Okay, this is NOT going to be a good review in any way.

First I'll talk about shipping.

Shipping took a very long time; 3-4 weeks for each, bumpers were shipped together, hood took two weeks longer. Rear bumper was fine, front had a few cracks. Hood was badly damaged during shipment.

After discussions with Crystal at Teazer it was decided that they would cover the cost of fixing the bumper by my shop but that the hood was too damaged and its shipment was actually not accepted (we were told that the hood was basically destroyed during return shipping).

The rear bumper was truly a bolt-on. Very easy.

The front was a different story. The sides of the front bumper which wrap around the headlights was bowed out at least 3 inches on each side. When trying to fit it, it repeatedly cracked. Again Teazer was notified and they agreed that the shop would make the repairs. The bumper required an extensive amount of glass work. While the bumper was supposed to be fiberglass, bondo was found in a couple key places. Teazer denies this, however the shop I used, Old Dog, has been in business a long time and I trust their ability to recognize bondo when they see it.

Since the bondo was in critical areas, it needed to be rebuilt in those places with glass. If not, the bumper would eventually fall off the car. Teazer did offer to send a new bumper, but was not willing to be responsible for the work that had already been done, 40+ hours labor.

The hood was a hybrid. Contrary to what someone has said, it is NOT, the HHR cowl that they sell. This hood was a custom job. Basically what Teazer did was cut the cowl off of a PT hood that they make, I liked the cowl much better, and glassed in onto a HHR hood. As I said, the hood was supposed to have been "destroyed" according to Crystal a Teazer. They were going to make a new hood. Three weeks later, the new hood arrives and there are problems from the beginning.

The hood did not fit correctly and appeared to have bondo on it. We spoke to Crystal and she assured us repeatedly that the hood was a new hood. However, when talking to Ray, the owner/designer/ at Teazer, he told us that the original hood WAS repaired and that is the hood that was shipped back to us. We spoke to each person more than once and each told us that the other person did not know what they were talking about.

It was about this time that Teazer also began to go back on the agreement to make right on fixing the bumper to make it work. They refused to pay the labor to fix it. Finally an agreement, which was only a fraction of the labor for the front bumper, was arrived at. A month later and the check still has not arrived. I had to pay my shop for what Teazer had agreed to pay. Thankfully, the owner at Old Dog, was an ethical, fair business man and gave me a big break on the labor charge for the bumper.

When trying to discuss these issues with Teazer, I never was able to actually get anyone other that Crystal to talk to me (my shop was able to speak to Ray a couple of times), it became obvious that I was screwed. She still insists that the hood was new. When I asked her to explain the bondo, her answer was along the lines of, "Oh we get new hoods in all the time that are damaged and we just fix them." Even though Ray insisted it was the original hood.

In regards to the front bumper the answer I got was "we haven't had any problems with them." I asked her straight out how many they had sold and was told 5. I asked how many they had installed and she told me 2 or 3. She then told me that the people they deal with aren't concerned about cost, they just want the work done.

Bottom line, while some may have a better experience with Teazer, this is mine. I would recommend NOT doing business with them. If they were local, I would be contacting a lawyer, too hard to do from 1000's of miles away! IMO, their HHR parts are bad quality and their customer service is horrible. They are unethical and difficult to deal with. They can't even keep their stories straight!

Now that all is said and done. I'm very happy with my car. Knowing what I know now, if I had to do it again, I would NOT deal with Teazer. Maybe they are a company that you have to be there to get quality product/service. I can only speak about my experience, which was a complete mess.

 

Wow! Sorry to hear your makeover was such a mess. At least you can look at your ride and smile, becouse it looks GREAT, regardless of how it got there.

 

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. I had thought about trying to save up some money for the same bumpers you got, but after what you said, I think I'll wait until more options open up.

Thanks for the business review and possibly preventing this from happening to somebody else (i.e. ME). Again sorry to hear about the bad times.

 

Thanks for this write up, Mike.

I believe every word of it, based on my various and previous experiences with "glass" aftermarket parts companies. And your experiences, ran parallel to mine.

As I mentioned a while back, when there was preliminary discussion of doing a group order on custom hoods.....I am very particulair about who, how and what is done to create the parts.....based on these exposures.

Oh, it is common practice within the FG parts industry to claim damages in shipment. That way the trucking company, through a possible insurer, pays for a poorly produced part. It's fraud....but they do it.

Sorry for your troubles...but, again, BOB looks awesome and I'm hoping your "problems" are over.

 

Hey Mike, Thanks for sharing the gory details. It never fails, when working with glass or carbon, nothing ever fits like it is supposed to. You sometimes have to wonder what they used for a plug, because it doesn't match what I've got. I know that I have spent weeks trying to make something fit with a minimum of bondo, only to find out that it just will not work.

Given all your problems, I'm glad that you were able to work through them because you have a very nice looking ride. Your shop is to be congratulated because they did a first class job. Way to go!

Regards,
Pat

 

Thanks all.

I was really disapointed in the product but even more so of their unwillingness to deal with it. And getting two different stories on the hood shows me that they can't be trusted.

 

If items arrived damaged, wouldent insurance with the delivery carrier cover the replacement(s) cost?

I am wondering because I too am considering the Teazer kits.

 

From what I was told by Teazer, they get the minimum insurance and it wasn't enough to cover it. They use a freight company. I didn't see the hood, but I was there when the crate with the bumpers was opened, and I can tell you they were NOT packed well. We contacted them, Teazer, right away. At that time the only issue we knew about were two small cracks that could have been repaired easily. The hood was refused, so it went back the same day.

Didn't know the front bumper was bowed out until well into the project and it was test fitted. We called them again and they authorized my shop to fix it. Rather than be stalled for 3-4 weeks waiting for a new bumper. They refused to ship a new bumper or replacement hood until the originals were received.

If you are going to use them, which I'd be wary of doing, I'd have them do the work at their shop and get it in writing exactly what the install will cost.

My shop told me that where the bondo was on the front bumper was in the crucial places where it attaches to the car. It would only have been a matter of time before it cracked and fell off.

BTW, the cut-outs for the fogs are NOT the same size as the oem. I had to use a new set of fogs.

 

With the cost of those parts I'm utterly amazed. I really liked this part "She then told me that the people they deal with aren't concerned about cost, they just want the work done."

 

Ouch! At least you have one Bad A$$ HHR now to make up for the wait!