J-KO is a J-O-K-E
1 Star Review of J-Ko Auto body and Rodshop
Going to J-KO Auto Body and Rodshop in Durand, WI was a terrible experience. Started off great, the owner, John seemed nice but things went south after I dropped the car off. I brought in a 1995 Honda Civic EX that I inherited from my Grandmother. I wanted to restore it to honor her memory. She loved Honda Civics ever since she bought her first one in 1979.
As you can see in the below pictures, the rust damage was not that bad for the age of the vehicle. I asked around town if anyone had used the shop before. A few people went there when someone else owned the place.
A couple of people mentioned that the new owner had shadowed the previous owner to learn the shop and the customers when he was buying the place. After learning people thought highly of the previous owner and that the new one
had been "trained" in so to speak by the previous owner, I figured it would be a good place to take the Honda. I discuss with John what I would like done, all the rust rot cut out and have metal welded on. I didn't want fiberglass; I made that clear as I had already called several other shops in the area, and none of them had the time or could weld on new metal. I wanted the car repainted bumper to bumper so all the paint would match. It was here that I made my mistake, and the first red flag was on the play. He did not do an itemized estimate for the job.
I dropped the car off, and a week or so later I stopped back to grab some things I left in the car. I walk in to an employee fixing the rust damage with fiberglass. I inquired about this, and John told me that with the unibody type of car, it was not possible to cut and weld new metal. I asked why I wasn't called about it, and I did not get a straight answer. Apparently, there was no change in price for this change either. Another red flag on the play. It is a bad sign when somebody changes up what they are doing without calling about it. They were hoping I wouldn't find out, pull a fast one or the ol' switch a roo.
It went downhill from there. When I tried to pick up car when it was done the first time, they didn't paint the side mirrors or the roof. I had to argue about the meaning of bumper to bumper, which means the whole car. He agreed
to paint the roof and side mirrors. The second time I came in to pick up the car, the trunk was covered in bubbles and around the entire bottom of the car around the doors, you could see where paint had pooled and made run lines. Other spots had paint burrs. When I brought this up, during the conversation, he said, "What did you expect? It's just a Honda!" and "If you wanted show quality, I would have charged you double!" So a rust repair and paint job, doing the bare minimum effort with the paint is $8k, paint runs and all.
They fixed the bubbly bumper but didn't fix any of the paint runs or the burrs I pointed out. The shop at the time I had the work done, did not have a paint kiln booth to cure the paint. I had to let the car degass for a month before I could wash or wax it. This part is my suspicion, but as I understand the paint process, after the paint cures is when the clear coat to protect the paint is applied. Given that they tried to pull so many fast ones and complained that what I was asking for exceeded the price I was quoted, I'm not sure if a clear coat was applied.
The only positive I can say is the fiberglass work they did was pretty good.
Pictures before the work was done:
Pictures after the work was done:
Paint Runs
