I was on my way to pick up groceries yesterday, and as I walked by my car (parked on the street in a permit zone... gotta love T.O) I saw that someone was nice enough to leave me a present... in the form of a destroyed car. The whole side of my car was dented, warped and scraped to the metal. Lovely.

Lucky for me, a good samaratin took the time to go write down the person's plate number for me. Turns out a drunk driver was trying to parallel park beside my beautiful black 99 Cougar and backed into it (into the door and all the way back, just to illustrate how drunk he was), leaving the side of my car completely destroyed.

The good news is thanks to the witness, the insurance is covering everything, 100% his fault, including my deductible.

So, here I am in the market for a good collision center for my car. My insurance is recommending Martino Brothers Collision, but I'm always skeptical of going with the "cut corners" insurance company's choice. With that said, they do look reputable.

Now I'm asking for help. Has anyone had any repairs done recently? Anything good or bad to say about Martino Brothers? Any other recommendations?

Thanks for all the help.
A7

P.S. The good samaratin will be getting a nice gift sent on my behalf. Good to know there are still nice people left in this world.

Are there places that you can't go to, restricted by your insurance company? Are you allowed to go to a smaller repair shop that you prefer?

I always insist my vehicles go to a dealership, in this case a Ford dealer with a body shop. That way you know you will get genuine Ford replacement parts or parts that Ford considers acceptable. Just a thought.

At least you got a licence - my daughters car was totalled right in front of our house and the guy drove off :mad:

I can personally recommend LYONS AUTO BODY LTD, 1020 BURNHAMTHORPE RD, MISSISSAUGA, L5C 2S4, (905) 277 1458

They did a wonderful job when I wiped out the front end ( big time ) of my then new Windstar. :(
It's still going strong 200k later and the one small thing that was in error was the wiper switch was wired backwards that they promptly fixed
They offer lifetime of vehicle repair for anything related to the collision.
They use only factory trained techs for each vehicle manufacturer.

If you looked at the Windstar today you'd never ever tell it was in a major 45k+ 1/4 headon collision ( I pulled out in front of another van ). It was repaired "as new".

I highly recommend Imperial Auto Collision, 20 Continental Place,
416-751-1102

They have done a great job on my car in the past when I had an accident. They don't cut any corners. The insurance company preferred them over any others.
They also have a car rental company in the same building if you need to rent a car while the car gets fixed. :)

DoNotPoke... I am free to go anywhere I like for the repairs. The only catch is my insurance company will cover any problems for the life of the car if I go to their recommended shop, but not if I go elsewhere. Most good shops offer that coverage anyway, so not a big deal.

MacDoc... I was indeed lucky someone was kind enough to get the guy's info for me, or I would have been in the same situation as your daughter... the idiot simply drove off.

Sinc... that was my first thought too. After looking into it more, turns out some of the Ford dealers around here actually send a lot of their work to Martino Brothers. I'm just looking to make sure someone doesn't have a horror story about them before I go there.

Thanks for all the info everyone. I'll look into Imperial and Lyons.

A7

A7, in that case, I highly recommend IDEAL AUTO in Markham to you or anyone in the area. However, I know it's quite a distance from you.

Bobby, who manages the shop, is extremely helpful, friendly and honest. He's helped my family with some pretty complex work, like our Mazda minivan, Protege 5 and Toyota Matrix. He does a fantastic job everytime. He is a very nice and hard-working guy.

I googled his shop for ya:
IDEAL AUTO
905-201-9321
20 Heritage Road, Unit 10
Markham
ask for Bobby

Galaxy Auto Collision Ltd
12 Queen Elizabeth Blvd
Etobicoke ON
M8Z 1L8

Nick (the owner) will treat you very well, and he will even set you up with a good rental deal (i.e. mid-size for the price of a compact) while your car is being fixed.

Good luck,

Miguel

At least you got a licence - my daughters car was totalled right in front of our house and the guy drove off :mad:

I can personally recommend LYONS AUTO BODY LTD, 1020 BURNHAMTHORPE RD, MISSISSAUGA, L5C 2S4, (905) 277 1458

They did a wonderful job when I wiped out the front end ( big time ) of my then new Windstar. :(
It's still going strong 200k later and the one small thing that was in error was the wiper switch was wired backwards that they promptly fixed
They offer lifetime of vehicle repair for anything related to the collision.
They use only factory trained techs for each vehicle manufacturer.

If you looked at the Windstar today you'd never ever tell it was in a major 45k+ 1/4 headon collision ( I pulled out in front of another van ). It was repaired "as new".
My buddy just put $2000 into his car and an uninsured a$$hole plowed into it on the street with his van full of stolen goods! He doesnt have collision and they didnt have any insurance. they go to jail, my buddy gets nothing. car totalled. poor guy, it was his first car too. then he ran off to a buddhist temple outside montreal for a few months! for other reasons though :)