Body Work HELP!!

Hey guys,

I have a situation with my 2nd gen Camaro: I found a guy (not naming any names and not throwing anyone under the bus) about 3 months ago through a friend who was willing to replace a rotted rocker panel and a few blemishes in the paint. We agreed on a price and time frame. It was initially set at 2 weeks and $2500. 

Upon inspection of the car he found a few spots on the other rocker panel that needed repair, a small rust spot on on one of the fenders, and a few places on the subframe that needed reinforcing with steel. I asked him how much longer if would take to accomplish these additional tasks, and his reply was another week and $1000 more. 

I agreed. 

As of today my car has been held up at his shop for 8 weeks. That's over 4 weeks past the rough deadline that I was given. As of 4 weeks ago I have been given a myriad of reasons why it's taking so long, almost all of which are personal (sickness, birthdays, garage flooding, personal car trouble, vacations, etc). On 5-6 different occasions I've been told the car will be done that week, and I'm given another excuse. The deadline keeps pushing back. This is a classic case of mismanaged expectations, resources, and time. If I had known it was going to take this long, I would have NEVER agreed to this. I would have found someone else, and paid twice as much money to get this done. 

I have been VERY patient and understanding, but I am at my whits end. Now my patience is being mocked, as I'm being told I need to have more of it. I've worked in an ER for the past 5 years, including all the way through the pandemic. No one can tell me I'm not patient. 

My question is: What can I do? What recourse do I have?

I honestly just want the car back. I can find someone else to finish. This has happened to me more times than I want to admit on other cars. I've had cars dumped in ditches, and even smashed with sledgehammers. All because I simply want a job done in the time frame THEY set. I'm an extremely easy guy to work with, but this is absurd. 

Thoughts on how I should proceed? I'm getting very concerned and stressed over this situation. Thanks in advance. 

IMO. You could just remove the car and take it home and pay for what has been completed. And then find another shop that does restoration type bodywork and not a accident repair shop.

I agree.  Pay for what was actually done, have it towed somewhere else.

If you had to put a number on it, what percentage of the agreed upon work has been completed?

Sounds like he would be happy to have the car gone anyway.   Have you talked to him about it?

It is not you. Turns out this is pretty much standard operating conditions for the hobby car industry. As one operator told me " We don't worry much because we know very few of these cars will ever see the road and the new owners won't know who did the work". 

Lesson learned is that the only person who cares about your hobby car is you.