Fender Bender Repair Before & After (Pictures)
01-15-13, 10:35 PM
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Fender Bender Repair Before & After (Pictures)
Some time this summer, I got in my first accident on the beltway, I was LIVID. Headlight was crushed, quarter panel all banged up, I even added insult to injury after I punched the hood. Here are some pictures of the car initially:
of the honda I smacked.
Friends and family tried to reassure me that it wasn't that bad, and can be fixed, but I knew the nature of the car's age, there is a great possibility it could be totaled. My fear came true.
I took it to the shop that declared it wasn't totaled. While I waited some days for them to start the repair, the adjuster hiked up the price to total it (secretly to avoid taking up a $15,000 repair slot for a cheap 2,500 one) and claimed it was structural damage.. Came back to my car dismantled, and they were treating it as a complete loss already. Looked like my car was already in the junkyard.
no regard for my leather seats.
They totaled my car without telling me my options, and I didn't even sign ANYTHING. I told them to put it back together then and I was going to take my car elsewhere. And they said well, State Farm didn't pay us to put it back together, you can start taking out your belongings. Raised hell, and threatened them with a legal lawsuit because they didn't have authorization to make these moves and changes. State Farm said they would have it paid to put it back together because another guy said he saw no structural damage (and there never was). They put it back together at the expense of State Farm (just another way for this body shop to make money).
This is what the "i tried to do you a favor and make it look better" fix looked like:
probably about 65% better but not good enough for me, The damn headlight wouldn't even fit properly.
To cut the cost of the repair down, I went to the junkyard to get some lights in decent condition. Little did I know the 95-96 were smoked chrome. A slight bummer, but whatever, I will deal with it, even though the cutoff is alot worse.
The body shop I knew did WORK! Before my light wouldn't even fit, now, its great. And they told me that they wouldn't be able to make it look perfect. Perfect enough for me. The new paint even took away scratches and chips in my hood. Looks fresh off showroom floor from 96. Glad I could save my baby.
and this is the before again.
After I restored the headlights to make look new again (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...ictures.html):
of the honda I smacked.
Friends and family tried to reassure me that it wasn't that bad, and can be fixed, but I knew the nature of the car's age, there is a great possibility it could be totaled. My fear came true.
I took it to the shop that declared it wasn't totaled. While I waited some days for them to start the repair, the adjuster hiked up the price to total it (secretly to avoid taking up a $15,000 repair slot for a cheap 2,500 one) and claimed it was structural damage.. Came back to my car dismantled, and they were treating it as a complete loss already. Looked like my car was already in the junkyard.
no regard for my leather seats.
They totaled my car without telling me my options, and I didn't even sign ANYTHING. I told them to put it back together then and I was going to take my car elsewhere. And they said well, State Farm didn't pay us to put it back together, you can start taking out your belongings. Raised hell, and threatened them with a legal lawsuit because they didn't have authorization to make these moves and changes. State Farm said they would have it paid to put it back together because another guy said he saw no structural damage (and there never was). They put it back together at the expense of State Farm (just another way for this body shop to make money).
This is what the "i tried to do you a favor and make it look better" fix looked like:
probably about 65% better but not good enough for me, The damn headlight wouldn't even fit properly.
To cut the cost of the repair down, I went to the junkyard to get some lights in decent condition. Little did I know the 95-96 were smoked chrome. A slight bummer, but whatever, I will deal with it, even though the cutoff is alot worse.
The body shop I knew did WORK! Before my light wouldn't even fit, now, its great. And they told me that they wouldn't be able to make it look perfect. Perfect enough for me. The new paint even took away scratches and chips in my hood. Looks fresh off showroom floor from 96. Glad I could save my baby.
and this is the before again.
After I restored the headlights to make look new again (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...ictures.html):
Last edited by adreano17; 01-15-13 at 11:07 PM.
01-16-13, 07:03 AM
#3
01-16-13, 08:59 AM
#4
^ yes, its KBB is probably a couple grand, and they look at market values as well in some cases when they lowball you with a cheque.
Not sure if you've ever seen the body work industry, but the labor is much more than mechanical pays out. My friends' shop here in canada is 75-80$ for mech. and 110$ for body work.
If removing those panels took say 3hours [***BOOK TIME, not straight time], you're already at 330$ plus the state tax now add panels [this is where everyone is shocked, because shops go by car-part.com & not ebay...] so parts aren't as cheap as you think, plus the materials to paint and LABOR HOURS for prep & paint.
In this case i'm not surprise it was totaled... I was shocked when my 01 ES wasn't written off this summer with 3200$ in damage from being rear-ended. But the adjuster will work WITH YOU based upon what YOU want to do. MY ES = worthless for sale, so its best to keep it instead of settle for a 4k cheque!
Not sure if you've ever seen the body work industry, but the labor is much more than mechanical pays out. My friends' shop here in canada is 75-80$ for mech. and 110$ for body work.
If removing those panels took say 3hours [***BOOK TIME, not straight time], you're already at 330$ plus the state tax now add panels [this is where everyone is shocked, because shops go by car-part.com & not ebay...] so parts aren't as cheap as you think, plus the materials to paint and LABOR HOURS for prep & paint.
In this case i'm not surprise it was totaled... I was shocked when my 01 ES wasn't written off this summer with 3200$ in damage from being rear-ended. But the adjuster will work WITH YOU based upon what YOU want to do. MY ES = worthless for sale, so its best to keep it instead of settle for a 4k cheque!
01-16-13, 09:52 AM
#5
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01-16-13, 09:56 AM
#6
Advanced
Thread Starter
^ yes, its KBB is probably a couple grand, and they look at market values as well in some cases when they lowball you with a cheque.
Not sure if you've ever seen the body work industry, but the labor is much more than mechanical pays out. My friends' shop here in canada is 75-80$ for mech. and 110$ for body work.
If removing those panels took say 3hours [***BOOK TIME, not straight time], you're already at 330$ plus the state tax now add panels [this is where everyone is shocked, because shops go by car-part.com & not ebay...] so parts aren't as cheap as you think, plus the materials to paint and LABOR HOURS for prep & paint.
In this case i'm not surprise it was totaled... I was shocked when my 01 ES wasn't written off this summer with 3200$ in damage from being rear-ended. But the adjuster will work WITH YOU based upon what YOU want to do. MY ES = worthless for sale, so its best to keep it instead of settle for a 4k cheque!
Not sure if you've ever seen the body work industry, but the labor is much more than mechanical pays out. My friends' shop here in canada is 75-80$ for mech. and 110$ for body work.
If removing those panels took say 3hours [***BOOK TIME, not straight time], you're already at 330$ plus the state tax now add panels [this is where everyone is shocked, because shops go by car-part.com & not ebay...] so parts aren't as cheap as you think, plus the materials to paint and LABOR HOURS for prep & paint.
In this case i'm not surprise it was totaled... I was shocked when my 01 ES wasn't written off this summer with 3200$ in damage from being rear-ended. But the adjuster will work WITH YOU based upon what YOU want to do. MY ES = worthless for sale, so its best to keep it instead of settle for a 4k cheque!
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