Rear Ended, what should I do

[obrien19]

Well finally heard back from Allstate. Spoke to an agent from their "loss of value" department. Guy basically explained that when the car is fully repaired, to make sure I completely go over all of the truck and make sure its repaired to my liking, Then they said he would make arrangements to have someone they work with to appraise the truck. He said I'm going to have to prove that there has been a loss of value, since the accident and after the repairs. So i'm going to make sure i go to a couple different dealerships and get my own appraisals of the truck, what it's worth with the accident, and what it would be work if there wasn't an accident. Will also be bringing my repair estimate for the work done, so the dealership is aware of everything that was replaced and repaired.

[PMattras]

You might want to get a Carfax report but I would wait for a while to give it time to show up (depends when it was reported). Be interesting was reported and what future buyers could see.

[MikeNH]

You may be worried about nothing. Not all shops/insurance companies report to carfax, no one requires them to. You also assume the dealer runs a Carfax on the vehicle at trade in. Private sale could be an issue but that's it.

[obrien19]

I visited 4 different dealerships when I was looking for my new truck. Each and every dealership pulled a carfax report and each and every dealership pulled my trade in, into there shop and went through to make sure they knew what they were getting. I can't think of many dealership that wouldn't pull a carfax report. Any smart individual who is looking to buy a used car, should/would pull a report themselves. It's smart and a negotiating tool. I'm just going to the dealership, saying here's my truck after all the damage is repaired, and basically saying, if this damage never happened what would it be worth, and that difference is what I'm going to fight for. I only get one chance to try and get diminished value, and as I've stated my truck was two months old when it was hit and in perfect condition.

[obrien19]

Well, truck is still at the shop, went and saw the truck today because I needed to get something out of the truck. Most say initial impression of the work, and I am not happy. Since they had to replace the whole left truck bed panel, and repair my tailgate, the body gap between the left body panel and truck tailgate arnt even flush anymore. Tailgate is sunk it about a 1/4 inch, where as the right side of my truck is perfectly flush. Looked at brand new trucks on the lot, all tailgates are perfectly flush with rear of truck. I am pissed, and am going to voice my concerns to the shop

[PMattras]

Information about Carfax reports.

 

http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post--can-you-trust-carfax-plus-4-other-ways-to-avoid-buying-a-clunker

[milligan]

Terrible experience for sure. Keep riding them. Had a 330ci repaired once from some guy backing into the rear quarter panel and wheel. Needed new wheel, paint, and panel. It was a silver car, so trying to match metallic was nearly impossible. First attempt was pretty bad. He tried factory paint, but the stock paint had aged so it looked way off. He had to get a Dupont technician to come in and do a computer scan on it to mix a custom color. I was a little skeptical, but it ended up looking perfect. Keep at them and most will do it right.

[Mike1220]

Tell them that they must use brand new OEM parts OR tell them that they can buy the truck from you for full original cost and you can go get another brand new truck. A buddy of mine did that. His truck was a 2000 (or around that year) Ford Ranger. Had 100,000 miles on it. Told the insurance company that he has only used OEM parts on it and if they didn't want to replace with OEM parts then they would get him a brand new truck. They used OEM parts. He made sure haha.

[bass mechanic]

Well, truck is still at the shop, went and saw the truck today because I needed to get something out of the truck. Most say initial impression of the work, and I am not happy. Since they had to replace the whole left truck bed panel, and repair my tailgate, the body gap between the left body panel and truck tailgate arnt even flush anymore. Tailgate is sunk it about a 1/4 inch, where as the right side of my truck is perfectly flush. Looked at brand new trucks on the lot, all tailgates are perfectly flush with rear of truck. I am pissed, and am going to voice my concerns to the shop

this is exactly why I am glad you went with a body shop the insurance company picked.

a 1/4 gap is not even close to acceptable.

your vehicle needs to be brought to a pre accident condition.

i would talk to the body shop manager asap before they get too far along and let them know that will not be acceptable and before they get it painted they might want to re-evaluate their work.

i would also call the insurance company or adjuster to make light of the situation before they get too far along.

i don't know if the tailgate hinge and striker pin can be adjusted but 1/4 inch is pretty bad! within a 1/16th of an inch might be acceptable in my opinion.

pretty sure at the assembly plant the beds are built in an assembly jig so i bet the panels are pretty dead accurate when put together.

[cnrtool]

this is exactly why I am glad you went with a body shop the insurance company picked.

a 1/4 gap is not even close to acceptable.

 

My thought is that a body shop that gets major referrals from an insurance company would be doing the work with the insurance companies bottom line as a number one priority.

 

Regardless, I would still strongly pursue the diminished value. More than likely, at some point in time, this will end up on a carfax report.

[Sluggo]

Didn't you just break the golden rule here? Sounds like you made $2250.

 

 

let's say your vehicle is wrecked, remember this very important fact YOU ARE NEVER TO PROFIT FROM AN INSURANCE CLAIM!!! doing so is INSURANCE FRAUD!! plain and simple!

 

 

 

i had a 2008 corvette Z06 that had about 12,000 worth of damage and i got 4500 bucks. as it turned out when i sold it i probably took about 1/2 that much in lost value so i made out pretty good.

 

 

 

Hope the OP can get the body panels lined back up without jumping through too many hoops.

[obrien19]

Well I'll give the full story of the repair process. Dropped the truck off last Wednesday, shop called me Friday explaining they were going to work all weekend to get me the truck Tuesday/Wednesday, called Tuesday this week, they said it would be done Wednesday. Called Wednesday and they said they needed a few more brackets and that my truck would be ready Thursday. Called Thursday and they said truck was still "waiting to be put together". At this point I needed something out of my truck for work. Went there to get it out of my truck. Noticed my truck was back together and sitting in the lot. Collision shop didn't know where my keys were, (forgot to grab my spare) but luckily the truck was unlocked. Got what I needed and inspected the work, and that's when I noticed the gap in the body panel. Al collision managers were on their dinner break, so I decided to just raise hell when the truck was "finished". Got a call later around 8:30 from a manager and they explained my keys didn't have my tag on them, and that he was sorry the truck wasn't finished, explained that detailing ran late and couldn't get my truck in. I explained the gap I saw, and he said he would send a tech out I look at it and call me back. Manager called me back and stated the tech saw what I was referring to and that he was adjusting the tailgate hinge and latch. So I will make sure I double check that gap when I go and actually pick my truck up.

[bass mechanic]

Didn't you just break the golden rule here? Sounds like you made $2250.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope the OP can get the body panels lined back up without jumping through too many hoops.

in the insurance eyes they made me whole again. it isn't my fault that with a brand new paint job and looking better than it did when I bought I was able to sell it for more than it would have sold for in the condition I paid for it.

its not insurance fraud if your car appreciated in value. once the claim is settled and your made whole again, nobody can predict market value.

[bass mechanic]

Well I'll give the full story of the repair process. Dropped the truck off last Wednesday, shop called me Friday explaining they were going to work all weekend to get me the truck Tuesday/Wednesday, called Tuesday this week, they said it would be done Wednesday. Called Wednesday and they said they needed a few more brackets and that my truck would be ready Thursday. Called Thursday and they said truck was still "waiting to be put together". At this point I needed something out of my truck for work. Went there to get it out of my truck. Noticed my truck was back together and sitting in the lot. Collision shop didn't know where my keys were, (forgot to grab my spare) but luckily the truck was unlocked. Got what I needed and inspected the work, and that's when I noticed the gap in the body panel. Al collision managers were on their dinner break, so I decided to just raise hell when the truck was "finished". Got a call later around 8:30 from a manager and they explained my keys didn't have my tag on them, and that he was sorry the truck wasn't finished, explained that detailing ran late and couldn't get my truck in. I explained the gap I saw, and he said he would send a tech out I look at it and call me back. Manager called me back and stated the tech saw what I was referring to and that he was adjusting the tailgate hinge and latch. So I will make sure I double check that gap when I go and actually pick my truck up.

I suppose it is possible that the impact could have misaligned the hinge and latch, if they pull the tail gate out to match the outer edge, I would look at the closed gate to the inside and make sure the left side doesn't have a bigger gap from the bed floor as the right.

if that checks out then I think your good to go.

[obrien19]

Good point, I will have to check the tailgate alignment from inside the bed when it's closed. I've already made the shop clear on the fact that I won't be accepting my truck unless it's perfect.