Griffin Automotive Design / Griffin Automotive Collision & Repair — Local services in Bonne Terre

Let me start out, this was not a full restoration, but extensive repair and custom fabrication to a 1997 pickup. The pros, The facility is top notch and the staff was pleasant, the body work and paint is what you would expect from any collision center. The cons, custom fabrication to the flatbed was sloppy, weld splatter not ground off throughout the added rub rails, heavy grind marks not feathered or sanded, fabricated rear gate, ended up two piece, requested one piece, doesn't match side rail elevation and is not easily removable due to fitment, alignment from (custom) fabrication prior to powder coating. The existing fabricated front bumper was refinished (powder coated). Some existing fasteners were lost, and new smaller diameter and thickness washers were used. There's an area on the bumper that has a flaw in the finish. I was told that there was defects in the metal that caused the flaw, but wasn't visible on the existing powder coat and I didn't have good prior images for proof. They did re-adjust the alignment on a return appointment. The 2 year old driver side headlamp housing during removal was broken, after pointing this out they repaired the housing and I was told that the headlamp could only be adjusted up/down now and no longer left/right. Both interior doors and one cab corner panel were loose, they did correct on return appointment, after brought to there attention. The windshield molding was re-used and was not attached, driver side A pillar, and pulling away driver side top. They did apply adhesive but pulling away again at top. The estimate/final invoice shows I was charged for remove/replace, not remove/reinstall. The headliner shows fabric separation above both doors were weather moldings were removed and masking tape was applied to the inner side of pinch weld. They denied any wrong doing and didn't correct. The headliner wasn't like this prior and I'm not wanting something for nothing, and would have had it included in the scope of repair along with everything else that was done. After the written estimate I requested new weather moldings, driver door lock actuator that was forgotten. Summery: I would refer Griffin Automotive Design but with some advise. Definitely document with many photographs/video of any area that the work is to be preformed as proof for your protection. Spend as much time as you may need prior to final payment and taking possession to examine complete scope of work and make sure that you are thorough and address any concerns prior to leaving. Anything you may add after the original estimate make sure it is written down so its...

I took my 1954 Pontiac into Griffin to have the suspension worked on and the front end rebuilt. They initially spent $5000 prior to me even approving work to be preformed. I authorize them to review the vehicle and provide me an estimate on what it would take to fix/improve the air suspension on this car. Apparently the process they use is not to do any estimates, but to just begin work and bill time and material. So initially they spent $5000 adding shocks to the front and some other things, as well as cutting the suspension off the rear. I did not know that they were at the point of actually doing work and I had called them at least 3X about the status of the requested estimate. To my surprise I was already $5000 into it. They had my car and had the suspension cut off the rear end of the car. So I really wasn’t in a position to drag the car out of their shop at that point. By the way, the whole reason why I wanted an estimate was that I didn’t want to spend too much on this vehicle as I didn’t want to invest a large sum of money where the payback would be bad. In the end, they billed me $10,000 to fix my air suspension issues as best they could. One of the items that I asked them to address is a leaking valve that let air through the system, and would automatically raise the front of the car overnight. Unfortunately, they did not even look at the valves because for some reason the issue didn’t occur at their shop even though I specifically told them that I wanted them to check the valves for debris and issues with the mechanics inside the valve. Anyways, I spent $10,000 to have a car ride like it did when I brought it in and the leaking valves were not fixed as evident in this photo. I do not recommend Griffin automotive. I’ve seen cars that they’ve done that are excellent. You better be ready for them to spend your money...

If you want every excuse for unprofessional, unskilled work and also want your vehicle worse off than when you brought it in for the repair itself then I recommend GRIFFIN AUTOMOTIVE. Gabe who works the front is great at making every excuse for the incompetency of the staff there who worked on my 17 month old Ford F-150 truck which was hit by a drunk driver parked in a parking lot. From debris in the paint, trim not being put back correctly, a new black stain on my grey headliner a now scuffed up plastic dash gauge cluster from apparently smearing something abrasive on it and my bed on my truck still not level or equal distance from the cab to the bed. This is what you would expect from a chain like Caliber Collision not from a small hometown shop. Very dissapointed to say the least. This cost the insurance company $5,066.20 for basically a truck in worse shape than it was when brought in. Just for some taking apart and a (good) repaint BUT with raised debris showing in...