Long story short- here My 2017 Lexus IS350 F-sport , Purchased in October was damaged by a parking garage gate due to malfunction. I don't want to go through insurance for this due to carfax/increased premium etc. I am located in Dallas so I got two quotes based on some research on the Forums. Pics are within this thread.

Lexus Collision - $9539 (Visual Estimate Only)

Euro & Auto Collision - $5585.07 (Recommended alternative based on forum posts here and google & yelp reviews) - Shop Owner quoted out the estimate to be the worst case scenario.

Main Differences in Estimates come down to replacement. Sewell states the following parts need a full replace, while JP claims these parts are repairable

1. Roof Panel
2. RT Roof Rail OUter
3. Map Lamp Assmbly ( this came detached when the gate hit my roof - but I popped it back in place, and all functions work properly (haven't tried the sunroof for obvious reasons)

Will I notice a difference in the work between the two shops and is it truly worth paying 2x more for dealership guys and their experience? This JP Euro shop specializes in high end vehicles, when I went to get a quote there were lambos, mercs, porsche's getting body and engine work done. Shop has a good reputation it seems in my area. What are yall's thoughts? any feedback is appreciated.

 

If you go through insurance your premiums should not go up since it was a malfunction and you're not at fault. This should be covered under your comprehensive plan. If this is the case, it would be a no brainer to get the more expensive replacement option.

If you go with the cheaper option, you may notice a difference. Popping it out may cause the panel to look lumpy in certain light. I don't think you'll have a problem with paint match being off since this is the roof and there's a break in the car's lines when it comes to the roof. It's a lot more obvious when we talk about the door panels. but again, check with your insurance first.

 

Going thru insurance or not, it will appear on carfax. All (reputable) shops are require by law to report the information or risk fraud, etc.

Begs the question.. why isn’t the gate operator paying for the repairs??

 

Im going to talk to my insurance tomorrow. Gate operator is claiming it was my fault, and the gate didn't malfunction. there is no video evidence unfortunately. Im curious, based on the pic Is there any frame damage to the vehicle? would that roof panel or RT Roof Rail count as frame damage?

 

No frame damage, looks mostly cosmetic. If frame was distorted then sunroof would have likely shattered.

What kind of garage operator doesn’t have security camera. I’m sure they have it, just don’t want to incriminate themselves.

 

May I ask where you got this requirement by law from? What location Geographically also?

 

The second this happened you probably should have called the police to make a report so it was documented. The operators of those places are always scummy so of course, they won't want to be at fault even if it was. The best thing to do here is going through insurance since they can go after those people anyways. This isn't something you want to pay out of pocket on the off-chance it does increase your premiums you won't notice it like a $5k dent in your pocket. Looking at that damage tells me you need a roof reskinned. On top of that Lexus white paint is notoriously hard to color match so I would only trust the best body shops in a city to even touch my car. that's an incredibly expensive repair you definitely messed up big time with that one for sure. I would also go back to where this happened and look to see if there are cameras around that way you can see for sure if it was not caught on cctv.

 

My dealership outsourced the work to another body shop with 3/5 star reviews. I don't think any Lexus dealership does their own body work unless they specifically state they do. They estimated $8-9K worth of damage on my car but in reality it was only $3-4K. I got into a fender bender and he scared me by saying "there might be suspension damage" when there wasn't any. The body shop they used didn't even know how to align the rear bumper, I had to go back to them 3 times for them to do it right.

Just find a body shop on your own from Google reviews that has good reviews. The dealership makes commission off of you when sending your car to these external body shops. I will say this, the paint work was immaculate.