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I took the car back and repairs were made. Before anything was done, I asked about their freight insurance and got the usual "nah mate, we have to jump through too many hoops to make a claim; we just pay to fix things ourselves" line.
Anyway, I got the car back that same day(!) and the trailer electrics have been redone and the ECU moved to inside the body mount by the fuel tank on the right-hand side.
As for the bar, well, the dent and scrapes had been repaired, as had the two chips out of the powder coat on the left-hand upright. However, the bar has picked up even more scuffs and scratches in the process, which I pointed out. Nothing was said from their end. The finish on the repaired areas also didn't appear to be a great match to the rest of the bar. They'd replaced the indicator/parking lights with new units, as the ones originally fitted were apparently not ADR approved and had been supplied in error.
I took the car home and gave it the usual once-over. Not only were the repaired areas on the bar finished off with matt black paint on a satin black bar, they've seen fit to respray almost the entire left-hand bumper section and the front of the left-hand upright. There's overspray on the top tube and on the top of the bumper section. Very messy and dependent on the light, very visible. Instead of replacing the wiring entirely for the new lights, their solution was to snip the wiring behind the bar, replace the lights and solder in plugs, which may or may not be waterproof. To top it off, there is now significant play in the steering around the straight ahead position, which makes me think they've upset the steering damper when they installed the steering guard. Speaking of the steering guard, the brackets are going to have to be recoated, because there's a big chunk of powder coat missing from the ends of one bracket and evidence of surface rust starting already.
On the upside the trailer electrics are a lot better, although I dread to think what I'll find behind the mud shield covering the left-hand taillights.
The grime had washed out of my seat covers, but despite following the washing instructions, the covers faded and seem to have shrunk a little. I'm not very impressed with those, but they're clean, so the shop won't assume any responsibility.
I visited a powder coater yesterday to ask about recoating the damaged side rails I have lying in the garage (damaged in transit cross-country). Unfortunately he'll need to see them to give an accurate quote. However, while I was there I also discussed the bar, which he agreed was in a pretty shocking state considering it was meant to be 'new'. He noted that the original powder coat is thin on some sections which will, in his opinion, begin to corrode in the short term. Unfortunately, he reckons I'd be looking at $6-700 to have it stripped back and redone. Happy days.
I then went back to the four-wheel drive shop and told them I still wasn't satisfied with the state of the bar. They said they'll speak to the manager and be in touch. Nothing so far.
I've booked the car into the dealer's workshop tomorrow so they can take a look at the steering. Hopefully that will be an easy fix.
Originally Posted by DrytheRain
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