what is an audi cert shop? an audi certified shop I take it?
The Audi dealerships in Buffalo aren’t certified?
there are equipment and training requirements to reach audi certifcation for their collision program.
often times dealerships do not own or operate body shops so the program has to be third party and it is administrated by VW/Audi themselves at the corporate level.
even if an audi dealer does have a body shop they are not automatically certified, they have to have the required equipment and training and procedures etc. It cost quite a bit and requires pretty sophisticated leadership to stay certified.
once certiifed they tend to have access to other data, information and parts.
for example, in tesla’s certified collision program only the shops that meet certain standards can buy structural parts or get access to certain repair information. same with BMW’s program.
in this way it prevents unqualfied facilities from carrying out certain repair procedures on the cars and putting them back on the roads without the dealer or the OE knowing that they have been repaired improperly.
these programs are going to get more sophisticated. they have to keep pace with the sophistication of the vehicles themselves.
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Thanks for the clarification, makes sense especially when dealing with their higher end vehicles.
Yeah, too bad the nearest one is in a suburb north of Syracuse. Not exactly convenient. Zack sends a lot of business to his guy and is confident in him so I’m sure I’m fine. That he’s taking his M5 there for a carbon roof repair speaks a lot to his confidence in their skills. Besides, it’s an S5 that needs a new door and maybe a new rear quarter, not an R8 with major frame or structural damage. Had the damage gotten into the way over-complicated convertible top I’d be debating hard about taken it to the Audi certified shop in Cicero though, just because I’m sure dealing with those isn’t something many shops have experience with.
EDIT: Here’s a video with the data capture for the top’s operation… fucking Germans:
i agree, your repair is mid. not necessarily requiring a certified shop.
i was just taking the opportunity to pretend to be cool
Man, now Ima have to do the Sebring like that.
Anyone wanna take a guess at the initial estimate before I post it?
$8,500
$15k
Well, it’s between the two of you.
$13226
Holy crap, does that total the car? I’d just keep the money and drive it with a banged up door. I bet you can find a door used.
Dealer retail is 23-24k so no, still a ways from being totaled. The rear quarter alone is 3k just for the part.
I can’t even comprehend prices anymore.
Take the money and buy carbon panels lol
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it’s going to get waaay worse.
wtf
I would have gone price is right rules and said $1 
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Looks like State Farm and the shop went back and forth a bit and now it’s at $11,386.40.
Of course once they start tearing into it they always find something else. This is all going off just the walk-around inspection/picture taking that was done. No one has even tried to open the passenger’s door yet, because once we do it likely won’t close again and then the car won’t be driveable.
EDIT: I don’t think there’s any reason I shouldn’t post the details of the estimate. If someone thinks of a reason I shouldn’t PM me and I’ll delete it.
lol $25 each for fender liner fasteners. Isn’t it crazy that the diagnostic labor is over 2x the body and paint labor per hour. I somewhat understand that because you kinda have to comb tooth and nail to determine what all needs to be fixed but it’s looking/scanning/touching versus actually doing.
I’m a bit confused by Paint Supplies being 13.9 hours and an hourly rate in general?
The whole thing kinda blows my mind. No wonder insurance is so expensive. It also explains why there are SO MANY R title cars when you’re looking at used cars. Tons of cars getting totaled out with not that bad damage.
I got into an accident over a decade ago in a 2004 Galant. Sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn left and a speeding 350z ran into someone turning left towards my direction and the it careened off of her and hit me. Had to replace drivers front suspension, fender, radiator front bumper, headlight and hood repair. It was $7500 worth of damage/paint/labor and they didn’t total out the car (It was worth 9-10K max at the time, 6 year old car).
Some of the prices for OEM parts, you can actually get carbon parts for nearly the same price. Example: BOTH doors for my C6 Z06 in carbon are $3500. Granted these are race parts and not meant for the road but you get the point which is why I made the carbon joke earlier. Obviously that doesn’t include the interior part of the door if that was damaged but still.