Thomas Auto Body

Nobody likes dealing with an accident, but Thomas Waldron Carstar made the experience not so bad. Recently brought my car here for a minor fender bender, and I was impressed by every aspect of the process.
Everybody was pleasant and helpful, as well as quick in getting things going. The car looked better than when I had dropped it off, and every aspect of the repair was perfect. As a part of an integrated insurance claim solution, the rental aspect was quick, and easy.
They truly went above and beyond in their service, addressing issues that weren’t even their fault, or the fault of the accident. I hope I don’t NEED to come back here, but if I ever was involved in another accident, this is where I’d go.

STAY AWAY!
Thomas auto body was recently (within the last 2 years) purchased by a new owner, upon purchase none of the original staff, or staff after that still work there, if that gives you any idea of how the operation works… all experienced techs have up and left and the owner will only hire kids with little to no knowledge (not exactly who you trust with the safety of your vehicle!) do your self a favor and stay away from all franchise body shops in general, they will cut all corners to make the most money, with poor results.

These people are cold. No human emotion or consideration… they are always acting defensive like you the customer may be there to screw THEM over. Ha.
So a little backstory… a few months back my wife hit some piece of debris on the highway which caused some damage to the front end. We brought our car to this garage and when we got it back it seemed fine. Days later a panel started to come loose so I brought it back and the guy looked at it for two minutes and said that someone forgot to put some clips on that we’re supposed to hold it in place. He took the car into the garage and returned it to me fixed but with no apology for the shoddy work.
Cut to last month. I, at no fault of my own, got into a separate front end collision requiring a lot of the same parts to be replaced again. Recently the exact same panel started to come loose again but this time I noticed that the clips that had been there had been cut and an obscene amount of what looked like gorilla glue had been haphazardly applied to hold the panel in place. Today I drove my car over there to show them the less than desirable work and ask that they please fix it (also the work was under warranty). They then insisted that under no circumstances would they have ever put glue on that spot. I then attempted to explain to them that since bringing my car to them last I had not a) applied any glue to it or b) brought it to any other garage to have any work done. They would not listen to reason and logic and just spoke over me, not even hearing the points I was making.
They refused to take any blame and refused to honor their obligation to fix it. They’re approach to customer service is that of a large corporation that doesn’t value individual customers. Do yourself a favor and find yourself a more trustworthy and caring garage…

I made the mistake of going here based on the referral of someone who has used them for decades while it was under the management of the original owner. Do not make the same mistake yourself. I have almost nothing good to say about them, except that when I complained enough to the manager about the repair taking so much longer than they’d said they paid for a rental for the last few days that they had my car.
First and foremost, they told me it’d take 1 – 2 weeks, and it took three. I get that sometimes things come up, but as a business owner myself, I make sure to tell people what the worst realistic scenario is, not the perfect one. I could have dealt with three weeks if they’d told me that, rather than postponing it three times. Their updates were sporadic at best, and every time frame given was changed the next time they called. I had to call them a few times for an update the day after I had been told to expect a call. Apparently the receptionist was out a few days. On the call where my repair was postponed for the third time, I asked if I was getting a discount for it taking so long, and was transferred to the manager (Gary), who tried to explain that because it was a ten thousand dollar repair (it wasn’t, it was 7k, and it was a $ 17k car a year ago, would’ve been totalled if it was 10k of damage) was why it was taking longer. I don’t get what the relevance of the cost of the repair is to how long it takes, or why they couldn’t have given me an accurate time frame from the start, but he covered my rental for the remaining three days they had my car, and I didn’t bother pushing the point, I figured it was something car related I wouldn’t understand.
When I went to pick it up, I immediately noticed a dent that wasn’t there when I dropped it off. I pointed it out to them, and they showed me pictures showing it was there before they washed the car. It wasn’t a small dent, or something I’d have been able to miss, and certainly wasn’t there when I dropped it off. My guess is that it’s from the stone wall to the left of the building, next to where I’d parked my car, and the photos they have are of it in a parking spot, so it would have been moved before they took them. I went there on a very good referral, and foolishly didn’t take precautions I would have normally, so I can’t prove otherwise.
I’m very, very unsatisfied, and will absolutely never be going back here again.

It took 2 weeks to have my wife’s car fixed. The original estimate said 4 days and they kept dragging it out until it took 14 days! They never stick to the dates they will just keep giving you excuses. Never again.

I have to say this business runs a tight ship. I was rear ended recently and the whole situation has been an annoyance to say the least. The Nissan dealership in auburn put in a good word for them so I went there. This place has really gone the extra mile to make my experience less cumbersome. And the staff especially one woman that’s been working with me Karen, has been more than helpful and very pleasant. Coming from a family of small business owners I know what quality customer service means and there is not much of it out there anymore. I highly suggest this auto body shop.

I have a Sebring Convertible that I love. When involved in a small accident. I brought it in the Thomas Auto Body, not only was the issue of the dent taken care of but the color match was perfect! They even got me a rental at no extra charge. For help with old and new cars, this body shop is very affordable and reliable.