Bethesda Collision Repair Center

Reviews 5

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Anonymous User

Do NOT go to this place if you can avoid it. The owner claims to be the "neighborhood family run repair shop" but they are really just a corrupt business and some of the worst people Ive ever met. Read my experience if you are thinking of taking your car there. I took my SUV in to them so they could check the breaks and rotate the tires. I took it in there for an ESTIMATE, not for them to do the actual work, simply to tell me how much they thought it would cost. I never authorized them to do any work on the vehicle or drive it around, just check the breaks and tell me if anything needed to be replaced. I get a call 3 days later (who takes 3 days to do an estimate on breaks/tire rotation) from the owner telling me that one of their employees had taken the car out for a "test drive" and had crashed my car. It was a front end collision and my car was demolished. The owner apologized profusely and said that their insurance would take care of it (goddamn right it would), I informed him however, that I was exercising my right to have his insurance pay for a different auto body shop to repair my car as these people had lost all of my trust and I just wanted my car out of their hands. This is when the owner of the shop became very nasty and began trying to intimidate me and strong arm me into letting his shop repair it. Suddenly he was telling me he had fired the guy who crashed my car, that he had found tons of rust damage inside the engine compartment that he would be willing to fix for free (funny how he failed to mention that earlier), that no other body shop could do as good a job. I told him sorry, but no deal, and he then informed me that if I wanted my car back I would have to come in and pay for a tire rotation AND pay for the time they parked my car there. Keep in mind that they lied to me about parking my car inside because both days I was there my car was outside outside in the snow, despite this they tried to charge me their indoor parking rate. They also wanted 100+ dollars because they had, WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, gone ahead and done the tire rotation, when I had only asked for an estimate. I finally gave in because I was just too busy to be dealing with these people and just wanted my car out of there and fixed, so I payed the man his fee and off I went. It turns out that they had caused 4000$ of front end damage to my car while "test driving" (joy riding) it in a snowstorm, something which I hadnt asked them to do. (You dont need to test drive a car for a tire rotation and to check the break pads). Yes their insurance paid for it, but that collision goes on my auto history and basically made it so I couldnt really ever sell my car at a reasonable price, not to mention that my car has never run the same since. Do not do business with this place, they are poorly run and will try to gauge you on prices, I went in there for a tire rotation and basically ended being strong armed into paying 100$ to let them nearly total my car. Anything to make a quick buck I guess, not to mention their employees and owner are rude, pushy, and also lie to their customers. How embarrassing for them, to be an auto repair shop and then basically total one of their customers cars and then lie about it and try to charge them for work they never authorized. If these people had any business sense they would have been bending over backwards to try to make me happy instead of being shady and trying to scam me out of 100$ for a tire rotation that was worthless anyways since they wrecked my car. Too bad for them the internet exists and thousands of people know to stay away from them including all of American University. STAY. AWAY.

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Hannah Ross

Was quoted one week for a repair, and it took 3. They didnt even notify me when the car was ready; I was told by my insurance company. Anytime I called for a check up on the repairs I was just fed lies on why it had been delayed (one hinge arrived a few days late and we couldnt weld without the hinge...). Bottom line, they have more orders than they can fill and they will deceive in order to get your business. Also, when I picked up the car they said they didnt receive payment from the insurance company and I needed to pay myself. I called my insurer and they said the check had already been cashed! They tried to scam me into paying twice (and the bill was about $5k)! I had read the reviews, but the location was so convenient that I neglected them. DO NOT GO HERE! -- UPDATE-- When the car was returned it had a very strong toxic smell, like resin (a carcinogen). It was so potent, for a week straight I would keep all 4 windows down whenever I was driving and it would give me headaches. Now its been a month since the repairs, and the smell is still present. I always drive with the windows down to no avail. I saw in another review someone else commented on this. Ive had bodywork done to previous cars and have never ever had something like this happen.

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r v

I had what I thought was scraped paint and metal damage to the passenger side rear door of my new car. I brought it to their shop on River Road for an estimate. The gentleman came out to look at the damage close up. He said "wait a sec", and went back in to get something. He brought out a spray bottle and a cloth. He wiped and removed what turned out to be paint and plastic from the OTHER car. I was so relieved! He pointed out that with the factory paints and metals in use these days, (very) minor damage practically takes care of itself. I asked him what the charge was, and he said to forget it, no charge. He could easily have said "leave it here for a couple of days and well work on it." Then just removed the paint and plastic and charged me $300, and Id never have known the difference. What a great experience! Friendly, professional, and honest - its been a long time since Ive used those words to describe an auto shop. Thanks so much!

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Anonymous User

Borderline criminal and extremely incompetent/ inefficient. A few months ago, I brought my Rav-4 to be repaired after a fairly serious fender bender. Bethesda Collision took almost three weeks to fix my car (they told me it would be taken care of in 1 1/2 weeks). When I finally did get the car back, it was filthy (there are still oil stains on the carpeting in my trunk), missing its antenna, and the little door covering the gas tank no longer pops out when I pull the lever inside the car. In addition, the paint that Bethesda Collision applied to my fender is now flaking off. Bottom line: AVOID BETHESDA COLLISION LIKE THE PLAGUE. Monkeys could have done a better job.

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Christopher Dietz

I have unfortunately had several accidents over the 10 years that I have owned my Toyota Tundra truck. Each time, via my insurance USAA, I have taken my truck to Beth and Bethesda Collision. I have been amazed at the consistency of professionalism, courtesy and excellence in auto body repairs. They communicate with their customers via text, email nd phone calls depending on the situation. I will consider nowhere else. Icing on the cake is that Enterprise Car Rental is in the same building so no need to wait for a pickup or take the Metro etc. Win Win Win.....

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