Review #1

[DG]

I nailed a 20+ pound raccoon at about 50MPH in my NSX, causing some damage to my front end and fender. Specifically, the upper nose was irreparably cracked, as was the lower fairing to which the spoiler lip attaches. Beneath the surface, most of the support brackets were bent, causing noticeable panel misalignment. Finally, the passenger-side fender was pulled up and away from the hood about 1/4 inch, and it had a stress bulge at the flare. Needless to say, I was discouraged at the prospect of having body work done to my car.

Fortunately, I recently met Glenn and Dave Davis, of Davis Acura fame. I showed the damage to Dave at our Bridgehampton track event, and he suggested bringing the car to his shop for his body man to have a look. Beforehand, I had my insurance company look at the car, and they basically said "we'll pay whatever it needs to be properly fixed." This turned out to be not quite true (as I'll explain below), but it convinced me to find the best possible person to fix the car.

Davis does not have their own body shop on-site, but they have a close business affiliation with Neshaminy Auto Body, which is run by Alan Cohen just down the road from Davis's shop in Langhorne, PA. I dropped the car off with Glenn Davis, and over the course of the next few days, I received a number of "just want to keep you posted on our progress" calls from Alan, Glenn and Dave. Sheesh! This was a lot of attention for a simple fender-bender!

As both Dave and Alan pointed out, they wanted to make sure my car was returned to its gloriously pristine state before its little coon-killing stunt. I explained that I wanted to avoid painting the fender if it could be straightened, and Alan was initially pessimistic about this. However, it turns out that his crew took my goal as a challenge, and lo and behold, they managed to straighten the fender WITHOUT a repaint. This certainly contradicted what others had told me about the impossibility of straightening aluminum body panels.

They did have to replace all the components on the nose of the car, and these had to be painted. However, the result is superb -- unless I knew the parts had been replaced, I never would have guessed that the paint was not put on at the factory. Keep in mind who's saying this: the same guy who refuses to drive his car in the rain, who obsesses over swirls, and who labors over the hand-application of Zymol's NSX wax.

I'm thrilled that my car looks as gorgeous as it did before this mishap. The total price tag for this work was about $2300, of which insurance covered ALMOST all: it turns out that they only cover a "standard" hourly rate for labor, which is sufficient for work on the average Honda. However, Neshaminy (and I expect other shops as well) charges somewhat higher rates to work at a higher level of attention to "special" cars like the NSX. So, I shelled out a couple hundred bucks extra, which IMO was well worth it.

I'm glad that after my early experiences with another Acura dealer who was, uh, a little less than customer focused ("no, we didn't maul your wheels when we replaced your tires -- you must have hit something that simultaneously gouged both the left and the right wheels under the tire lip!" and "no, we didn't drive your car over a parking barrier -- you must have done it!"), I can now offer an honest-to-goodness
recommendation for one.

Thank you Davis Acura, and thank you Neshaminy Auto Body!

Review #2

[DNG]

Bernie and Dave Davis are VERY nice guys. Got a nice lunch from the President. Talked about Dave's love of racing. If anyone knows Dave, he can talk for hours about cars! It's nice to know someone who's as much into the NSX as you are. You know you'll be   treated right. Bernie knows his stuff. They let me stay in the garage (cleaning the underside and all) while chatting about mods. I learned a great deal about the NSX and general car repair that day.

Review #3

Wed, 27 May 1998
Steve Pritchitt, Pritchitt@msn.com

I recently had the misfortune to have my 94 Green/Black 5 spd stolen, and although it was recovered the next day and had not been in a major accident it was a mess. Nearly every panel was marked, one wheel was damaged, a seat badly scratched and so on.

I took the car to Davis Acura in Langhorne, PA for repair, and they sent it to Neshamniny Auto Body where it got restored.

The entire car was resprayed, and all the damage to the interior fixed. With the help of Allen Cohen at Neshaminy handling the insurance adjuster, it cost me my deductible plus a few hundred dollars. ( The insurance company would only pay for the damaged body panels to be fixed, leaving less than a third of the car as my responsibility.)

The good news is that the work is excellent and I now have a new car with 19,000 miles on it. Everything has been done to the highest standards, and it was all handled in a thoroughly pleasant manner. The body is literally flawless and the interior like new.

Davis had to install new locks and replace a wheel, and while the car was there I thought I would have the Comptech airbox, headers, and exhaust put on. Davis mechanic , Bernie, did a superb job and I spent a very enjoyable hour or so with him looking at the inside of a gear box, and discussing the various options for improving the cars performance. This guy loves these cars, and having spent seven years working on them, knows how to get the job done right. He has just started installing six-speed gear boxes on older cars and also adding the Comptech supercharger. This may actually be the easiest way to go for maximum performance - over 400 hp with suitable breathing! And so much torque, you don't need six gears or short ratios.

In short, I can highly recommend both Neshaminy and Davis Acura. My experience has been a pleasure, and I am greatly relieved to have found somewhere to fix the car when it becomes necessary. Previously, I had tried several dealers in my area for minor repairs, and had, shall I say, some serious concerns about what I was going to do when the clutch needs replacing.

Review #3

4 Jul 1998
[DNG]

I have an Acura Dealer 5 min. from my house. I will always make the 3 HOUR drive to Davis Acura for all my major work. THEY KNOW NSX. It took Bernie 20 min to align my car. Took the one near my house 3 hours and still couldn't get it in spec.

Review #4

Mon, 27 Jul 98
[DG]

I certainly won't speak for Dave's "policy," but my experience having   them do a bunch of work on my NSX (short gears, brake pads, tires,   alignments, oil changes, etc.) is that you actually get a TRIPLE BONUS by having them work on your car:

1. Davis charges by the hour, NOT the book.
2. Bernie (their highly-experienced NSX mechanic) does things very quickly because he's worked on so many NSXs (or is it that he's had Dave's car apart so many times?!)
3. Because they KNOW NSXs, the work gets done correctly, so rework shouldn't be needed.

No, I don't get a commission for saying all these nice things about Davis Acura. What I *DO* get is highly competent work at very fair prices by decent people who know NSXs and who don't screw their customers. In 20 years of using dealers' service dapartments, I've never come across anyone as straight as the guys at Davis. It's for that reason that I   enjoy "spreading the gospel" about this exceptional Acura dealer.

Review #5

Tue, 28 Jul 1998
[DNG]

You actually get to be in the service bay watching and learning about your car as Bernie works and tells you all he knows about NSXs. Try finding a competent mechanic that's not afraid of vulturing eyes watching you take apart your pride and joy.

Review #6

Tue, 8 Dec 1998
[RLW]

Dave Davis came through with two rear Michelin Pilots, 285/35 ZR 18's, that no one else had, and fed-x'd them to me. What a guy, a gentleman and a scholar! thanks again Dave.