Getting bodywork done on GN through insurance, have ?

[BLACK6PACK]

Long story short, the roof of my carport fell on my car and scratched up the GN pretty bad, hood is dented in and probably toast. I've taken it to Geico's local office and got an estimate ($2300 - $500). Wasn't happy with that, so I took it to a Geico approved dealership to get another estimate. The estimate from the 1st go-round was almost a complete repaint. I also want to get a few rust spots taken care of, and when I mentioned this to the guy at the dealership, he was kinda wishy washy. I didn't get a good vibe from him. Plus it's 3 weeks before I can even get the car in for a real estimate from the dealership. So, I want to take the GN to a real body shop, not a dealership. Anybody know the proper route to take to get my GN to a body shop after getting the estimate from their approved dealership?

 

[klrv6]

Will they let you?

Will your insurance company allow you to choose who does the work? Some have it in their policy that you have to go where they say. You could easily fight it by scaring the dealership or whoever about just how picky you are about body work.

My S10 was hit a few months after I bought it. Not a pretty sight. My insurance company made me get estimates from approved shops, I then got three other estimates from the better shops around. To the tune of $5700 more than the dealer, they cut me a check after two months of going back and forth about what the damage really was. My wife called our insurance agent and implied we would drop them (never having claims before) if she didn't help resolve the problem.

Most of the money really went to a down payment on our house. I took about a grand and picked a few things up for the truck. I finally got around to fixing all the damage plus a few fun things. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/turbo-lounge/240222-hey-cheap-paint-thread.html

Take someone with you that knows body work. My S10 was very much under factory warranty so I had the better shops add for having someone from one of the better stereo shops come out and remove the sub box so they could apply undercoating to the inside of the cab where they would be putting a few spot welds in. Attention to detail like that scares most high production shops because they see nothing but problems down the road if they are made to do the work. That is why they don't want to perform rust repair. There isn't a ton of cash in it for them.

 

[KevinB]

I just went through this after I hit a dear with my Buick.

By law, you can go to any body shop you want. I went to 2 shops and used the highest bid for mine. Since I do not have a lien on the car, my insurance cut me a check for the damage. I then took that money and fixed it myself and had a buddy paint it for me. With the extra money, I was able to fix a few other things to.

 

[klrv6]

It is the law but...

They sure try to convince you otherwise. They act like it is your fault, even when it's not. I was actually fairly nice to the adjuster. This one dude hit eleven cars one morning. All but two of us were with the same insurance company. The guy who caused the accident was with my insurance company. I was nice, but didn't give them too much slack when it came time to pay.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

The original adjuster was a tool. He asked me "do you know why they stopped making these?" I was thinking "oh no, not one of those guys!" Sure enough, according to him, the design of the motor was done by someone not from GM and that once the contract he had with GM ran out, GM could no longer make the motor. I asked, "it wasn't because they stopped making the RWD regal?"

The only thing not on the estimate was bumpers. I'll take it to the bentley/ferrari body shop just down the road.

 

[klrv6]

Funny you should say that.

The only thing not on the estimate was bumpers. I'll take it to the bentley/ferrari body shop just down the road.

A few years ago there was a GN that sat between two Ferrari convertibles up here. It was at this place name Black Horse in Lexington, KY. The GN had a little work done to it by a guy not far from my house. Black Horse eventually went bankrupt when they were sued by Jaguar for fraudulent warranty claims. They used to perform this *mod* for $1200 to Jaguars, that was nothing more than removing the intake air baffles and driving the crap out of the car for an hour. Customers would pick their car up and were always impressed because they could just hear how much more powerful the engine was. Funny stuff...

At least you were kind enough not to have them foot the bill for a roll back to drive your car to these shops. I've seen that a few times. And wearing out the rental car policy

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I think they should take that into consideration. I have 4 cars in my driveway, so I don't need rental car reimbursement and I'm paying to insure 4 cars. My brother is in town (Kevin B kinda knows him - Yellow TSM car) so he is able to help me move the car around, otherwise I'd be having it towed.

Any other advice when speaking with the bodyshop? When I mentioned to the guy at the dealership that I want a couple of other things fixed, he just started mumbling.

 

[klrv6]

I avoid dalerships.

For the most part the dealership is the last place you would want to go. Avoid any high production shops. They will put material on your car that I would only put on my lawn mower. If they go base coat clear coat, I'm willing to bet that they use high production clear so they get your car out of the booth faster. High production clear has two problems #1 it is very yellow because of binders that allow it to dry/cure so fast #2 it dries/cures so fast that mechanical bond to the substrate is always in question. Paints bond mechanically and chemically to the previous layer. Just act rather obnoxious (just a little) and ask all kinds of questions. Then tell the adjuster that they were unwilling to answer all your question and you are very uncomfortable with the thought of taking your car there. Then go to a local shop in which you have seen good work come out of.

If you don't know of any shops, ask some of the car enthusiasts around your area. There is one just south of Lexington that from the outside (ignoring all the custom cars) you wouldn't think of taking your car to. This guy is one of the few people in history to have a car he painted on display in the Museum Of Fine Arts. Go to someone that uses the latest paint technology and knows what you are driving and that it isn't just another wreck.

When I worked in a body shop, I always loved working on the cool cars. I knew that even though we wouldn't make a killing on the work. Deep down I knew my paint job was going to be taken care of. Those are the kind of body men you want working on your car. Yes, there were those that had more money than they knew what to do with, sometimes you could just tell how much a person loved their car and they wanted the work done right. I even got a $200 tip because the owner was so impressed with the way his ZX11 turned out. He was so very picky and even he agreed that his request for perfection was a little extreme. I told him I wouldn't call him to pick it up until I was happy with the work I had done.

I know it hurts to see your car like that.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

Yeah, the guy acted like he was surprised I was asking questions. I think he thought I was gonna drop the car off and let them take care of it like any other client with a camry.

I'm not looking to do a $5000 paint job. Just want it to look good. The car has 200k miles on it, and is in decent shape, but for this car to be worthy of a $5k paint job, it would need a body off restoration done. I've had the car for close to 10 years, so its a balancing act between spending more than its worth, and making myself happy with the results.

 

[KevinB]

I think they should take that into consideration. I have 4 cars in my driveway, so I don't need rental car reimbursement and I'm paying to insure 4 cars. My brother is in town (Kevin B kinda knows him - Yellow TSM car) so he is able to help me move the car around, otherwise I'd be having it towed.

Any other advice when speaking with the bodyshop? When I mentioned to the guy at the dealership that I want a couple of other things fixed, he just started mumbling.

Your Tim's brother? I didn't know that. Did Ronnie make it down there too

Tell Tim I said hi, and to make sure his harness is installed next time he goes to the track He'll know what I'm talking about:biggrin:

 

[BLACK6PACK]

Yes, unfortunately for him, I got him into the buicks about 3-4 years ago. I had a 400+ rwhp GN back then and he bought the 300 rwhp yellow T. A few years later, and I have the same 400+ rwhp GN and he has a 700-800+ rwhp yellow T. Don't really know what he's pushing.

So you've had the pleasure of meeting Squeek (ronnie)? He's a real serious quiet guy isn't he.