body shop/car advice

[kirks5oh]

guys,

 

 

my sister-in-law was rear-ended in her 60k mile, '09 fusion the other day. my brother is still waiting to hear if it is going to be totaled (apparently the trunk is smashed in at least 50%, and the idiot driver was going 40-ish, and was cited).

 

 

1) assuming its totaled, how can my brother avoid being shafted by the other driver's insurance company, who will likely try to low-ball the shit out of him, and not give them shit for it?? how does this work?? anyone with any experience in how to minimize the hassle of a situation like this?? his wife was o.k., a little sore, and thankfully uninjured (she's 4 months pregnant).

 

2) assuming its not totaled, what body shops can he take the car to, to do top-notch work. he's used kevin clifford here for previous work, and was very happy, just looking for other places as well.

 

any help would be appreciated

 

thanks

 

kirk

[Crossle]

Kevin Clifford

CG's

Mullin's Body Shop in Galloway

[TTQ B4U]

Mike at Bob Boyd Lincoln on Billingsley. They did the work on my MS3 and came highly recommended. He's Kevin's cousin. Very square guy to deal with.

 

I went there specifically because of the referral from Turbo Nova here and how it lined up with what the local PPG Rep told me of their work. They do more Pearl Paint work than anyone and I was concerned about that matching up. 120% perfect. Even Andy looked it over and concurred it was great. He just simply needs to touch up a tad bit of edges but that's typical of body shop's conservative nature regarding finishing

 

PM me if you have Questions.

[kirks5oh]

thanks guys. he's pretty bummed out. car was absolutely perfect for him. 60k miles and not a single thing wrong with it. hadn't changed anything on the car but oil

[Crossle]

thanks guys. he's pretty bummed out. car was absolutely perfect for him. 60k miles and not a single thing wrong with it. hadn't changed anything on the car but oil

 

I would want my car to be totaled if it was hit that hard. I feel like the car would just never be quite the same. Good luck to them, not a fun thing to deal with.

[Dharris89]

I've had two cars totaled that we're not my fault. To help answer question 1, the best thing is to be educated about the car that was affected. Was is a base model or a higher trim package? Spend some time on Kelly blue book (kbb.com) and play with the different options. Know the difference between private party, retail value and trade in. That will be used against you if your not careful. Also check auto trader and craigslist to find the asking prices for similar cars. I would also get multiple quotes from different shops. Quotes can range by thousands of dollars.

 

One last point is most insurance companies have a set point - say 75 percent as the breaking point for if a car is totaled. If its close, try to get it totaled. Driving around in a car like that will cost you resale value in the future. Goodluck.

[Mensan]

I would go through my own insurance (Progressive), which would give me a value we agree upon, minus the deductible. They would then go after the other ins. company, and write me a check for the deductible which they recovered for me.