Anyone ever had a car at the smash repairs in Thailand?

[advancebooking]

Ive owned a higher end car for around 4 years now and recently was rear ended by a pickup. Insurance is paying for everything. 

 

Ive been taking it to the same dealership for oil changes etc where I actually purchased the car. Ive always found the young thai guy there a bit assertive/ aggressive. He reminds me of a Phuket taxi driver personality. When I dropped off the car and asked a question he raised his voice at me very loud asking me 'why are you asking that question'. He forgot that we discussed the issue last week in Line. I raised my voice back at him as loud and he backed down

 

So he has sent my car to a subcontractor in the same city because the dealership cant do the work. I asked the other day if I can go there and have a quick look at the progress. No he said, cant do that. Have to wait for it to come back. Im sure its just a normal smash repairs where anyone can take their car. 

 

Can I assume that I dont have to be worried about that smash repair shop taking apart the engine and other parts and swapping it for other parts? Surely that would not happen right? At the end of the day the dealership is accountable. An insurance company is involved. Therefore one would hope that no dodgy things are going to happen to my car. 

 

If you have ever had your car in a smash repairs shop in Thailand please make a comment. 

 

thanks 

[EVENKEEL]

Yes, I have but dealership wasn't involved. Took it to the shop personally.

 

Maybe high end cars are different.

[mogandave]

What kind of dealership did you take your high-end car to?

[JBChiangRai]

Don’t sign for it if it’s not perfect.

 

Check they blew in the paint into adjacent panels, any colour discrepancy then reject it on the spot and tell them to do it again.  Don’t believe any BS about it fading to same colour in a couple of weeks.

 

My first car here was a pearlescent white top of the range Camry, slight bump and Toyota dealer repaired it, I rejected it because door was a different colour, they did it again.

 

I bought a demonstrator high end Benz at 30% off with 700km because they had painted a door and silver shade was off.  My local guy made it perfect for 1,500 baht. Cracking deal.

[advancebooking]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Don’t sign for it if it’s not perfect.

 

Check they blew in the paint into adjacent panels, any colour discrepancy then reject it on the spot and tell them to do it again.  Don’t believe any BS about it fading to same colour in a couple of weeks.

 

My first car here was a pearlescent white top of the range Camry, slight bump and Toyota dealer repaired it, I rejected it because door was a different colour, they did it again.

 

I bought a demonstrator high end Benz at 30% off with 700km because they had painted a door and silver shade was off.  My local guy made it perfect for 1,500 baht. Cracking deal.

Thanks for the advice. Actually Im paying an extra 20k to spray the whole car. I want it all new white. I told them a few weeks ago that it must be all the same color. I think I better ask the wife to write another reminder message about this. 

[stubuzz]

7 minutes ago, advancebooking said:

Actually Im paying an extra 20k to spray the whole car

Repainting the whole car will significantly devalue it. Furthermore, only paying 20k sounds like you are not getting a professional job.

[stubuzz]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Don’t believe any BS about it fading to same colour in a couple of weeks.

This is very true. I used to own a body shop and car paint has not faded since the late eighties. 

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Can I assume that I dont have to be worried about that smash repair shop taking apart the engine and other parts and swapping it for other parts?

Ridiculous urban myth.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, advancebooking said:

If you have ever had your car in a smash repairs shop in Thailand please make a comment.

I've had insurance body repairs following collisions three times here and never an issue and the dealers have never done the repairs, always contracted (by the insurance company) to reputable and professional body shops.

[Magictoad]

8 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Ridiculous urban myth.

No. its a fact in Saudi- or was about 15 years ago.

[Grumpy one]

16 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Ive owned a higher end car for around 4 years now and recently was rear ended by a pickup. Insurance is paying for everything. 

 

Ive been taking it to the same dealership for oil changes etc where I actually purchased the car. Ive always found the young thai guy there a bit assertive/ aggressive. He reminds me of a Phuket taxi driver personality. When I dropped off the car and asked a question he raised his voice at me very loud asking me 'why are you asking that question'. He forgot that we discussed the issue last week in Line. I raised my voice back at him as loud and he backed down

 

So he has sent my car to a subcontractor in the same city because the dealership cant do the work. I asked the other day if I can go there and have a quick look at the progress. No he said, cant do that. Have to wait for it to come back. Im sure its just a normal smash repairs where anyone can take their car. 

 

Can I assume that I dont have to be worried about that smash repair shop taking apart the engine and other parts and swapping it for other parts? Surely that would not happen right? At the end of the day the dealership is accountable. An insurance company is involved. Therefore one would hope that no dodgy things are going to happen to my car. 

 

If you have ever had your car in a smash repairs shop in Thailand please make a comment. 

 

thanks 

Don't worry, the repair shop is renting out your repaired car as a taxi.

It should be good to collect next month, or the month after

[TheFishman1]

Yes somebody hit me last Sunday and the cars already repaired I had my insurance guy look at it and he said the ladies that fault who hit me I ended up taking it to a body shop guy that I know I drop the car off on Tuesday and picked it up Thursday morning it was perfect  Tit

[Jerzy Swirski]

It's the same everywhere

Some paint shops are good and some are useless cowboys.

Not many shops have a proper spray booth. My nearest one is 100 km away.

Without a proper spray booth I would advise not having paintwork done during high humidity weather.

[rwill]

12 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Thanks for the advice. Actually Im paying an extra 20k to spray the whole car. I want it all new white. I told them a few weeks ago that it must be all the same color. I think I better ask the wife to write another reminder message about this. 

If the vehicle was white already no problem.  But if you are changing the color you have to go to DLT and let them know to be legal.

[Thingamabob]

I had similar damage to a BMW 635 CSi many years ago. As with most dealers the local BMW agent did not undertake body repairs but offered to take the car to an outside  contractor. I declined and went to a local (Ratchayothin, Bangkok) repair specialist known to my wife. He did an excellent job, and was happy to have me monitoring progress as the work went on.

[ujayujay]

12 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Thanks for the advice. Actually Im paying an extra 20k to spray the whole car. I want it all new white. I told them a few weeks ago that it must be all the same color. I think I better ask the wife to write another reminder message about this. 

A total auto paint job for 20k baht is available in a hobby workshop and is far from a professional paint job🙄

[Ralf001]

Yeah several.

 

I let the insurance company sort out the repairs.

 

20k for a full respray.... bwahahahahahahaha.

[cheerz]

Thailand rife for car repair scams, large companies all involved. Insurance companies just want cheapest price, used parts I would not buy a up market car for that reason just so many scams & lots of these employees just lack social skills , sooner buy another car.

[Burma Bill]

20 hours ago, advancebooking said:

If you have ever had your car in a smash repairs shop in Thailand please make a comment. 

 

 Yes, but many years ago.

 

My Nissan King Cab pick-up was side swiped by a Thai lady driver who lost control on a mountain road near Phayao up in Lanna.

Fortunately she was insured and her company agreed to pay for the repairs to my vehicle. I was fully comp insured.

I notified my insurance company which was also a major repair centre in Phayao. The wife ran the insurance side of the business and her husband managed the repair side with a team of engineers. Both were amiable friends and allowed me to observe the repairs being carried out. No problems at all and I was soon back behind the wheel!

[advancebooking]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Yeah several.

 

I let the insurance company sort out the repairs.

 

20k for a full respray.... bwahahahahahahaha.

duh. There were many scratches all around the car. So the spray is really only for the top and some other areas not included in the claim. 

[Unamerican]

14 hours ago, Magictoad said:

its a fact in Saudi- or was about 15 years ago.

So what! ??  Different country, different decade, so this is irrelevant! 

[Ralf001]

24 minutes ago, advancebooking said:

duh. There were many scratches all around the car. So the spray is really only for the top and some other areas not included in the claim. 

 

Yeah cheapo spray paint job... they will give it a rub with a brillo pad and blow the paint on, hopefully they mask the vehicle correctly.

 

Good luck.

[Andycoops]

23 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Ive owned a higher end car for around 4 years now and recently was rear ended by a pickup. Insurance is paying for everything. 

 

Ive been taking it to the same dealership for oil changes etc where I actually purchased the car. Ive always found the young thai guy there a bit assertive/ aggressive. He reminds me of a Phuket taxi driver personality. When I dropped off the car and asked a question he raised his voice at me very loud asking me 'why are you asking that question'. He forgot that we discussed the issue last week in Line. I raised my voice back at him as loud and he backed down

 

So he has sent my car to a subcontractor in the same city because the dealership cant do the work. I asked the other day if I can go there and have a quick look at the progress. No he said, cant do that. Have to wait for it to come back. Im sure its just a normal smash repairs where anyone can take their car. 

 

Can I assume that I dont have to be worried about that smash repair shop taking apart the engine and other parts and swapping it for other parts? Surely that would not happen right? At the end of the day the dealership is accountable. An insurance company is involved. Therefore one would hope that no dodgy things are going to happen to my car. 

 

If you have ever had your car in a smash repairs shop in Thailand please make a comment. 

 

thanks 

IME most dealerships don't deal with crash repairs, you either go to a body shop recommended by your insurance company or source a reputable local shop, I did the latter on a family members recommendation, YMMV

[Wrwest]

18 hours ago, advancebooking said:

Thanks for the advice. Actually Im paying an extra 20k to spray the whole car. I want it all new white. I told them a few weeks ago that it must be all the same color. I think I better ask the wife to write another reminder message about this. 

Bit of bad luck within the past month. My 2002 Honda CR-V (runs great) was hit along the passenger rear wheel side. Then on a just taken trip had the MB turn suddenly in front of me with resulting front bumper damage (MB riders = the usual no helmet, no turn signal, not looking, with little injury). Anyway just took the car to the Allianz designated shop here in Chiang Mai but they would not accept doing a proper repaint of the car in the original color. I had hoped since they would already be repainting two areas I could pay for the additional repaint. Guess I'll need to find another paint shop. She is in need of some "make-up" but she is well maintained ... and I can't afford a new car at ant rate.

[scorecard]

On 5/14/2025 at 4:55 PM, EVENKEEL said:

Yes, I have but dealership wasn't involved. Took it to the shop personally.

 

Maybe high end cars are different.

 Agree, maybe the car is still under finance therefore dealer can control where it's repaired?  

[VocalNeal]

On 5/14/2025 at 10:49 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

Ridiculous urban myth.

 

...and the used cars with airbags removed?

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

On 5/14/2025 at 10:49 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

Ridiculous urban myth.

 

...and the used cars with airbags removed?

Which ones?    How did you know that the cars that you saw had the airbags removed?

[VocalNeal]

10 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Which ones?    How did you know that the cars that you saw had the airbags removed?

 

A used car tent can get up to 30,000 per car just for secondhand airbags. As a used car businessman what would you do? 

 

One has to back quite far in the ThaiVisa archives to find posts about that.