StarfireIS

So last night my wife and I were driving from Fort Worth to Dallas so we could watch a Dallas Stars hockey game and while we were in bumper to bumper traffic on I-30 this guy behind us in an 06 Tacoma rear ends us. I watched him in the rearview mirror a couple of times once we were in traffic and he was always waayyy behind us so I wasn't paying attention to him much, then as we're stopped staring at the rear end of a pickup the wife yells, "ohhh gawd, he's going to hit us!" and sure as hell he tagged the back of our IS350 going probably about 10. The car took the impact rather well I will say and right now replacing the rear bumper is really the most major thing that needs to be done.

Obviously we were in no mood for a the hockey game after that so we went back home and called his insurance company to report a claim. I could use some advice about my rights to demand OEM replacement parts and possibly dimished value. Any help you can offer is appreciated...

Mesca

iTrader: (28)

Sounds like it wasn't too bad. Good thing is you and your wife are safe.

trinityhk

iTrader: (1)

From what I understand (and i could be wrong), it is up to the insurance company to request OEM replacement parts. Because OEM parts are generally more expensive Ive seen a couple insurance companies only fix things with refurbished or remanufactured parts. When I crashed my 01 IS300 the insurance company at the time would only give me enough money to get things replaced with refurb'd parts. A lot of insurance places will request the body shop only use refurb'd parts....hope that helps. I'd call the insurance company and ask just to clarify.

As for diminished value, theres not much u can do....its been in an accident now nothing can really change that.

DaWhole9

You got duped....its a law..its YOUR right to have new parts and have it fixed where you want it fixed. I got rear ended in my Carrera, the insurance company told the body shop to quote only for repairing the bumper...I called teh body shop and they said they do what the insurance company says...so I called the insurance company and said whats the deal...they kept trying to tell me no, its our policy, yadda, yadda yadda...and I finally said...look...I dont want my Porsche which didnt have a repaired bumper before the accident to have a repaired bumper after it, so I am not accepting that. They said quickly...no problem, I'll adjust the quote for the new bumper and send the check out today. They TELL you we dont do this and all that and if you say, OK..they save money. Its their job to lie to you and get you to accept less money for the repair.

hihi410

Generally, insurance company will refer you to their "recommended" shops to have your car serviced. I wouldn't assume that the shops they recommend doesn't fit the qualification for your Lexus or any car...but there are always better or more brand/type oriented shops.

In most cases you can take their offer and go to a recommended shop, or find your own shops and deal with their adjuster to come to a agree able price.

This is of course, pending on insurance company, location, etc. I would suggest talking to their insurance company (don't believe yours would be involved since its their fault) and find out what your options are and find out what shops are good around your area for servicing Lexus.

TonySwank

When I got in my wreck the insurance company wanted me to use one of their shops. They *****ed about me wanting to go through a Lexus shop, but in the end they paid for all 25 grand in damage and all OEM parts.

Get to know the rep at the service shop and they can make sure that you get new parts, not refurbs. That and just be stern with the insurance rep.

dang_is250

I would recommend Sewell Lexus Body Shop on Lemmon. Took my IS250AWD w/ roughly $12k in damage there and it came back looking like nothing ever happened. They work with many insurance companies.

iKenn

iTrader: (1)

yeah crazy drivers in dallas.............. gotta watch out for us

DaWhole9

I was asked up front, "Is there a shop you prefer?"...if you say no, they will refer you....again, ITS UP TO YOU...at least in California, its the LAW. They CANT tell you where to take it to, or FORCE you to take rebuilt or refurbished parts. The adjuster is there to get the shop to reduce its labor rate and get the job done for as LITTLE as possible...but THEY CANT legally tell you to use cheaper parts or where to go. All they can do is "suggest" it...its just the suggestion sounds like a mob suggestion...lol...You want your car fixed, so you wanna get it done as fast as possible. They know this...so they tell you it may push things back.."suggest" a shop that they work with all the time that may speed things up, say that if they dont agree with the estimate from YOUR shop, they will have to research it...according to their book, it should only take x hours and cost x amount for the parts so they wanna take a few days to get better parts pricing, etc...then you say...ok...take it to your shop if they do a good job....

StarfireIS

Thanks guys for your advice. The car is an '07 and it's only March of '08 so I am not ready for this car to be anything less than it was before the accident. No "jim's brand" bumper yet.

My wife is understandably PO'd. It's her daily driver that we got to replace her 12 year old Honda. I think we'll be taking it to Sewell in Fort Worth to get it fixed mostly because that is where she wants to take it. The words out of my wife's mouth last night when we were discussing where to get it fixed were "this ain't a chevy cavalier" so any body shop that state farm has a relationship with is most likely out.

The really crappy thing about the incident is I've been sick this weekend so we almost stayed home but I wanted to soldier through it and do something fun. Now the damage is done so I just have to deal with the headache that's coming....

Also, has anybody ever been able to claim diminished value on their car after an accident? I haven't before, but this car was over $40k new and now any trade in value is dinged cause it's gonna show up in a Carfax report. I'm not looking for any profit, but a reasonable amount cause somehow these types of things, even though they aren't your fault, always seem to cost you in the end...

400 Degrez

From what i understand you can take your car where ever you want to get it fix I'm taking mines to a lexus dealership...........let me know what you decide

DaWhole9

Dont know about diminished value....to get that you need an attorney and the process takes ALOT longer. Depends on how much damage there is. If its just a rear bumper and no structural damage, its not worth it to pursue. It'll cost you more in legal fees than what you would get. I had TWO rear end accidents that never showed up on carfax...so I wouldnt worry about diminished value unless there is frame damage.

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

actually, if you live in ft.worth you can chose where you take your car to. Take it to clark bro's in arlington off 303. These guys are super **** about repairing cars and do the utmost paint jobs. it will take them a few days, but they are sooo good. ins will work with them very well. I have USAA and they sorted me out.

Lex Law

Here's a Kentucky case on the issue, [Mc]Carty v. Hall, 697 S.W.2d 955 (Ky. 1985):

StarfireIS

Today I talked with Sewell Fort Worth and the other guys insurance, State Farm. Sewell told me that they'd have no problem fixing it and could use OEM parts. They told me State Farm tends to allow the use of OEM parts when the car is relatively new, i.e. a year or two old and generally under 12,000 miles so we fall under both limitations. (Our car has 11,900 miles on it right now.)

So now I'm just waiting for their appraiser to come and take a look at it. Should be sometime in the next couple of days...

I'll let you guys know how this repair pans out and appreciate all of your advice! It's nice to be able to get on here and talk this kind of stuff out.