A Firetruck hit my car, while it was parked. (PICS)
11-28-10, 10:00 AM
#18
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Ouch, sorry to hear that.
Funny story though, back 5 years ago when i was in high school, a buddy of mine got pulled over and the cop basically didn't slow down with him, and rear ended him lol but a firetruck is a first for sure.
Funny story though, back 5 years ago when i was in high school, a buddy of mine got pulled over and the cop basically didn't slow down with him, and rear ended him lol but a firetruck is a first for sure.
11-28-10, 10:06 AM
#19
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Why would they repaint the whole car for a bumper? That makes no sense. Keep in mind that factory paint, especially on a modern Lexus, is very good. Better than it ever has been, in fact, and body shops that continuously train know how to do repairs.
As I said, a quality shop shouldn't have a problem doing a blend to your car. The resale value loss is crappy, but such is life now. You can talk to your tax preparer about that part, though. Get the car fixed using quality parts at a quality shop, and it should be back to almost relatively close to the same condition soon enough.
Big Mack
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11-28-10, 12:52 PM
#20
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Thanks alot Big mack and everyone else who posted, i appreciate the replies, very helpful.
I will do my research on some reputable body shops and just pray it comes close to what it was stock.
I will do my research on some reputable body shops and just pray it comes close to what it was stock.
11-28-10, 01:42 PM
#21
11-28-10, 01:49 PM
#22
You will need to be very diligent before taking delivery from the body shop. Refuse delivery if you find any paint defects such as overspray, not blending, flake direction, wet/dry paint sticking from bumper to qtr panel, etc
11-28-10, 01:53 PM
#23
One time the body shop blended my rear bumper to the rear door and qtr panel. Looked real good, that is until i stepped back and saw that it did not blend with the front door! They ended up painting the whole right side of the car!!!
11-28-10, 02:38 PM
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yeah exactly Chikoo, i will pay close attention to everything in different lightings for sure.
i took more pics in the day light.
side that got hit.
Side that got hit.
do they just bring push the dents back to the way it was? how does that work. Im only 20 btw.. so if my questions are dumb. sorry. Never been in this situation.
i took more pics in the day light.
side that got hit.
Side that got hit.
do they just bring push the dents back to the way it was? how does that work. Im only 20 btw.. so if my questions are dumb. sorry. Never been in this situation.
11-28-10, 05:23 PM
#26
Painting the whole car sounds good to most people. The fact is though, a total repaint drops the value like a rock. That quarter and bumper can easily be repaired as long as you have a reputable company do the repair.
11-29-10, 10:01 PM
#28
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You need to file what is called a Diminished Value Claim. Not many people know about it or have the patience to battle an insurance company but if you prove your claim, beyond a doubt, there's really nothing they can do. Especially if you purchased a relatively new vehicle that had no prior accidents. Do some research, it's not hard to show how much the value of your car will go down from before to after the accident. I am assuming this will be a halfway decent insurance company since it was a fire truck..
Once you recover some of the difference, via the diminished value claim, the fact that your car may show an accident on carfax will matter much less. You will have already recovered the money you will lose when you resell in a sense softening the blow..
The only downfall that you cannot recover from will be difficulty reselling to a private party. Many potential pre-owned Lexus buyers will shy away from a car showing an accident on carfax. Keep all of the estimates and photos so you can show that the damage was not too severe. Doesn't look like there's much, if any frame damage, and that's your main worry here.
Take it to a Lexus dealer, or at the very least a body shop recommended by the dealer. I've had a rear bumper replaced with a recycled part in the past, on my now deceased 02 IS3, and honestly it looked just like it was brand new. A good body shop will fix it right and you won't know the difference, especially if you are 20 years old with limited experience in this field.
The firetruck was obviously the at fault party here and their insurance company is legally obligated to let you repair the vehicle wherever you like. Whether or not they give you brand spanking new OE parts is TBD...
I could really do an entire thread on that topic alone so I'll leave it at that..
If you have any other insurance related questions feel free to ask, I've worked in a claims office for quite a while now..
Fisher
11-30-10, 01:47 AM
#29
First of all, DO NOT go to a body shop that is linked with an insurance company(yours or theirs), those guys are scam artists and don't fix the car properly.
Find the best body shop yourself, through research online or maybe people's suggestions. A dealer doesn't guarantee that the work will be immaculate, you need a professional who only does repairs.
Once you find a shop, go talk to the owner and look around the facility. Try to take note of how clean and neat they are. Also look at their recent paint jobs or finished cars, to see how good they are.
And lastly, don't worry about how long it takes. I had a similar accident and it took 2 months for my car to be repaired(from the accident till the day I drove it home from the shop). And it was completely worth it.
Find the best body shop yourself, through research online or maybe people's suggestions. A dealer doesn't guarantee that the work will be immaculate, you need a professional who only does repairs.
Once you find a shop, go talk to the owner and look around the facility. Try to take note of how clean and neat they are. Also look at their recent paint jobs or finished cars, to see how good they are.
And lastly, don't worry about how long it takes. I had a similar accident and it took 2 months for my car to be repaired(from the accident till the day I drove it home from the shop). And it was completely worth it.
11-30-10, 02:34 PM
#30
This is a real issue that the insurance world has addressed!
You need to file what is called a Diminished Value Claim. Not many people know about it or have the patience to battle an insurance company but if you prove your claim, beyond a doubt, there's really nothing they can do. Especially if you purchased a relatively new vehicle that had no prior accidents. Do some research, it's not hard to show how much the value of your car will go down from before to after the accident. I am assuming this will be a halfway decent insurance company since it was a fire truck..
Once you recover some of the difference, via the diminished value claim, the fact that your car may show an accident on carfax will matter much less. You will have already recovered the money you will lose when you resell in a sense softening the blow..
The only downfall that you cannot recover from will be difficulty reselling to a private party. Many potential pre-owned Lexus buyers will shy away from a car showing an accident on carfax. Keep all of the estimates and photos so you can show that the damage was not too severe. Doesn't look like there's much, if any frame damage, and that's your main worry here.
Take it to a Lexus dealer, or at the very least a body shop recommended by the dealer. I've had a rear bumper replaced with a recycled part in the past, on my now deceased 02 IS3, and honestly it looked just like it was brand new. A good body shop will fix it right and you won't know the difference, especially if you are 20 years old with limited experience in this field.
The firetruck was obviously the at fault party here and their insurance company is legally obligated to let you repair the vehicle wherever you like. Whether or not they give you brand spanking new OE parts is TBD...
I could really do an entire thread on that topic alone so I'll leave it at that..
If you have any other insurance related questions feel free to ask, I've worked in a claims office for quite a while now..
Fisher
You need to file what is called a Diminished Value Claim. Not many people know about it or have the patience to battle an insurance company but if you prove your claim, beyond a doubt, there's really nothing they can do. Especially if you purchased a relatively new vehicle that had no prior accidents. Do some research, it's not hard to show how much the value of your car will go down from before to after the accident. I am assuming this will be a halfway decent insurance company since it was a fire truck..
Once you recover some of the difference, via the diminished value claim, the fact that your car may show an accident on carfax will matter much less. You will have already recovered the money you will lose when you resell in a sense softening the blow..
The only downfall that you cannot recover from will be difficulty reselling to a private party. Many potential pre-owned Lexus buyers will shy away from a car showing an accident on carfax. Keep all of the estimates and photos so you can show that the damage was not too severe. Doesn't look like there's much, if any frame damage, and that's your main worry here.
Take it to a Lexus dealer, or at the very least a body shop recommended by the dealer. I've had a rear bumper replaced with a recycled part in the past, on my now deceased 02 IS3, and honestly it looked just like it was brand new. A good body shop will fix it right and you won't know the difference, especially if you are 20 years old with limited experience in this field.
The firetruck was obviously the at fault party here and their insurance company is legally obligated to let you repair the vehicle wherever you like. Whether or not they give you brand spanking new OE parts is TBD...
I could really do an entire thread on that topic alone so I'll leave it at that..
If you have any other insurance related questions feel free to ask, I've worked in a claims office for quite a while now..
Fisher