Advice sought: bodyshop in London / south east

[Arj]

The previous weekend is not going to make it to my all-time top 10 of great weekends... When turning a corner in a drive I managed to overlook a nasty curb sticking out and turned into it, damaging the front wing behind the front wheel. I guess I was lucky that I was only going about 2mph. Claiming on insurance would be too expensive (excess, next year's premium increase etc) so I am looking for a good bodyshop that will not charge over the odds in the process.

I am thinking about using Bee Gee Coachcraft. Does anybody here have experience with them? The person I spoke with definitely seemed to know what he was talking about, but I thought it would be wise to check before sending off my p&j. Any other bodyshop in London / Kent / Surrey that you could recommend? If you have any experience/advice that cannot be posted on here (i.e. bad experience), please just send me an email.

Edited by Arj on Saturday 21st July 17:01

[Paul V]

I'm going to be using JMS in kent for the front end respray on the Tuscan, seen some of their work and looked good, plus they are cheaper than most.

[FUBAR]

http://www.austec.co.uk/bodyshop.htm

[ncs]

Both Austec & JMS will do a great job, many of the local TVR owners have used them & have been very happy with the results.

Nick

[grahamn]

You could give EDDIE4.2 a fellow PH a try

[addams]

Just had a bit of work done at Austec, they did a great job

(good price too)

[BIG DUNC]

I have used Tower View Race Services for non insurance body work on 2 occasions, and been very pleased with the results.

I have also been told that Austec are good for body work, but cannot verify that first hand. I have used them for other things, and can recomend them.

[Mustang Baz]

Arjan

I am using BeeGee this week for some minor repairs to a panel on my Mk 1 Tuscan so will be able to advise later in the week, obviously aware of the PH "naming and shaming rules" though!

[Arj]

Great, many thanks all. Mustang, I look forward to your hearing about your experience (here or by email) after you've picked up your car!

[jdharris]

Arjan,

I used Beegee recently for some work on my Chim and have nothing but praise for them. I didn't want to go through my insurance for the same reasons as you. Gary (who you'll have spoken to) was extremely knowledgable and gave me a very competitive quote to boot! Both times I've been they've had other TVRs in (with much worse damage than mine) and Gary is happy to chat about the work and nothing seems to phase him which inspires confidence. Don't be put off by the size of the operation - they used to be at a bigger place and did most of Gatwick TVR's bodywork repairs but have downsized since the maindealer stuff dried up - I'm sure that's how they keep competitive on price. The workmanship was second to none and the respray gave a better paint finish than the car had before I took it in!

Drop me a mail if you want to know more - also see my post here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Cheers,
James

[spartridge]

Couldn't resist getting the work done then Craig?

[500trev]

In our experience you would struggle to beat BeeGee! Gary certainly knows his stuff. Did a fantatsic repair on the worst possible colour to repair - Rosso Red - results on his website! Highly recommend

TVRfix