Poppa

After messing up the front end on my ES 2 weeks ago, I got her back from the body shop today. She looks great. My buddy that owns the body shop called me last week and told me that the insurance company told him to bid the job using after market or remanufactured parts.. He told them he didn't want to use anything but oem parts... So he ended up writing two bids, one with aftermarket parts was around 3700 bucks, the one with oem parts was just a few dollars under 5 grand. One of the biggest discrepencies was in one of the front light / headlight assembly... oem part was over 1600 bucks, after market part was around 850.00 The body shop called me and told me that the insurance company said to use after market parts where ever possible... I called the claims adjuster, got her voice mail and left her a rather lengthy message about why I wanted OEM parts ONLY. An hour later she calls me and says she told her supervisor what I said and he agreed to use only OEM parts.. The claims adjuster told me she was really surprised he agreed to it and that they hardly ever do that for a car that is over a year old. Guess I got lucky and caught them on a good day... very happy the way things turned out.

PAcommuter

So please let us know what exactly you told her so that we may have a script to help us if ever happens to us.

Poppa

My friend, I wish I could tell you what I said that made a difference... To be honest I think that because the damage on my vehicle was not very extensive ( no metal damage like the hood or fenders ) and the fact the body shop was pushing for oem parts for fit and finish reasons, together that may have been why.. I know the claims adjuster told me that they almost always will insist on after market parts ( my policy says they can use AM parts ) or if the insured insists on oem parts, the insured can pay the difference between the AM and OEM parts... again, I think I just got lucky, because when I went to pick up my car today I was told that they had another car in the shop with the same insurance company and the ins. co. told them AM parts... They even used my example trying to get the company to approve oem parts, but the insurance company said no to them. like I said... I think I got lucky, that paired with the relatively low amount of damage to my car is probably what did it.. whatever it was I'm tickled with the outcome and I think the car looks great.

SW17LS

Insurance companies are so full of crap lol. I've never had an insurance company not use OEM parts, they always try but fold when you I've them any pressure. Legally they must not have any leg to stand on.

Mike728

Looks good Poppa!

lesz

Glad to hear that the repair was done well and that they used Lexus parts. Generally, insurance policies state that, after a vehicle is more than a couple of years old, they can use after market parts to repair the vehicle. I've found that my best allies in making the case to use genuine parts have been having a good agent and a good shop that are willing to go to bat for me and who will make the case to the adjuster against using after market parts.

Did the shop end up blending the new paint into the fenders and/or hood or were they able to do a simple panel-to-panel match?

Dave Mac

Looks good - glad I worked out well.

Dave Mac

Poppa

I went back and looked at my policy and it does indeed state that in the event of a collision, after market or remanufactured parts can be used. And Lesz I agree with you, I think the fact that the body shop pushed for oem parts due to fit and finish may have played a role in the insurance company agreeing to all oem parts on my car after I called the claims adjuster to push for oem parts.. Again though, I think that because the damage cost was relatively low ( around 4500 to the insurance co. ) and because we were only talking about 1300 in total difference between oem and after market parts, I think all of that played into the ins. co. decision to allow oem parts... and then again, maybe I just got lucky because the body shop told me they had another car in the shop right now ( same insurance company ) who is refusing to pay for oem parts for that car...

also lesz, you asked about blending the paint into the fender / hood panels... they did not... turns out that the paint match was damn near perfect... btw, nothing to do with the wreck but I learned a small lesson with this car... When I took the car to the shop to be repaired, the owner pointed out that there were hundreds of very fine scratches in the paint all around the car.. man in the right sun light I could see exactly what he was talking about.. you could see all these minute scratches going every which way.. The only way that could happen is thru car washes.. and the only place that has ever washed my car was the lexus dealership. It's a service they provide free of charge to people who buy their cars from them... you can take it in once a week or once a day if you want, and the car wash and vaccum is free... I have always requested that my car be washed by "hand".... well it turns out that they use brushes.. which I'll guarantee you is how those scratches got there... anyway i paid the body shop to take care of it... not sure of what they used, but it was a thich gooey substance applied to the paint and then buffed out. 95% of all those fine scratches are now gone... so no more free car washes... looks like this 62 year old man is going back into the "wash my car once a week business". Not looking forward to it, but now that I'm retied I have the time, I could certainly use the exercise and of course my lexi stays scratch free...

PAcommuter

In regard to the car washes from the dealer. I was planning on getting a groupon for an oil change, filter and car wash for $50 at a reputable lexus dealer. It's across the pennisula for me, but hey my car is telling me it's time and I do have a long commute. I've never gone to this dealer before, and I don't know how they wash cars usually, is it one of those washes with the long drapey stripes, soap and water? Should I be scared of all car washes touchless and handwash? I keep putting off washing my car as we have had a lot of rain these past few months, so the car hasn't been washed since I bought it and that's 4 months ago.

Poppa

well I'll put it this way... Just had my entire car buffed out and all of those tiny "brush" scratches from the free car washes are now gone... my car now looks "absolutely new" again... I'm 62 years old and I will now be washing my own car from here on out... when the guy at the body shop told me what probably caused all of those "fine" scratches, I asked him about "drive thru" car washes similar to the one you mentioned above... guy at the body shop said they were as bad or worse.... so when I told him I was going to start hand washing my car myself, he gave me a little tip... he has his detail guy use two buckets... one with the soapy water and another with just plain water... his detailer is supposed to rinse the washing mitt in the clear water bucket before each application of soapy water.. makes sense since it's always possible tht you get something with a little grit in it in your washing mitt... not looking forward to washing cars again but my Lexus is the most expensive car I've ever owned and it's also my favorite car I've ever owned ( except for a canary yellow 1973 gran torino.. had a black vinyl top, craiger 5 spoke chrome wheels and of course the 351 windsor... and yeah, I was 18 years old ). Just spent 250 bucks extra to have my lexus buffed out and now that it looks nearly showroom again, I'll try washing it by hand..

PAcommuter

I haven't used a car wash in ages, but since we moved, and no longer have a usable garage it's harder to wash the car, or do oil changes. Back to the two buckets, microfiber cloths, and orbital buffer. I really wish Lexus had put the oil filter on top like Mercedes does.

Mike728

I had a '73 Mustang, Grabber Green, with that 351W. I loved that car, but if it had the power of today's Mustangs, I probably wouldn't be here right now.

lesz

The practice of using 2 buckets is a good one. In fact, one of the problems with car washes is that many of them re-cycle their rinse water, and, when any dirt that remains in that water is swabbed by the car wash's brushes, that, in itself, can cause scratches.

It has been decades since any vehicle of mine has been through a car wash. I find that, when I hand wash them myself, besides the fact that I am as careful as I can be, another advantage is that, if there are any minor issues, such as stone nicks, I will spot them while I'm washing the car and deal with them immediately.

Another good practice is to make sure that you use nothing but high quality micro fiber clothes to dry the car. I use two of them. The first one gets used to take the bulk of the water off of the car, and the second is used to complete the drying and to eliminate water spots. Also, NEVER try to remove any dirt from the finish with a dry cloth, micro fiber or otherwise.

The finishes on cars today are so much more beautiful than they were even a couple of decades ago. They now have more depth and a liquid-like look that wasn't there years ago. The downside of that depth and beauty, however, is that even minor surface scratches are more readily visible now, and they would not have been easily seen in the finishes on cars from a couple of decades ago.

As far as letting the Lexus dealer do their "free" washes, not only do I not want them to wash my cars, but I like to make sure that the cars have already been recently washed before I bring them in because, if there is even just dust on the car and if the technician carelessly rubs his/her uniform against the paint, the result can be that the dust gets ground into the paint like sandpaper, and that, in itself, can cause scratches.

Poppa

Lesz, I don't know how old your are or anything about you, but this last post of yours kind of reminds of of ME... When I was a young guy, late teens and 20's... nobody but me touched my cars.. When my son was old enough to walk, I taught him right off the bat, don't lean up against the car... told him how buttons on the back of the pants pockets could easily scratch up the paint --- I have 2 quick "love my car"stories that go along with that... I was 17, had a 1966 Chevelle 396... beautiful burgandy / black interior.. one day I had just got thru with the weekly wash and dry in the yard at my folks house when here comes my mother... my mom and I used to wrestle ( yeah I know, it's weird, but we would rough house all the time ).. anyway while we were rough housing in the yard, my mother picked up a pretty decent size rock and threatened to throw it at me... I told her " go ahead." and to my surprise SHE DID... I jumped out of the way and you know what that rock hit.. my beautiful Chevelle.... Now if she had felt bad or acted like she was sorry, I might have reacted better, but she didn't... she laughed and that burned my a$$... I went into the little shop my dad had in the garage, found a nail and I walked down the side of thier 3 week old Cadillac... from headlight to tail light.... I won't go into specifics, but let's just say my pops was not happy.... hey, I loved my car too... 2nd story, not too long ago.. I'm 52 at the time and I had a 96 Cadillac Sedan Deville... I was in the market for a new car, and was going car shopping the next day. So I come out of the office on friday night about 11:30 pm, two buddies of mine standing in the parking lot talking when they see me... now mind you I"m a big boy, about 270 ( i hope ) and these two guys made me look tiny.... anyway when I come out of the office they're talking, but they're leaning up against the right rear quarter panel of my Caddy... as I walk up one of them says " hey you still plan on car shopping tomorrow? I told him yes and then said " but hey guys, sure glad I ran into you out here because seeing the two of leaning up against my car, I remembered there's something extra I want to add to my next car... one of them says " whats that" I turned and yelled at him " I'm going to have them weld a F*&()%&%%% lawn chair on the back of the car so you'll have a place to put your fat ***!!!! Get off my car...... yeah I was kinda picky about me vehicles..... I don't think I'm a mean person, just don't want my vehicles scratched up... and now that my lexus has been buffed out and nearly all of those fine "free lexus car wash scratches ) are gone, I'll be doing it myself.....

Poppa

12jimmyjam

Yeah- I never let a dealer wash my car after some bad experiences with water spots and swirling. One of the local dealers actually has a do not wash stamp for service writers. They must get a lot of requests not to.