#1 You’ve got to be reasonable, which I think you are despite the assumptions being made in here. If a reconditioned part is adequate, and often it is, then it is adequate. If it isn’t it isn’t. #2 For things like the frame make it clear to the repairing shop that they are responsible for properly fixing your car and you will make their life hell if they half ass a safety measure. It is the insurance company’s obligation to pay, it is the repair shop’s job to give you a properly repaired car. The shop won’t want to take on the liaibility of a safety risk because the insurance company won’t pay. #3 Keep in mind that adjusters and insurance agents are often bottom rung schmucks that don’t care and don’t have any authority. Even just one step up the ladder can get you a lot more results. Bitch higher, not louder.
How you figure my point is moot. If you own a z06, your gonna care that your frame got twisted. A dodge neon owner, probably not so much. So point proven. As Jay pointed out also, good luck when it comes time to sell and it shows up on the carfax. I know I went to go look at a mustang and the guy didn’t disclose it was in an accident. Carfax came up as it being in a wreck, well you can be sure I walked from the deal.
There is just so many things that can go against you that i don’t know how you can argue its just greedy america. Replacing quarter panels is not cheap or easy. So would you be ok having a quarter that got smashed in, pulled out, and mudded over? Doesn’t seem like an equal replacement to me if your car entered the collision shop with no bondo on it. What if you have a red car thats pretty sun faded. Instead of having one solid faded color, now you have a bright red blended into a faded red. But who cares because you got equal value replacement parts right.
i dont care what you think from here on out. do you.
---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 PM ----------
didnt see this at first. thats all that needed to be said. also, its fairly easy to get supplements if you ask the tech/manager. they can persuade the adjuster with llittle effort.
An honest collision shop is what he needs - they will be able to handle the insurance. The debate on Insurance companies is pretty moot - they aren’t going to bicker over a few hundred dollars on a car repair to get adequate parts and insure the safety of the occupants. They don’t want to risk the pay out of 2 million dollars coverage freek probably has in case of loss of life or severe injury in an accident.
I’ve personally had good luck with Schmidts in the area. Aero is supposed to be good too. GL on the repair.
The US is pretty crazy on this issue of liability after a collision repair. Your safety arguement is valid and if you cite legal cases or articles about legislation you should be able to get the new OEM parts that you want.
My understanding is that Progressive is very aggressive with cost containment, and that is core to this case. They do not want to put new OEM on the car because it costs more than LKQ (Like Kind and Quality) and that is the only reason. If they push aftermarket parts then make sure they are CAPA certified.
I expect you’ll also have a hard time finding a body shop that will agrue wtih Progressive. If they do they are not likely to be directed much work by Progressive. If you’re in Rochester try Sterling Collsion. That’s the nearest Sterling to you and they are owned by Allstate and wont give a shit about Progressive claims managers.
It’s true that they could pull the “our estimate says $X,000 and that is all we’re paying” but you can get around that too if you press hard enough.
If all else fails… tell them your back just started hurting
Yea, I’m assuming your in Buffalo… don’t know any good shops around here, luckily I haven’t needed one. As for if you somehow are in Rochester, Emerson Collision in Greece; My Brother is their lead tech/shop foreman there. He KNOWS his shit, been doing this for going on 30 years now.
Not going to happen. A used OEM part is just as safe as the used OEM parts that were on his 10 year old truck prior to the crash. If you’re going to cry the safety aspect over used parts you have to explain how you felt safe in the used car to begin with.
If the frame is bent or there is something that really does make the car less safe though any insurance company or body shop will be all over that because of the massive legal liability they assume when they put you back behind the wheel of an unsafe car. But again, that’s why you take it to a respected shop who will look at the frame and make sure to use top quality LKQ parts.
I don’t have time to read the entire thread but this topic always amazes me.
“I got in an accident and I want brand new parts” or “I want my aftermarket parts replaced” or whatever it happens to be… usually the thread was preceded by “I just saved $50/yr by switching to Progressive”
It is also pretty clear what the law states where you live. In GA you get a check for diminished value, but its pretty lame, esp. if you have any miles on your car.
I completely agree with this, and it’s a constant issue when shit like this happens. There’s often a value to you that is lost in this shit. Simple example, my fiance’s car was just rear ended, pushed in the bumper, trunk won’t open, frame damage, all that. They want to give us like 900. What the fuck am I going to do with 900? This was a perfectly great and road worthy car (with next to no rust) that drove us to NYC and back about 15 times per year, with an ice cold A/C cranking the whole way. what am I going to find her for 900 that can do that?
There really is something to the difference between the cheaper insurance companies and the ones you’ll pay more for.
I can’t say enough about how great State Farm is. Got into an accident? Drop the car off at an authorized body shop (many to choose from) and they just fix the car without an appraiser ever looking at it. I did this twice with my Z; each time they replaced everything with new parts and even aftermarket parts like my exhaust. All I needed to do was show them where to buy it. And when the car came out and there were a few flaws I wasn’t happy with, they took it right back in and re-did it the next day.
A few years back when I got hit, I took my truck right to caruba collision up on transit since I was literally 2 minutes away. They wrote up the estimate took the insurance stuff that I had gotten from the person that hit me and it was done.
They repaired everything with OEM stuff and they had to repaint/decal some stuff, brand new OEM rim, etc.
Their insurance didn’t tell me where or who had to fix my truck. This was like 5 years ago, so I don’t know if things have changed or not, but that is how I understood everything.
The aftermarket parts thing I think is a fair argument, though… If you had a 15,000 dollar ming vase mounted securely in the back seat and it was destroyed in the accident, I think it would be covered by the property damage clause of the other’s insurance, right? Why would a part bolted to your car be any different?
How is that lame? If I had a 99 BMW with 160,000 miles with no accident I’m going to get X amount of money for it when I sell it (Say blue book). If I had a 99 BMW with 160,000 miles and an accident on record, I’m going to get X(blue book) minus perceived diminished value of the car being in an accident regardless if the car looks and works flawless. People deserve to be compensated for loss caused by another persons negligence.
By the context I’m guessing he means the amount is lame, aka, you get a check for $500 for something that will probably effect the sale price by considerably more.
Because the language specifically states that aftermarket parts that aren’t specifically added to the policy aren’t covered? I’d like to insure my car based on value X, I’m going to go make changes to that without telling you (and without paying for the increase in premium) yet expect you to insure it?
They’ll insure whatever you pay them to.
This…
Edit:
Everyone seems to forget that insurance companies are in the business of making money, this is capitalism, not communist Russia. If you want your car to be repaired, then don’t cheap out on insurance. If you don’t want to pay high rates, don’t complain when you get crummy service, poor repairs, and hosed on value. I know plenty of people that have had accidents and have had zero issues with the repairs or checks they got for totaled vehicles…. Most of them probably weren’t scouring the internet for the lowest possible monthly rate they could find though. I have no idea why people feel so entitled in this arena.
It depends on who’s at fault though. If I wreck my car because of my own negligence the insurance company should only cover my aftermarket parts if I elected to list them specifically on my policy and pay the additional money the insurance company would then charge for collision. If on the other hand you wreck my car through no fault of mine your insurance company should be responsible for putting my vehicle back to pre-accident condition, even if that means a bunch of expensive aftermarket non-oem parts. Their client is at fault and has been paying insurance to cover negligence.
Understandable, but what if you were driving home with an aftermarket ECU that you just bought, still in the box, and it gets smashed in an accident.
I’m not trying to dispute a clause that they have, but it’s kind of funny that it works like that.
Also, I think most insurance companies will replace smaller or single aftermarket items… In no way am I trying to argue that a 96 civic with 25 grand in it should be covered for 25 grand while paying a 60 dollar a month premium.
The other drivers coverage limits for liabilities apply just like anything else. If he damaged your $300k Bentley and only had $100k in liability, all you are going to get all day long from that insurance company is $100k.
Is it fair? Not so much, but that’s why you have your insurance. It is also why I vomit when I think about people carrying state minimum coverage limits. Sure, you can go after them, but lots of fun that will be. In most cases, your insurance will do it for you, since they’ll be the one footing the bill. So in your example, doucher A wrecks your modified Civic that you as a responsible individual went and insured for all of the extra value you had put in to it. His insurance caps out long before your money is recouped, so your insurance will cover that for you (since you have the right insurance) and then they will fight the other insurance company and the individual to reclaim that cost.
---------- Post added at 11:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 AM ----------
Again, this more often than not comes down to customer service. If you have good insurance, receipts, and aren’t asking for a replacement part that is 10 times the cost of what they’d get an OEM for, then it will likely be covered without extra coverage. If you’re a doucher, and have $10k of extra parts on your $10k WRX, then I really don’t have much sympathy for you. The problem is, most people cheap out on insurance, most people don’t want to add the appropriate riders to their coverage, most people don’t want to make sure they have appropriate coverage limits and most people then complain that they (rightfully) got screwed.
If you had some cherry e30 that was worth a lot to you, you can very easily call the insurance company and have it covered for more than the standard rate if you want to. Most people think they should get some magic exception though. “Hey, I was paying for insurance based on the assumption by you that my car, like all other 1990 Tercels, was worth $500… in reality it had 10 miles and was worth more, but I didn’t bother to point that out, so I’m made when you only want to pay to repair my $500 car, and not the high value super mint pussy bomb I didn’t tell you I had.”
Just to go back to this for a second. If you are at fault and in an accident, in most cases your personal property that is in the car is NOT covered under your comprehensive policy. If someone else causedit, then it would be either by their property damage liability, or your uninsured motorist policy. Your personal goods in an at-fault accident would need to be covered by your homeowners policy in most cases. YMMV, check your policy.
I slid my car off the road.
I destroyed the passenger side including aftermarket exhaust.
I paid my deductible and insurance covered all my parts including aftermarket ones.
Get a different insurance company / policy or at least read your liability from your specific company. :gotme:
