[JRSully]

I have been down this road:
1. car shows up at body shop , owner of shop "eager" to get going on it
2. Daily collision work starts piling up, your car gets pushed aside with owner stating " as soon as we get some time we'll get back on it" never happens
3. workers at the shop (who probably would do 99% of the work) have 0 interest in your car and are gone @ 5, if the owner tells them to do something on it, they will, if not they won't even look at it, now it starts collecting dirt and parts from other cars on top of it.
4. You start complaining to the owner that nothing is getting done and he gets pissed off listening to you. Now you have disgruntled owner and employees having less than an enthusiastic attitude towards you and your car
5. Years go by and it is still not done, parts start disappearing because in those years customers/people in the shop will know what is it and start snooping around.
6. Thought you might save some $$ by having a local body shop handle it, years continue to go by and you still have no car

Bottom line- get it to someone who will finish it timely, correctly and treat you with respect. It may cost a bit more but you will be DRIVING and ENJOYING your car instead of driving to the body shop to make sure nothing has been done. I went through this nightmare and it never works out. My.02