Heavy. Heavy tears. (Spock voice) - So I just finished - enough work to get a decent alignment on my car. Everything tight and straight. New tires. Driver front lower control arm done. Front inner and outer tie rods done both sides. Rear sway bar bushings and links done. Rear shocks done. Nobody wanted to do the alignment. One place - you need new front struts. Another place- your axle is leaking. (gonna have to do a write up on how to seal a leaky axle boot and ball joint dust boot if my fix lasts - NJ to Ct and back still good!) - rear brake rotors and pads - Did all this work and finally got a competent/capable/confident shop to line it up - just to have someone hit me the very next day! ARGH! anyone know a good body shop in NJ? Need to make sure my suspension is still good in the back. Not too bad of a hit. Parking lot nonsense. Person just going along at a good clip - not paying attention and got too close - then turned right into me! Looks like mostly tire hit me. It was an suv sooo.. rear driver side (left rear for my British audience) door and front of the rear quarter smashed just in front of the wheel. Rim got a little scratched too. looked underneath and nothing seems obviously bent. Insurance won't fix. SUCKS! Now I teeter on keeping or getting rid of. Any of you have a good experience with a body shop in NJ? NY? CT? PA? I guess I'd travel for the peace of mind of getting good work done for a good price.

 

Meouch, I am curious why the insurance won't fix your car. Worst case, you take the person that hit you to court and get the money out of them that way. If you were all in the right, then it should be a very easy case to make to whoever is going to pick up the tab on this bill. It shouldn't be you.

 

If it is the other driver's fault, their insurance company is on the hook. If it was a major retailer, call their security folks and get the video.

 

Yeah. It is weird that my ins company is being so tight fisted when it's really not their bill...

 

Meouch, first off, you shouldn't be going through your insurance company to get it fixed. You should be going through the person that hit you's insurance company. I can see where you will get a little bit of "do we really have to" attitude. Now, a good insurance agent/worker will be happy to keep the customer happy and be the middle man in this. But, sounds like you found Mr. Grumpy when you called. Hopefully you got the person's info and their insurance company. Give them a call and see what happens.

 

Yeah - I could go through theirs... but I chose to make my ins co work for me... thought since I'm their client - they'd treat me better - have my best interest... anyway - you guys can probably see my X on ebay soon cuz I aint got time for this...

 

The only thing you accomplish by going through your own carrier as a first resort is the ding in your file that results in a premium increase. I can only imagine this is even MORE true as a general statement for those of you on the East Coast...

What SHOULD have occurred was to go through the other carrier, and THEN (and only then) if they didn't pay up in some form or fashion, let your carrier pick up the ball and run with it.

Granted, much also depends on what level of coverage you have...basic liability doesn't get you coverage on something like this. Your collision coverage or possibly uninsured motorist coverage would be the two most likely areas under which to seek the payment, after which they would then use their legal department to pursue the other driver and/or their carrier.

I would also add that the unfortunate reality with the cars of our vintage (I use that term loosely) is that they have next to no book value when it comes to damage claims...as such, it takes very little for them to become a total loss in the eyes of the carrier. Of the car is still drivable, then you can always go to a shop on your own and see what they quote the repairs at, paying extra attention to letting them know you want a cash price where there is no insurance carrier stepping in or otherwise muddying the waters. Do not be shocked if you get a different number than the adjuster prepared...adjusters include a lot of stuff to 'make it right' that does not actually need to be done to get you on the road again.

By example, my '91 Miata was hit in a parking lot just hard enough to put a dent in the fender...but the adjuster wrote it in a manner that practically repainted more than half of the car- not just the fender, but also the hood and nose plus part of the door so that it was properly blended. And, although the estimate included a new alignment, that too was not necessary since there had been no change to the settings I had previously spec'ed...