I called Ziebarts in maplewood shortly after buying my new car. I talked to the manager, Ken. Told him what kind of car I have and he gave me a price and we set up an appointment to have my car worked on by them. I dropped it off on my appointment date and Ken called me back a half hour later and said that they did not have the pattern to do the clearbra on my bumper. I had to explain to them that my car was not a regular impreza and that it was a WRX model which is totally different. (my car doesn't say impreza on it and I never told them it was an impreza, just WRX). He seemed to figure it out after that and we were good to go. Wrong. He called me back shortly after and said that his "guy was too inexperienced to do the job." Respectful as it is, this is the work that company is business to do. It shouldn't matter what kind of car it is that comes in to their shop. I planned my whole day around this company and they wasted my time as well as the time of the two different people that had to give me rides this day. Ken was completely unwilling to accommodate me for my wasted time an effort. This location/company is unable to perform the basic services they offer and then unwilling to compensate people for their mistakes. Avoid them at all costs.
Sorry to hear about your poor experience there. There's a very good reason why chris at Flawless Front Ends comes so highly recommended for clearbra and tint installs.
Oh yeah, I actually live on the north east side of the cities and just haven't been able to lock down a ride to and from his place. He was the first person I called and just couldn't get together with him. If it gets bad enough I'll just have to pay for a taxi...
Do any of the Subaru dealers do it? No clue about pricing and that stuff. I got my car done at the dealer and it turned out nice.
Thats BS, guess they just were too lazy and didn't want to do it. Try another place but I wouldn't even bother wasting $ to put on a clear bra It's a car or a DD car. Its gonna happen no matter what. With or without it, maybe a little less but it still will if its big enough I say its a good thing they didn't put it on and you don't need it. Use $ for something else
We all have our priorities, some of us would like to keep the paint in good shape which is the main reason for a clear bra. The water based paints that are out there right now are painfully thin and paint chips in this area will lead to surface rust and worse in no time. Also, it's a lot easier to sell a car that doesn't look like the front end and sides have been shotgunned with gravel. OP, I can't recommend Chris's work highly enough. He's worth the drive and his pricing is unbeatable. He did a huge amount of work on my car for less than what some places were charging for the front end only. The work he did was top notch and his service is great.
Also, there is something to be said about wanting to keep a new car looking new as long as possible, it's different buying a used car that already has the chips and scratches in place. I've been in the OP's shoes, a clear bra is cheap insurance and certainly cheaper than having to repaint hoods, fenders, doors, etc.
I agree with your thoughts (on the paint on our cars and the chips in it) exactly and look forward to working with Chris. I just have to set a date and figure out a ride situation. I'm not going to mess around with anything/anybody else on this one...
Also, yes, the Subaru dealers offer it but they wanted something in the neighborhood of $1200 to do it.
I had Chris do my front end (bumper, leading edge of the hood and fenders, headlights) lower third of the doors, rocker panels, A pillars, leading edge of the roof, behind the rear arches, strips on each wheel well as well as the door handle pockets and mirror caps, plus he also did my tail light overlays for a lot less than that. A lot less. Money well spent and it will pay for itself over time.
Depending on how much you want done, you might be better off renting a car for a couple of days and letting him work on it.
Just take a good book with and hang out with Chris while he installs everything. Ride situation solved!
If he has the same work done that I did, it may take a day or two. I think I left mine with him for two days, I wasn't going to rush something like that. Besides, I'd waited for 3 months at that point, what was two days?
So add a sleeping bag to the list above? lol Lmk where you need a ride to. I may be able to help ya out with that.
Haha, thanks Tangled. And yes, chris would like my car overnight. For what it's worth, Ziebart's called me this morning and wants to make this right for me... I figure they have to feel that with the right person, they can get it done correctly (otherwise I think they would know better than to call me back), so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and let them try to dodge a slew of bad reviews. I'm sure they understand that if they screw it up it will end up costing them even more money in time/labor/materials than it's worth, so they have to at least be somewhat confident they can get it done. (at least that's what I'm telling myself.) I guess I'll just have to drop it off and see. If they want to own this and make it right for me, I'll gladly give them a second chance. Lord knows I've been given a few second chances myself... Just wishing Chris would set up in St. Paul or Minneapolis.
Hmmmm, curious to see how this turns out. Also, it's not like he lives in Nebraska. It's a 30-40 minute drive from Maplewood on a weekend.
I had a bad tint experience with Ziebart in Bloomington back in 1988 with my then new Cherokee. Hopefully they have had some employee turnover and that hack isn't at their Maplewood store. Good luck and you are braver than I am.
I'll definitely let everybody know how it turns out. I realize he's not in Nebraska, but as I said in the beginning, it's not as if I'm avoiding Chris, he was the very first person I contacted and I was just unable to get a ride to and from his place and be able to get around for 2 days. If you're willing to Chauffer me around, and are free during the week, I would happily accept the rides. I'm getting married in a couple weeks and literally can not go without my car for a weekend in the next 4-5 weeks. Better yet, I could work in the office for a couple days this week and all you would have to do is pick me up from his house (Savage) and drive me to work in Eagan, then pick me up in the afternoon (Eagan) and drive me home (oakdale area). Then simply pick me up the next morning again (in Oakdale area) and drive me to work (Eagan) and then pick me up after work again and drive me to his house (savage). It's not Nebraska, just Savage.
I vote for the car rental. You can get yourself a cheap one for a couple of days, and it'll make you appreciate your car that much more once you get it back
^ i was thinking this. I wonder how much more the shop is charging vs Chris. Is the difference easily made up by a cheap rental? Plus you have the difference in the quality of work. I will always go to Chris.
I honestly never considered car rental and that would have been a great idea. Ziebart's was not cheaper than Chris, but also, not that much more. They said they are going to take care of it for me though, so at this point, I don't plan on paying much of anything. I'm just leaving it at that for the time being.
I'm betting it would be cheaper for him to use Chris and get the rental. Compared to what I paid and what he would pay at the dealer, he could rent something fun for a week and spend about the same. I don't know what Ziebart is charging or how much he's having done but I would imagine he'd still come out ahead.
Good luck, let us know how it goes. Are you planning on leaving the taillights stock or are you having them done? I highly recommend having them done Derek may be the only one on here who doesn't mind the shiny rear end.
Actually, I already tinted them. Did it myself and it actually turned out pretty good. Definitely not professional, as I have a slight touch of creasing toward the top of the first one I did, but the second one turned out great. It's really only something you would find if you're looking for it. I had to tint those ugly things first thing...
Dropped the car off this morning at Ziebarts and picked it up this afternoon. The job looks fine to me so far, there's definitely some moisture spots in it, but I fully expected that. As long as everything dries up nicely (as it should), I would actually give them a high mark for the job. For what it's worth, when I was leaving, he asked me to take down my posting, so I'm guessing someone on here let him know I posted this thread (either that or he surfs the mnsubaru forums...) Anyways, I assume if he's been following along he can see that what I posted was the honest truth. I would also assume that he can see that I was genuine in wanting to give them a second chance and not just looking for a "price-reduction." I don't blame him for asking me, and while I'm not going to erase the thread, I will say that at this point, the job is done acceptably well and it's water under the bridge at this point. It makes me wonder why I was actually called back now (to save face?) but I've worked with him in the past and IF they can resolve whatever issues they had going on this day, I could see myself recommending their service. Ken seems like a pretty stand-up guy, so I have forgiven him. I will update if anything else changes.
Lol hey I was across the street eating chipotle and spotted u and a guy walking around your car. glad everything turned out ok for you.
Yeah, we (mod group) typically wouldn't delete it anyway. But if you want us to change the thread title to better describe your experience with them, we can do that.
