So some a-hole decides to back into my car.

[TType85]

I come out to my car after work today and there is a note on the car and the lady from the building across the street comes out and tells me someone backed into my car. She got the lic plate and description of the pickup.

Damage is pretty minor (need a new header pannel, possibly grill and headlight bezel).

How much does it usually cost to have it replaced? I've already reported it to my insurance and am going to persue this person and either they or their insurance is going to pay for it. One problem is the paint on the car is pretty bad, so if they just paint the header pannel its not going to look right.

Anyone know of any good SoCal autobody shops to get estimates from?

Argh.... Merry F'n Christmas!

[J Banning]

This isn't someone local to you, but I'd definately give them a call...

gbodyparts.com
http://gbodyparts.com/contact.htm

[TType85]

Good News....

I found the guy who did it, he works in the building.

Any one work with Geico for a claim?

[aperrego]

Good News....

I found the guy who did it, he works in the building.

Any one work with Geico for a claim?


Yeah.. they are ok to deal with.. They may try to scr :SHOCKED: w you with the 87 or "regal" label.. Make sure you are firm with them..Remember thier job is to give you the least amount possible.

[TType85]

Yeah.. they are ok to deal with.. They may try to scr :SHOCKED: w you with the 87 or "regal" label.. Make sure you are firm with them..Remember thier job is to give you the least amount possible.

I'm going to go in there with multiple estimates so when they "estimate" it will be closer to reality. I will not accept less than original GM Parts.

[1badTTA]

No big deal as they will obviously give you a lower estimate than it will cost to fix but that is just to weed out the people who pocket the money. Take it to a shop of your choice and they will do a suplemental claim for the insurance company and they will pay it. It will probably work out better that way as if they already pay the shop $1500 and they file a supplement for another $2000 and they try to total it, they will have to pay you the price of the car plus the shop for the work they already performed. They will be less likely to try to total it if they will have to pay extra and in the end they will realize the actual value.

[TType85]

No big deal as they will obviously give you a lower estimate than it will cost to fix but that is just to weed out the people who pocket the money. Take it to a shop of your choice and they will do a suplemental claim for the insurance company and they will pay it. It will probably work out better that way as if they already pay the shop $1500 and they file a supplement for another $2000 and they try to total it, they will have to pay you the price of the car plus the shop for the work they already performed. They will be less likely to try to total it if they will have to pay extra and in the end they will realize the actual value.

The damage is no where near bad enough to total it out. One problem that comes up is that the paint on the car is laquer checked (f'd up) but original. There is no way to paint and make it look right w/o a whole repaint.

Looks like almost all the parts are discontinued too. Its a designers series car so its two tone and there is a pen-stripe graphic. According to one body shop I talked to, the pen-stripe decal, header panel and grill are discontinued. The bumper is also dented and will need at minimum a straighten and rechrome.

Fun Fun Fun

[1badTTA]

The faded/cracked paint really sucks as the insurance company will not under any circumstance repaint the whole car at their cost so unfortunately you will be stuck with a car with mismatched paint unless you pay for the rest of the paintjob out of pocket. You may be able to have everything fixed but not painted and just get a check for the paint work and save up untill you can afford a full repaint. It does really suck as there is no simple way to get your car back to how it was and they really don't care. Also don't be too surprised if the word "Total" does get mentioned, my TTA got hit in a parking lot and needed a new left front fender, the adjuster mentioned totaling it until the shop mentioned that I would probably accept a $20,000 check and buy the car back from them for chump change. The total not including the rental car was a little over $2,000 which would easily be enough to total a standard '89 Firebird. Should have seen the adjusters face when he found out how much the emblems go for that were quoted on the original estimate at around $50 each. LOL TTA's do have an advantage over GN's and T-Types when it comes to insurance as they have a rather high book value and the VIN shows what the car is, not just an optioned Regal.

[WakkoSS]

I'm dealing with Geico right now with my claim...someone backed into my car. My whole car is original paint, naturally I'll have to repaint the quarter and to make it match paint the roof and other quarter two. Now I'll have a bastard paintjob, so I'm going to redo the entire car and sue Geico for loss of value. They gave me $350 to fix the car, it's going to cost $1000 (I'm just paying $2000 total for the entire repair/repaint, minus what Geico gives) so they're going to work out a supplement payment. So far, no problems...but we'll see.

[TType85]

I'm dealing with Geico right now with my claim...someone backed into my car. My whole car is original paint, naturally I'll have to repaint the quarter and to make it match paint the roof and other quarter two. Now I'll have a bastard paintjob, so I'm going to redo the entire car and sue Geico for loss of value. They gave me $350 to fix the car, it's going to cost $1000 (I'm just paying $2000 total for the entire repair/repaint, minus what Geico gives) so they're going to work out a supplement payment. So far, no problems...but we'll see.

I don't know how their going to value the repair on this one as the parts are discontinued. I'm going to have to repaint the whole car or else it will look like ass. I think I might just paint it all black instead of the two-tone (WH1).

$350? Talk about a low-ball offer. Pisses me off that even though my car had bad paint it all matched and looked right, now because some asshole backs into me I have to put out $$ I can't really afford to paint the whole car.

[1badTTA]

Seeing as it is someone elses insurance paying, make sure you have a rental car. It is good leverage as they will not want the car sitting as long if they are paying for the rental by the day. Also, if the paint doesn't match complain and don't be afraid to bring it back. They are responsible for getting your car to the condition it was in before the accident so don't settle for a half assed job.

BTW, told you Geico would throw out a low ball estimate to begin with.