farm kept saying they couldn’t get a hold of them to discuss it and Jewell was saying they hadn’t heard from State Farm. I kept having to play middle man.

To top it off, once they finally worked out the issues and I picked up the truck (on a Friday, July 5th) they only had the one guy working in the office so when I had concerns he could only jot them down and said I’ll have to talk to the manager Monday. Keep in mind I’m in Colorado Springs and drove up to Denver for this, dropping off my rental beforehand. The tailgate alignment was garbage, there was a rattle in it when closing (like a screw was stuck in there), and they lost my extra emblems (I had supplied the AS blackened logos). Talked to the guy the next week and sent photos. He scheduled a time for me to come back in, which is a huge inconvenience considering how far away I am. The guy never even came out of his office to greet me and discuss my concerns. The lady in front was nice, gave my key to the tech. He left for a while and came back saying he got my hood all adjusted and it looked good. ? uhhh I wasn’t here for the hood. You guys didn’t do any work on the hood! Whoops! Honest mistake I guess. Go out there and show the guy the alignment issues and he reiterates the other guy that said Rivian parts don’t always fit well on existing trucks and they see this a lot. I wasn’t happy but they weren’t going to do anything about it.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had an appointment with Rivian SC for a few minor things. Asked them about the tailgate and if there was anything they could do to adjust it. The advisor was pretty confident they could get it to look better, and they did! They didn’t even charge me, even though I was willing to pay (they originally estimated $200 to do it). More negative points for Jewell!

Thanks for the warning. I'll steer clear of Jewell.

 

[Lsthrz]

I had a tailgate dent from a trailer ball. Should have just had the PDR guys take care of it but since I filed a claim I figured I’d get it done right with repair and repaint.

Jewell tried to repair it and said they couldn’t get it right after putting 10 hours of labor into it, so needed my insurance to approve a new tailgate. They ordered the part and did the work without approval, then held the truck hostage from me until they worked it out with my insurance. They were at a staggering $6500 for the bill and fighting for weeks with my insurance. They even had the nerve to blame State Farm for being difficult, yet I’d be pissed if I was paying the bill and it was that much to paint a $600 part and install it! State Farm kept saying they couldn’t get a hold of them to discuss it and Jewell was saying they hadn’t heard from State Farm. I kept having to play middle man.

To top it off, once they finally worked out the issues and I picked up the truck (on a Friday, July 5th) they only had the one guy working in the office so when I had concerns he could only jot them down and said I’ll have to talk to the manager Monday. Keep in mind I’m in Colorado Springs and drove up to Denver for this, dropping off my rental beforehand. The tailgate alignment was garbage, there was a rattle in it when closing (like a screw was stuck in there), and they lost my extra emblems (I had supplied the AS blackened logos). Talked to the guy the next week and sent photos. He scheduled a time for me to come back in, which is a huge inconvenience considering how far away I am. The guy never even came out of his office to greet me and discuss my concerns. The lady in front was nice, gave my key to the tech. He left for a while and came back saying he got my hood all adjusted and it looked good. ? uhhh I wasn’t here for the hood. You guys didn’t do any work on the hood! Whoops! Honest mistake I guess. Go out there and show the guy the alignment issues and he reiterates the other guy that said Rivian parts don’t always fit well on existing trucks and they see this a lot. I wasn’t happy but they weren’t going to do anything about it.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had an appointment with Rivian SC for a few minor things. Asked them about the tailgate and if there was anything they could do to adjust it. The advisor was pretty confident they could get it to look better, and they did! They didn’t even charge me, even though I was willing to pay (they originally estimated $200 to do it). More negative points for Jewell!

Yea, I think they have changed for the worse no doubt. Thanks for this.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Back in the 1st week of Sept, I took a rock to the windshield. Within minutes it became part of a typographical map. I called service and scheduled a windshield replacement and my 30K mile service. Unfortunately I had to wait until Wednesday the 24th to get it done.

Service was impeccable, as always. They replaced the windshield, reprogrammed my keyfob (which had stopped working), apparently made an adjustment to my tonneau cover (which no longer rattles), and found that my rear struts were weeping (probably from the horror they experience when I take the truck offroad). The rear struts are on back order, no biggie. I’m happy to get that done.

<rant>The only downside is a big one. Nearly $1900 for a windshield replacement. Now that is a bit ridiculous. IMO, Rivian should innovate a self calibrating ADOS system or find a way relocate the ADOS cameras so they aren’t directly behind the windshield. Expensive repair bills (and insurance bills) are going to catch up to them eventually. </rant>

 

[Spaceball1]

<rant>The only downside is a big one. Nearly $1900 for a windshield replacement. Now that is a bit ridiculous. IMO, Rivian should innovate a self calibrating ADOS system or find a way relocate the ADOS cameras so they aren’t directly behind the windshield. Expensive repair bills (and insurance bills) are going to catch up to them eventually. </rant>

I thought my Tesla windshield was pricey. It was $1200 done at Tesla SC a few years back. I agree $1900 is a bit ridiculous.

I don’t think the calibration is a huge part of that cost, but could be wrong. Most cars nowadays have cameras and sensors in the windshield and need some sort of calibration after replacement. Aftermarket windshield shops like Safelite can do the calibration for many brands already as they have the computers and training to do it.

I’ve been saying for a while that Rivian needs to partner with someone big like Safelite to give them the tools and parts needed to replace windshields for them, which is a win-win-win since they can schedule customers much faster, all while freeing up the time of the ever busy Rivian SCs to do other things.

Side note: see if you can get glass coverage from your insurance. Living in Colorado, rock chips are a way of life, so I have $0 deductible glass on all my cars ?

 

[richpike]

Side note: see if you can get glass coverage from your insurance. Living in Colorado, rock chips are a way of life, so I have $0 deductible glass on all my cars ?

We have AllState and they don’t offer glass coverage, so instead we did a $100 comprehensive deductible. Glass is covered under comprehensive and (for me at least) moving to $100 from $500 was minimal cost increase.

-Rich

 

[Sgt Beavis]

It’s a beautiful day. I think we’ll head out to Rollins Pass West and spend the day at Yankee Doodle Lake. I got new AT tires for the truck and I need to break them in a bit.. ?

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