2022 Corvette Body Shop Recommendations

[Jim]

Today someone forcefully backed up into the front of my 2022 Corvette with a Ford F150. The F150 had an extended tow hitch doing serious damage to whole front end. He is insured and I have State Farm.  The question is where would you go with the car for repairs.  Is there anyone who can properly deal with these new C8's? Anyone have real experience?

[Extender32]

Man that really blows! I would check classic gold in Tempe. They do great body work.

[Jim]

Thanks Extender for the suggestion. I've put them on my list to contact. Anyone have experience with Van Chevrolet Collision Center?

[Buccaneer]

That sucks! Unfortunately, I think that not every body shop can work on a C8 body. I had read that they need to be GM certified or something like that for C8s. Don't ask why, since I have no clue the reason. You might want to call around or ask GM about this to see if that is true. GL.

[Jim]

The issue may be related to the aluminum sub frame of the vehicle. GM could be concerned that an inexperienced shop would lack the ability to restore frame structures to meet safety concerns. I have an appointment today with Van Chevrolet Collision Center. Perhaps I can get a better idea of the GM concerns. Van has the advantage of being the largest seller of C8 Corvettes in Arizona. I would expect their volume of business could contribute to a better solution for me. The purpose of my visit is to try to evaluate their quality standards and processes. I am definitely going to check out other collision shops.

[Chameleon]

Be wary of Van...they like to try to take advantage of customers.  Their service advisor tried to sell me services my Corvette absolutely didn't need.  Full disclosure,  that was many years ago, but I have avoided them like the plague ever since...

[HOXXOH]

23 hours ago, Jim said:

The issue may be related to the aluminum sub frame of the vehicle. GM could be concerned that an inexperienced shop would lack the ability to restore frame structures to meet safety concerns. I have an appointment today with Van Chevrolet Collision Center. Perhaps I can get a better idea of the GM concerns. Van has the advantage of being the largest seller of C8 Corvettes in Arizona. I would expect their volume of business could contribute to a better solution for me. The purpose of my visit is to try to evaluate their quality standards and processes. I am definitely going to check out other collision shops.

The reason Van sells more Vettes than other dealers, is their location near the large pocket of wealth. Many of those owners know very little about cars, except for the status level they represent.

Although Corvette has used a full aluminum frame on C6 and C7 Vettes, the C8 is more along the lines of a space-frame, with many individual components riveted together. It's the modern version of the bird-cage Maserati. Here's a rough view of what frame damage might entail, repair-wise. It's also a preview to why insurance companies are more likely to total the cars and the subsequent availability of engines etc. 

https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/deep-dive-into-the-2020-chevy-corvette-chassis/

 

[Jim]

HOXXOH, I appreciate and generally agree with your comments. Because of their well-deserved reputation, I certainly have not utilized Van Chevrolet to purchase a Corvette or service a Corvette. There is this to consider, Van Collision Center is a separately operating business located several blocks from Van Chevrolet. Van Collision Center has generally high reviews for their work on Chevrolet, Infinity and other vehicles. Their primary Corvette technician has 16 years of experience with Van Collision Center principally on Corvettes.

 

The skeleton views of the C8 Corvette really helps to get some understanding of possible unseen damage hidden by body panels. I may have seen this before, but including the link really helped. Thanks again!

[old yeller]

I have purchased two Corvettes from Van's and had no problems (luckily had the same salesperson so that helped).

The service there can be tricky because they are so busy.

I use Autonation Chevy in Gilbert for service because it is so close to me.

I have not used Van's body shop so no reviews from me on them.