In a minor accident could use some advise

I don't have any real experience dealing with insurance and accidents so I thought I'd post here to get some advise. The last time I was in an accident I was in high school and my car was totaled so I just got a check and bought a new car. There were no repairs to deal with or anything like that.

On Friday afternoon I was waiting for my wife and a guy in a black Ford Edge backed into my parked car. Luckily I was in my car and was able to call the police so everything is documented and I shouldn't have any increase in insurance or anything like that. :dita:

Both myself and the other driver have Allstate so hopefully things will go fairly smoothly.

The damage isn't too bad, mostly to my front bumper, but my hood and grill are scuffed up a bit. The impact was on the passenger side and now the headlight is pushed in about 1/2" and now the bumper no longer lines up with my hood and fenders. At a minimum the bumper will have to be straightened and repainted.

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb393/soloz210/Nov%2018%202011%20Accident/IMG_0930.jpg

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb393/soloz210/Nov%2018%202011%20Accident/IMG_0823.jpg

Here's a close up of the main area of paint chips

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb393/soloz210/Nov%2018%202011%20Accident/IMG_0799.jpg

Any body shops I should look into or avoid? Anything I should say or not say to the insurance adjuster when they come?

Deal ONLY with his insurance. If you involve your policy then it will eventually find it's way into your premiums down the road.

Make sure whatever body shop does the work it's guaranteed, bumper painting can rear it's ugly head down the road, especially when the seasons change because they don't use enough elasticisor (sp?) so the paint cracks off the plastic bumper.

-mike

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AIM: AZP Installs | E-mail: paisan@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber

"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

^^what he said.

Also, if you go through your insurance, your deductible applies. If you go through his, there is no deductible since it is covered under his liability policy.

We both have allstate so I gave his policy and everything should be under his policy.

The adjuster is supposed to call sometime between today and Wednesday to set up a time to come look at my car. Should I try and have a couple estimates beforehand?

Deal ONLY with his insurance. If you involve your policy then it will eventually find it's way into your premiums down the road.

 

Make sure whatever body shop does the work it's guaranteed, bumper painting can rear it's ugly head down the road, especially when the seasons change because they don't use enough elasticisor (sp?) so the paint cracks off the plastic bumper.

 

-mike

 

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/91072632.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/133406601.jpg http://upload.pbase.com/image/137566671.jpg Call directly for your best Whiteline Price! | We also carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us.

AIM: AZP Installs | E-mail: paisan@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber

"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

Hmmm..... When we got rear ended twice with the Tribeca, we just gave our insurance a call and let them handle it. The first time we had it towed to the dealer and they organized the adjuster to view it and then they fixed it.

The second time we just dropped it off at the local approved body shop and they just fixed it w/o the adjuster.

No change in premiums. I figured that is why we pay for insurance so let them do their job. We have NJM and never had any issues. We did have to pay the deductible up front, but once the claim was all figured out, they sent us a check refunding the deductible.

I asked allstate lots of questions both on the phone and to the adjuster and was told each time that everything would be under the other party's policy and it wouldn't affect my premiums at all.

I have an appointment to get my car fixed at Austin-Spencer Collision in Victor. They do all Van Bortel Subaru's body work and seemed the best up front. I'll drop my car off on Monday afternoon and pick it up on Friday.

Hmmm..... When we got rear ended twice with the Tribeca, we just gave our insurance a call and let them handle it. The first time we had it towed to the dealer and they organized the adjuster to view it and then they fixed it.

 

The second time we just dropped it off at the local approved body shop and they just fixed it w/o the adjuster.

 

No change in premiums. I figured that is why we pay for insurance so let them do their job. We have NJM and never had any issues. We did have to pay the deductible up front, but once the claim was all figured out, they sent us a check refunding the deductible.

NJM is probably an exception to the rule. If your company doesn't know about it it's always better cause they can't hold it against you.

-mike

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/91072632.jpg http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/133406601.jpg http://upload.pbase.com/image/137566671.jpg Call directly for your best Whiteline Price! | We also carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us.

AIM: AZP Installs | E-mail: paisan@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber

"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

I picked my car up Friday around 4:40pm form Austin-Spencer. I had wanted to get it earlier so I could look at it in daylight, but they weren't done with it yet.

I got it home only to find several issues...

1. Passenger side is still not properly aligned with the hood.

2. Scratch on the hood not buffed out

3. Wheel well liner not properly installed on both sides

4. Grill not properly painted

5. Paint & what looks like clear coat on both headlights so they didn't remove the bumper to paint it like they were supposed to.

6. Driver side fog delete not properly clipped in and paint chipped around the lower clip

7. Deer signals not even remotely centered and one is out significantly farther than the other.

8. Poppits all jacked up

I'll get some pictures posted, but what would be the best way about getting these items properly resolved?

Link to pictures: http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb393/soloz210/Nov%2018%202011%20Accident/Austin-Spencer%20Repair%20Issues/

Ugh, I feel your pain. At least you caught it early. When I had my rear bumper done, it was during the winter so all the salt/grime covered the orange-peel-ish paint and I got uneven gaps underneath my tail lights where the bumper is supposed to meet.

Didn't see all this until months later when I finally could detail it. Boy was that a disappointment.

Good luck with you, though, since you caught it early. I hope you get yours properly fixed. If not, only you would notice the imperfections

I picked my car up Friday around 4:40pm form Austin-Spencer. I had wanted to get it earlier so I could look at it in daylight, but they weren't done with it yet.

 

I got it home only to find several issues...

 

1. Passenger side is still not properly aligned with the hood.

2. Scratch on the hood not buffed out

3. Wheel well liner not properly installed on both sides

4. Grill not properly painted

5. Paint & what looks like clear coat on both headlights so they didn't remove the bumper to paint it like they were supposed to.

6. Driver side fog delete not properly clipped in and paint chipped around the lower clip

7. Deer signals not even remotely centered and one is out significantly farther than the other.

8. Poppits all jacked up

 

 

I'll get some pictures posted, but what would be the best way about getting these items properly resolved?

 

Link to pictures: http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb393/soloz210/Nov%2018%202011%20Accident/Austin-Spencer%20Repair%20Issues/

Looks like they used aftermarket body parts. Your best option at this point is to drop the car off to them and have them redo it until you are pleased with it.

This is between you and the body shop at this point.

Nothing should have been replaced. They were supposed to pull the bumper cover and repaint it then reinstall it. I don't know how they got paint on the headlights unless they didn't take the bumper cover off.

They're just over an hour away (went there as they were supposed to be good) so I'm going to call them. I'll have to set up a time I can take my car back. At this point I'll be making notes of my time and mileage too.

Edit: just called and they said to bring it back. I'll be going on Thursday as that's when I can go without taking time off work.

Thought I should post how things ended up.

I dropped my car off 8am last Monday the 12th. Austin-Spencer got me a rental and away I went. I hadn't heard anything so I called on Thursday for a status update and was informed that they had trouble removing the plastidip on my grill so they could repaint it and ordered me a new grill and my car would be done Friday afternoon. I asked to have my old grill put in my trunk and requested I be able to inspect my car inside under the lights.

Friday when I stopped to pick up my car they had fixed the scratch in the bumper and fixed my grill, but the original emblem with L7 overlay is still MIA, they didn't fix the alignment of the bumper and they somehow chipped one of my freshly painted wheels. I also noticed that the monkeys who washed my car put lots of fine swirls in the paint...

At this point I just wanted my car back and didn't want them to have it one more minute! I got $10 cash to cover the cost of a new can of paint to fix my wheel and a gift certificate for their mid-range auto detail (which is currently posted on craigslist)

All in all I wish they would have done the job right the first time. I don't think I would recommend them to anyone, but at the same time they aren't the worst body shop out there... I do think next time I need work done I'll go elsewhere though.

I still need to contact insurance to see about getting a new L7 emblem overlay etc.

My wife bought me a Griot's Garage 6" DA polisher for Christmas so come spring I'll be able to do a full buff myself. Hoping to pick up some polish and pads with funds received from the sale of the GC.