toddmorr

somebody not paying attention rear ended my wife the other day, driving our '05. Damage was not too bad, basically the bumper, spare tire carrier, trailer connector, lateral arm, stabilizer bar, and some other minor stuff. I got under there and could see the lateral arm was bent and mentioned that to the estimator. He said they would add it to the supplement. Sure enough, they added it to the supplement but never actually replaced the lateral arm, the stabilizer bar or the spare tire carrier ! It's not even like they faked it with paint or tried to clean up the original parts. They're still there with the minor surface rust you'd expect.

I intend to call USAA in the morning and let them know. Most likely they'll require me to discuss it with the shop. No way I'm going back to the shop to get it redressed however. Of the total bill of $4000 around $800 is parts they never replaced !

lazy criminals if you ask me.

lexusrus

I had a rear end damage to our old 2000 LX470 several years ago before we traded it in for another brand new LX570.

On the surface it looked like it's all cosmetic scratches on the rear bumper cover, but underneath there were indeed some damage.

The body shop should have provided you with detailed listings of EVERY PART REPLACED and whatever else paint was done.

My Lexus body shop ASKED me what I wanted to do with the old trailer hitch they took off to replace with another OEM trailer hitch. I told them I would like to take it with me.

Looks like you were dealing with a shady body shop.

Report to the insurance company and the fraud division of your state's insurance commissioner office.

KiPod

iTrader: (31)

What body shop?

toddmorr

Caliber Collision. Just left a message with USAA.

Yes, the original estimate and supplement very clearly listed all the parts to be replaced. These aren't even small or minor parts--lateral arm, stabilizer bar....major pieces of steel. You can't miss them.

I'm quite interested to see this is handled. Maybe USAA doesn't care??? After all, it's not a case of $50k in fraudulent medical bills or something like that.

hankinid

I don't think it's up to you to address the issue with the body shop...USAA is paying the bill and it's something they need to handle.

If it were my truck, you can bet my agent and estimator (Farm Bureau Mutual) would have been up one side and down the other at the body shop. You simply pay the premiums, the insurance company needs to take care of business on their end.

toddmorr

yeah agreed. Hence the call to USAA to start. I'd imagine they'll refer me back to the body shop for a chat, after all, for all USAA knows I could be making a groundless complaint. But once Caliber sees they are caught red handed, USAA is going to have to have this sent elsewhere for redress.

hankinid

Does USAA have an adjuster or other representative type near you? IMO, that's who should be doing the work. Many insurance companies hire out independent adjusters for higher end vehicles...I used one when rear ended by a Corolla...only thing I asked was to verify no bent frame and / or no need for front end alignment. Only damage to the LX was a bit of paint scraped from the hitch receiver.

hankinid

It was an appraiser.

toddmorr

so this little adventure was finally resolved. I called USAA and of course they strongly wanted me to take it back to Caliber to have the parts replaced. A little surprised by that but I decided not to fight it. Caliber did in fact use OEM, whether it was all torqued correctly and the correct preload used on the lateral arm I don't know....will check it myself when the weather gets a little better.

What did I learn from this experience? Well, first is that the estimate the repair shop provides initially is highly likely to be a low ball and you would probably be ill served to just take their check and do the work yourself. I was tempted and glad I didn't because the final bill ended up twice the original estimate. It's such a racket....many people think when you get hit by someone else with insurance you'll be taken care of, but not really. The other guy's insurance company is heavily incented to get rid of you as cheaply as possible.

toddmorr

yeah fair enough, perhaps I've been unfair re Caliber. USAA did point that out, that perhaps it was an innocent mistake. Who knows, if it was innocent it was a biggie.