Clay Auto Body

I had a pretty bad experience here at my last visit. The rear bumper needed to get fixed/​replaces and a few scratches needed to be fixed on the lift gate from getting rear ended. I was told the job should take a few days… It took over a month and I got zero calls from them on any updates.
I was told that the car was all ready once and I went to the shop and it was not complete and still had big scratches and marks on the lift gate. This was very frustrating as I had to leave work early and take time out of my day to go to the shop to pick up my car and it was a huge waste of time. The damages were clear and written out on the appointment notes on everything that needed to be fixed as well as the insurance claim paperwork.
This extended the time in the shop for another week and a half. What is the most frustrating is the lack of professionalism, customer service, and communication at this place. I was told multiple times that they would call me and let me know when things were happening and any updates… ZERO calls.
One individual gave me wrong information three separate times here. One time telling me my car was ready when it wasn’t and I knew it wasn’t because I had spoken to the manager earlier in the day. This same individual told me he was going to call me back twice when he found out information and DID NOT call me back. My car was sitting at the shop ready for 2 days before I could pick it up because this employee was very unprofessional and had no idea what was going on. Very bad customer service.
The work itself and repairs on my car look great and I have no issue. The interior was detailed and cleaned which looks great and is appreciated. The actually body work I would give 4 – 5 stars, but the entire process, customer service, and communication was a nightmare.
I do not know if there is also a lack of communication between the service shop at the dealership and the body shop when the car is brought over, but something needs to be fixed. I bought my car from Clay Nissan and go there for all of my maintenance and service needs and never had a problem until now. I really have to question if I want to come back here now after this experience.

Clay was listed by our Insurance company as a preferred vendor, so we took it here and it was local. Damage required the replacement of the drivers side door.
The paint job wasn’t good. It had all sorts of fisheyes (like a little popped bubble) and tiny debris in the paint job as well as a minor amount of orange peel.
I asked the manager if it was a single or two-​stage paint, and he said single. Furthermore, he said single-​stage paints are the newest and best and clearcoats aren’t required any longer. This is a lie. Car manufacturers haven’t used single-​stage paints for their cars since the 1990’s because two-​stage (base and clear) last longer. So, Clay takes the cheapest route to your repair when it comes to paint. Be warned! At least he didn’t lie and say it was a two-​stage paint when it wasn’t but attempting to deceive the customer is bad news. I’m sure it works for most people who don’t know better.
As for the crummy paint job, it looked like it wasn’t done in a downdraft spray booth, just out in the open somewhere. I pointed this out to the manager on duty and he said it was fine. When I persisted, he had his autobody guy buff out most of the fisheyes. This is fine, but extra buffing just reduces the thickness of the paint, so it won’t last quite as long. The dirt debris is mostly still in the paint. As for the orange peel, the factory finish doesn’t have any, so I notice it, but most people probably won’t. On the plus side, the color matching is fine.
The average Joe might find a Clay paint job fine, but if you want something that actually looks like it did from the factory, just know these guys cut some corners.
Good luck

Cars aren’t my thing, so I was glad to be provided with a list of preferred repair shops by my auto insurance company after another vehicle happened to have had a close encounter with mine.
Clay Auto Body was highlighted on the list as a guaranteed shop and had 4.5 stars out of 8 on Unilocal,so I thought I’d give them a chance.
It is located on Route 16 across from an auto dealership. They are set pretty close to the sidewalk, so there isn’t a whole lot of space to pull into. Fortunately, however, on each of my visits, a prime parking spot was waiting for me right out front on the street.
One convenience I’d like to highlight is that they offer their own car rental on site, care of Clay Nissan of Newton out on Washington Street — only about 7 min away — so they’ll bring the car to you right at the shop. They’ll also deal with the insurance company to try to get the rental paid directly if that’s your wish.
The initial appraisal was based on visible damage alone. The convenience of selecting an approved shop was that when they discovered additional damage beneath the surface they were able to write out the supplement themselves, instead of waiting for an adjuster to visit and to write one up.
+ Someone answered nearly every time I called.
— They don’t pre-​order parts.
++ They could have ordered an after market bumper cover, but had instead ordered a factory Toyota bumper cover (according to my insurance)
— They don’t actually work on cars on Saturdays even though they list their hours on their website as:
Monday — Friday 7AM to 6PM
Saturday 8 AM to Noon (Except June-​September)
When I called them on Friday, they weren’t sure if they would get the car done that day or Monday. I expressed my preference for that day if at all possible, and they were able to call me shortly after 4pm to let me know it was done. So I was really happy when I picked it up that evening, where it was parked just outside the shop.
But that was night, and then it was day, and with daylight, I could see. I could see the sand and pebbles on the floor of my car and the dust settled on my dashboard. I guess they didn’t clean the inside of my car like Matthew S. had mentioned in his review. I felt rather unspecial. But eh, as long as they did a good job on the bumper.
But then I had the chance to crouch down and check out said bumper in the light, and I noticed rough edges (like the edges of a cheap plastic toy where you have to pull off the excess plastic bits that weren’t smoothed off) and the odd lines along the corner edges. Is this normal for a paint job that wasn’t a factory original? One friend suggested that perhaps they neglected to polish it.
Since Clay was a guaranteed shop, I contacted my insurance and sent them some photos to see what they thought of it.
An appraiser arranged the very next day to meet us at the shop where he could have them take care of it immediately if it was indeed deemed to be a polishing issue.
Between the shop and the appraiser, they realized it wasn’t a paint issue, but that instead the ragged edges were characteristic of the bumper cover manufactured by Toyota. The shop could smooth the plastic out, but that would increase the space between the panels and it would then require repainting. As long as it wasn’t a shop issue, I figured I could live with it.
As for the cleaning and detailing of the car which was a line item on the supplement, they said that they had washed it, but had omitted vacuuming since I had been in a hurry to pick up that day. But they were willing to take care of that now, if we were willing to wait. To make it worth the trip — let’s! Good thing there’s a Dunkin Donuts nearby.
It would have saved us all some time and confusion if they had only thought to point these two things out to me when I picked the car up. Communication is key, you know.
Website:
Credit cards accepted.

Super nice and helpful! We needed our front bumper replaced and got a quote of $ 1000 from another body shop, but came here and they were able to reattach it in minutes without even making us buy a new bumper! Will definitely be recommending to others in the future because of their honesty and helpfulness.

Great customer service at Clay Auto Body! Dwayne is a class act! My car looks brand new! No job is too big or too small for these guys! I highly recommend them!

Above and beyond service. They will go out of their way to keep you appraised of progress, and the quality of work is superior. Vitaliy himself will keep himself available late just to make sure you can pick up your car. I can’t speak to the cost — the accident in question wasn’t my fault; the payment was handled by insurance.
I will endeavor to not require their services again, unfortunately I share the road with other humans who make mistakes from time to time. Should the unexpected happen again I would definitely use Clay Auto Body again!

They have been absolutely amazing. They are so kind and caring – I was a little shaken up still from the accident when I walked in and they got me water and an ice pack for my arm. You can’t ask for more wonderful people.
They took their time with me and walked me through each step of the process. Dwayne is thorough and thoughtful. He made sure that I had gotten all of my belongings out of my car, provided me with a spare key ring and made sure I had a comfortable and safe ride home.
I feel so thankful to have had such a wonderful experience so far. I know that my car is in good hands.

We got into an accident while in town visiting friends and got the best estimate from Clay auto body. (Like it was $ 1000 less than third party competitors) Dwayne and Vitaliy made the repair experience much easier especially after the stress of being in an accident and dealing with insurance. They handled basically everything without a hitch. When I called and urgently needed my car back sooner than expected, they accommodated me and had it ready 2 days earlier than promised. I appreciate everything they did for us and would recommend it to anyone who needs body work!

Dwayne was nothing but helpful in getting an issue resolved on my Altima Coupe in Sept 2014 — was always available when needed and always honest and direct — something appreciated in an industry often missing it. And most of all, always accountable for the work. Couldn’t recommend Dwayne and his team highly enough — great place to get your car fixed!

I really couldn’t have asked for a smoother experience with Joe and the team at Clay Auto Body. My 2013 Mazda 3 got deeply scraped over the winter while parked, so I called up Commerce Insurance and they recommended Clay as a «fast-​track» location.
I brought the car there and from start to finish I felt like I was in good hands. Only took about a week and Joe called me up saying the car was ready. The repairs look good and they detailed the car too! I’ve been through this process before with my last car and other shops, and can’t say enough how much better things went with Clay. Thanks guys!