shadow1118

i crashed my rcf in orlando, (no jokes y'all it was the worst day of my life) rear ended some young kid who cut me off , anyway it took a shop 2 months to repair, but they did a good job, no problems with driving, paint is near perfect match, in sunlight to the trained eye you can tell., but it is what it is y'all , there are alot of good shops in fl, miami too , also alot of shops that will rob you blind if you don't know what ur doing. thats my $.02

lexusrus

When I had my accident on my CT200h a couple of years ago on some rural highways in the middle of nowhere in the south with driver's side front damages. The insurance adjuster wrote the quote and turned it in. I thought maybe I should have my CT200h repaired at a large SoCal Lexus dealer where I had an excellent experience in the past. Unfortunately it was 2k miles away. So I begged and pleaded with my insurance company since this happened when I was traveling cross country to have my CT200h transported some 2k miles back to SoCal. In the end I arranged for shipping on an open top carrier that had just one more space left and is West bound near me to SoCal. But I had to act fast literally in 12 hours or less to get picked up. My insurance company agreed to pay half which worked out to be $300 each party. So all good. My car arrived at the dealer some 36 hours later and the Lexus dealership took the car to it's body shop.

The final estimate and Bill was 2X the original estimate quoted where the accident happened by the original adjuster. Upon closer examination I found all those abbreviations meant either used parts or aftermarket. And many parts were missed that needed replacing.

The SoCal Lexus dealer help me to get OEM parts and all good at the end.

So look at the quote closely AND THE FINAL PAPER WORK THE SHOP ASK YOU TO SIGN TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SAME COPY. MEANING THE COPY YOU AGREED ON AND NOT SOME OTHER COPY THAT IS "DOCTORED" .

One more thing....... Just bc a shop is "an official or approved shop" for the insurance company means little to me. All it means is that the two parties had worked out an arrangement or deal of sorts that "both of the parties benefited from". This can be good or bad bc it depends. If a shop strikes a deal with the insurance company so that the insurance company sends volume business to the shop WHILE the shop can "harness" the synergy relationship with high volume AND AT THE SAME TIME CAN DO IT EFFICIENTLY​ AND KEEP QUALITY UP, then it is a win win for everyone. THIS is rare, but there are shops out there doing it successfully. Also there are "rare independent shops" out there specializing in high end cars doing EXCELLENT work. These are usually booked up to the max bc they do excellent work and THAT'S ALL THEY DO. They do it right the first go around.

Also in most states (if not all states), it is illegal for the insurance company to TELL you where to take your car to which body shop. Yes, they can recommend or say to you certain shop is "official or approved", but ultimately if you decide to take your car to a shop of your choice, you have the right to do so. But if you take it to the shop of your choice, then you will be "responsible" if the shop did not "do you right". That was precisely why I opted to go to that large volume SoCal Lexus dealer's attached body shop. Trust me, several years ago when our old LX470 got rear ended by a brand new Nissan Maxima. The Nissan was totaled while our LX470's rear bumper got what appeared just some scratches. But that SoCal Lexus dealer's body shop showed me there WERE some damages to the tow mechanisms and other items (but no frame damages). The whole thing was "off specs by some 4mm". So they made our old LX470 "whole again".

GOOD LUCK.

lexusrus

Those eyelashes are just hilarious!!!

I still agree with the policy that one needs to obey the rules one currently is IN. That driver is in the USA and therefore needs to obey and follow this country's rules. Driving without a drivers license but still had insurance??? IDK, but it happens. At least she had insurance, I guess.

lexusrus

If you are still COSTING the insurance company money by STILL HAVING THE rental car, then they will hurry up??? LOL

johnnyreb

I'm thinking more like an illegal alien since it's in Texas & they CAN'T drive a vehicle! Well, I just went & looked at the WHOLE thread, but I guess I was rite to start with!

finny76

Oh that is funny! I think we are talking about the same RCF... The insurance agent told me that he was working on a USB 2.0 RCF that was hit in the same spot as my vehicle. He said that my RCF was the second he has worked on!

SinisteRCF

Just to chime in on top end/high end shops. I will also have to agree that there are above average shops that will do wonders in auto body repairs. The only issue is our question is, will they or do they accept insurance jobs. Reason, I say this is that the shop I have dealt with is a top notch shop that deals with nothing but high end cars, but the shop owner no longer will work with the insurance companies because they like to nickel and dime him. They want to pay the lowest amount, pay for cheap parts and at the end he does not make much on the repairs. So now he just specializes in restorations, paint and custom work. Makes a killing this way versus dealing with insurance companies.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I had one of Atlanta's "premiere" shops fix my IS F. I have no idea why they deserve to be called "premiere." They have certifications from MB, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus and others, yet they failed miserably to do quality work. I would not use them again. They took a ridiculously long time to finish, and when they did, I found multiple minor errors on the acceptance inspection. As I dug deeper, I found even more egregious failures to simply follow the factory service manual requirements and meet the minimum Lexus standards for quality. It was truly a huge disappointment. Worst of all, they took it to the closest Lexus dealer for alignment and the numbers they had were horrible. I drove straight from the repair shop to the NTB where I know the guys, had them put it on their rack, checked the numbers myself (because they're totally cool with me in the shop) and found the alignment was fine - just needed some tweaks because the morons at the dealership didn't properly calibrate their machine. I was truly stunned at just how bad this whole thing went with one of Atlanta's supposed best body shops. If I had an eye for it, I'd just do it myself, but I suck at body work.

While at NTB, I discovered a bent tie rod the shop had missed. I called the adjuster to get it sorted out, but ended up paying out of pocket because the adjuster never returned my call or responded to the video I sent him. Luckily for me, it was just the cost of the part, not labor to install or align - again, my friends at NTB taking awesome care of me by aligning the car without question after I replaced the tie rod.

Moral of the story? Don't wreck your car if there is any way you can avoid it!!

troyhuynhv

I hate dealing with shops, people half *** so many things nowadays

raerae1616

Well, today I finally got her back from Westside Lexus Collision Center (Lexus Certified Collision center in Houston, TX).... First impressions of the service level and results on the car are very good! I've seen it in super bright Houston sunlight, and in the shade and I can't see any difference in the paint from the damaged side (passenger) to the original side (driver)... though they told me that they did do some blending to ensure it's seamless, I can't tell.

Apparently when replacing that panel they have to also replace the Glass and they did forget to tint it initially, but took care of that ASAP in one day. So service was top notch. All parts were completely OEM, including new rim/wheel and tire . . . the total came in at just shy of ~$8,100! That wheel was $2223 all by itself (ouch!).

Thanks for all the awesome input and guidance from everyone that chimed in.... and here she is lookin' like her original self again:

lexusrus

Excellent!!! Happy to hear that all worked out well.

No increase on your future insurance premiums, right? Since it was not your fault.

Did you get "diminished value" from the insurance? This is tough to get though

​​​​​​Just need to get your permanent license plate ASAP!!! LOL. 😁😁😁😀😀😀😀

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

So GLAD it worked out for you

Lou

raerae1616

Yeah, I'll definitely be pursuing Diminished Value / Loss of Value claim... I have a contact number of an independent appraiser that will provide the detailed estimate and help me build the case and supply proper legal letters to send to Insurance, etc. This will be against State Farm (the insurer for the party at Fault) . . . e did say that Geico insurance will basically push you to court 100% of the time (even though they loose it there alot, it's just their strategy to avoid paying them)... and State Farm has gotten difficult like that too. But, I'm hoping we can resolve it without court, etc. I'll keep this thread tuned as that progresses.

Yes, my insurance is with Amica and they said there's no risk to me since there was no fault and no payout from my insurance at all.

And, I FINALLY heard back from the Dealership in Florida... apparently they've had my plates for a month now, but didn't send them due to a mixup in the accounting dept. and big lack of internal communication. The sales manager said he's got it sorted and will be shipping them overnight to me ASAP!

finny76

Is your car Financed or Leased? I dont think you can file that if you have a leased vehicle.

mr2dave

Glad it worked out OP and hope you enjoy your car now.