Several months back, I bought my 1991 Mercury Cougar LS into AutoMat, for some basic repair work on my front seats, and dash. Over time, the leather seats has torn, and cracked, as had my dash. The owner, went through basic quotes with me, and gave me a timeline for how long it would take, and we also went over the work I wanted done. The quote was for something like 1200-1300 hundred dollars, which was high, but I love my car, and was assured they would do quality, and long lasting work.
When the day arrived for me to bring my car in, I was happy and looked forward to having my interior issues redone, and looking fresh again. Three days later, I picked my car up, and thats when the trouble began. They "repaired" a crack in my dash, this "repair" consisted of them smearing some kind of apoxy over it, and leaving a rough blob of what looked like super glue over the crack, and they didn't even cover the entire crack! This repair cost me over 200 dollars with tax.
Next, they set out with the taste of painting my dash cap. I was told by the owner, that they would be able to easily match my existing OEM color. When picked up my car, I came to find that they did not match the color. To their credit, they did come close, and the color they chose, was closer than what was there. The real problem, is they did absolutely zero prep work. They sprayed a thin layer over paint over scratches, chips and dings, and I actually found hairs and could see painted over dust particals. This repair cost me over 200 dollars with tax.
The last thing I asked them to fix for me, was the derioration of my front seats, the areas where my back, and butt made contact with the seat, had cracked and work over the course of 25 years, and I asked them to replace all areas where there were rips, cracks and holes. The owner recommended to me, that I go with vinyl as opposed to leather, because it was much cheaper, and the quality was good enough, that I would get long life out of it. When I picked my car up, I came to find they had done very shotty work.
First off, they only did half the seats, when it was clearly started in the work order, that I wanted all of it done, so half my seats were still cracked and worn. Yet, they still charged me well over 800 dollars with tax, for the full repairs, and charged me the full estimated time, and took the full estimated time, to only do half the work. I asked them, has all the work we agreed upon been completed, and owner insisted yes. Feeling uneasy, I went home. I thought about it, and a day later, I called, and complained, and the owner suddenly realized they had made an error, and said lets get you back in here to finish the job. I agreed, and we set a date.
A week later, I was preparing to bring my car back to finish the work, when I relized they had scuffed and damaged the backs of my seats, when they did their "repairs" on the front, rendering the repairs effectively useless. I also noticed that on the passenger seats, the stiching for the repairs they had done, was coming apart, and that seat being the passenger seat, had barely even been sat in. Lastly, I noticed that after only a week, the driver seat vinyl, was already beginning to split.
After finding this, I called auto mat, and cancled the remainder of the work, and demanded a refund, for the balance associated with the work that hadnt been done. You would think that since they only performed half the requested work, that I would get close to half back. This was not the case. A final slap in the face came, when I was told I would only be getting 300 dollars back.
To summerize, what I got from AutoMat, was a poor done paint job on my dash. A half repaired crack on my dash, and half-done front seats, with brand new seams coming apart, and brand new vinyl splitting after a week, and scuffs to existing, and in great shape original vinyl, on the back of my seats. When it was all said and done, I paid about 1000 dollars for this, and I left the guy in the shop a nice tip. I am a hard working, blue collar guy, and money means a lot to me. When I lay this kind of money out, I need the work to be worth it, and quality. I am sad to say, that when it comes to AutoMat, this was not the case. They really failed me, and my car. I feel ripped off, and honestly my car isn't better off than it started.
I would not recommend this place. I would use a place with a better reputation, or a smaller guy, who can give better attention to detail, and better rates.
AutoMat Customizing & Restoration Reviews
Several months back, I bought my 1991 Mercury Cougar LS into AutoMat, for some basic repair work on my front seats, and dash. Over time, the leather seats has torn, and cracked, as had my dash. The owner, went through basic quotes with me, and gave me a timeline for how long it would take, and we also went over the work I wanted done. The quote was for something like 1200-1300 hundred dollars, which was high, but I love my car, and was assured they would do quality, and long lasting work.
When the day arrived for me to bring my car in, I was happy and looked forward to having my interior issues redone, and looking fresh again. Three days later, I picked my car up, and thats when the trouble began. They "repaired" a crack in my dash, this "repair" consisted of them smearing some kind of apoxy over it, and leaving a rough blob of what looked like super glue over the crack, and they didn't even cover the entire crack! This repair cost me over 200 dollars with tax.
Next, they set out with the taste of painting my dash cap. I was told by the owner, that they would be able to easily match my existing OEM color. When picked up my car, I came to find that they did not match the color. To their credit, they did come close, and the color they chose, was closer than what was there. The real problem, is they did absolutely zero prep work. They sprayed a thin layer over paint over scratches, chips and dings, and I actually found hairs and could see painted over dust particals. This repair cost me over 200 dollars with tax.
The last thing I asked them to fix for me, was the derioration of my front seats, the areas where my back, and butt made contact with the seat, had cracked and work over the course of 25 years, and I asked them to replace all areas where there were rips, cracks and holes. The owner recommended to me, that I go with vinyl as opposed to leather, because it was much cheaper, and the quality was good enough, that I would get long life out of it. When I picked my car up, I came to find they had done very shotty work.
First off, they only did half the seats, when it was clearly started in the work order, that I wanted all of it done, so half my seats were still cracked and worn. Yet, they still charged me well over 800 dollars with tax, for the full repairs, and charged me the full estimated time, and took the full estimated time, to only do half the work. I asked them, has all the work we agreed upon been completed, and owner insisted yes. Feeling uneasy, I went home. I thought about it, and a day later, I called, and complained, and the owner suddenly realized they had made an error, and said lets get you back in here to finish the job. I agreed, and we set a date.
A week later, I was preparing to bring my car back to finish the work, when I relized they had scuffed and damaged the backs of my seats, when they did their "repairs" on the front, rendering the repairs effectively useless. I also noticed that on the passenger seats, the stiching for the repairs they had done, was coming apart, and that seat being the passenger seat, had barely even been sat in. Lastly, I noticed that after only a week, the driver seat vinyl, was already beginning to split.
After finding this, I called auto mat, and cancled the remainder of the work, and demanded a refund, for the balance associated with the work that hadnt been done. You would think that since they only performed half the requested work, that I would get close to half back. This was not the case. A final slap in the face came, when I was told I would only be getting 300 dollars back.
To summerize, what I got from AutoMat, was a poor done paint job on my dash. A half repaired crack on my dash, and half-done front seats, with brand new seams coming apart, and brand new vinyl splitting after a week, and scuffs to existing, and in great shape original vinyl, on the back of my seats. When it was all said and done, I paid about 1000 dollars for this, and I left the guy in the shop a nice tip. I am a hard working, blue collar guy, and money means a lot to me. When I lay this kind of money out, I need the work to be worth it, and quality. I am sad to say, that when it comes to AutoMat, this was not the case. They really failed me, and my car. I feel ripped off, and honestly my car isn't better off than it started.
I would not recommend this place. I would use a place with a better reputation, or a smaller guy, who can give better attention to detail, and better rates.