CRowe14

By chance, would you have happened to take a photo of exactly what it is that you're speaking of?
I think most if not all of us have a pretty solid ideas as to what you're speaking about, but a picture says 1k words!
Are you talking about the outer, rounded corners of the sunroof on the very top, exterior of the car?

hfahmy

Wow, how in the world would a tail end hit get up to your sunroof?

hfahmy

I just realized that you are in GA. if you are not already committed to the dealer, I know of a top notch body shop in the Suwanee area, name is Friendship Paint and Body Shop. Ask for he owner Dan. I have done many repairs there, never been disappointed knowing that I am an OCD, they also give you lifetime warranty. Good luck!

CRowe14

It's quite possible that the rear impact caused a shift to the rear quarter panel which could possibly effect and cause deformation to the C pillar and cause deformation along the linear roof line and the damage could possibly occur at a weak point, which would be were the roof isn't a solid area; the sunroof.

HenriChaz

That's the back and front from drivers side

empringham

damn, im surprised they are even fixing it, i know once rear quarter panels get damaged repair becomes very costly.

HenriChaz

Most 2nd rate insurance companies want to get off as cheap as possible and more so if it is the other parties insurance. From the picture you showed, that was not a little fender bender. There is a percentage of damage vs retail value that has to be exceeded before they declare the car a total loss and a lot of companies will bet on your ignorance to avoid a total loss.

Superes350

Sounds like you need to bring it to a better shop, that way they can't walk all over you.

G-LUX

Sorry man, that sucks! If you are having problems with the other parties insurance and they've admitted liability. Then I would have my insurance pay for the repairs with my choice of shop. That way it will be fixed the way I want and totaled properly, if that ends up being the case. Either way your insurance will get that other insurance to reimburse them through subrogation.

raptorht

Thanks HenriChaz that's what I was looking for!



It's still early in the estimate/supplementary estimate process and so far the other insurance company is working with the body shop and signing off on the repairs, so hopefully I won't have to go through my insurance (my insurance says that they will be happy to help, but I would have to pay my deductible to get them involved in the process)




Repair estimates are up to $16k now vs. the $33k value of the car, so I'm getting the feeling that the insurance company is still wanting to go down the repair route rather than total it out.



I have it at the Lexus repair shop and they have been great, it's more the insurance side that has been a little resistant.


Thanks everyone for the feedback. Every little piece of information has been helpful to me during this process.


Cheers!

Superes350

Work with the shop to get that estimate up a bit higher, tell them that you want it totaled.

superdenso

You may need to find a few other LS600's to look over to determine what you're actually looking at. Sorry you have to go through this. Questions: How much damage was done to the frame? Is $33 the actual value or is that what you paid?

Found this on the net:
Best advice is to contact the Consumer Services Division of the Office of
Commissioner of Insurance at (404) 656-2070. Ask whether GA has a total loss threshold.

raptorht

My main concern with having it totaled would be not getting back all that I paid for the car. My purchase price was $31k only 3 months ago but I don't know what the insurance company is going to value the car at if they declare it a total loss. In my mind I should get everything that I paid for the car back to me, but I have a feeling that is not going to happen if they declare it a total loss.


Part of me also doesn't want to let this car go, I was still in the newlywed phase....

jainla

Ouch. Ouch Ouch Ouch. I hope everybody was ok. Ouch.

I've heard of cars coming back from a repair like this but obviously it's up to the skill of the body shop involved. I would go over there and ask tons of questions; be involved, show them you care etc. I've seen some shops to amazing work; but I'm sure it helps to be an involved party (like a patient with medical care).

If you are talking about the small detent behind the center line of the sunroof this may be normal; I'll have to remember to check tomorrow morning when i go out to the car.

One thing you should remember to ask them to do is wet-sand (some shops call it color sanding) the car. The 4LS has no orange peel on dark colors because the body is hand-sanded twice during the paint process. The PO on my car had a scratch repaired on the driver side door and now there is a small area of orange peel; but the rest of the car has none.

Good luck!

raptorht

Wet sanding and orange peel has been added to my list. Good points. Thanks jainla!



Mine now has 4 dimples around the sunroof (one in each corner). I'm probably going to head over to the collision center today or tomorrow, I'll see if I can snap a pic. I'll have to check the center line as well.