I had my car parked at a mall over night and somone keyed both sides and hood. Insurance will cover it but I was wondering what my options are. Will they paint the whole thing or just the panels that were keyed also is another color an option? Im worried if I ask they will think I did it???

 

I am sorry to hear this. You will need to get some estimates, but from the way it sounds, the best remedy is to repaint the damaged panels. Body shops have come a very long way in terms of paint color matching, and depending on the skill of the shop, will be able to repaint the panels and/or car to an as new appearance. It will be better in terms of looks, that if the keyed side is beyond the front fender or covering a quarter panel, to paint the entire side so as to look the most consistent in terms of paint color.

Good luck with the fix. In the future, you will have to either avoid mall lots (like I do), or react with your gut feelings if a parking spot or situation doesn't feel right. There are a lot of morons out there that have nothing better to do than to mess with people's hard earned property.

 

Just claim insurance. They will not do a COMPLETE REFINISH unless all the panels have been keyed. If this is the case they will apply depreciation...otherwise they will paint just the damaged panels. If the damage is close to an adjacent panel, they will blend the next panel to match. If it's not close to the next panel, they can blend within the panel. You DO NOT need to get estimates from the shops. That's what you paid the insurance for. Its not your "job" to do that. The shops don't follow the rules, guidelines and regulations of the insurance company. They just write accord to what they would like to do. That's why it's free. The only time their estimate would matter is if it's a direct repair facility shop. If you want the car another color, you can ask the shop how much additional you will need to cough up to paint the rest of the panels.

 

You should get estimates because if you do not have an excellent body shop or are familiar with the general cost of a paint repair, you could end up with inferior work. If the insurance company says (as an example) that they will only cover a certain amount, which in fact may not be sufficient to complete an adequent repair, then your estimates will reinforce your quest to get the right fix. Many times people "rush" to get a car's paint fixed from an incident without comparing shops, only to get inferior or less than satisfactory work.

You want to get the best work done, thus the estimate from a top notch shop, as well as the body shop's opinion, will help to insure that your car will be repaired properly. This is especially important if your car is relatively new or still under warranty, because the manufacturer will not extend the warranty to a repaired body part unless it was restored by an approved shop, using oem parts, and restored to factory standards. You must do the legwork if you want the damaged areas to be restored to an as new appearance. Contrary to popular belief, only a fraction of body shops in business are capable of doing a better than satisfactory job in restoring body damage, including repainting the car's panels.

 

my friend had the same situation with his 85 z. keyed the entire drivers side, hatch, and back bumper. his insurance guy had someone look at the car because he had full coverage so they could have it painted. the guy told him "your insurance will go up the same amount if the whole car had to be painted or just part of your car" my friend didnt understand but i did. i asked the insurance guy if he wanted a cup of coffie. he told my friend as we were walking to the coffie shop(it was about 200 ft from the bodyshop we were at)"i didnt see the damage on the passangers side yet, i hope they didnt key it to the front on that side" he got the idea and keyed his car to the hood. when we got back he was like "i hope you catch the ****** that did this."then he ok'ed the insurance payment for a total repaint. if you didnt show the insurance company what happened, use it to your advantage and make a few more "marks "here and there.

 

1st off, the estimate will not tell you how good a shop is.

2nd, the insurance company is the one paying to get the vehicle repaired back to the state the vehicle was in prior to the accident. The shop is simply providing the service, what estimates they have provided you means nothing.

3rd, if you want the best work done, ask for a DRP shop.

4th, if you are not satisified you don't have to sign your check, you can speak to the shop manager, and if you are in the DRP shop, the adjuster will handle it for you.

5th, when you sign the insurance policy you are bound by their guidlines and regulations which the shop does not follow, thus you get FREE estimates that they write up, which you can use as REFERENCE only, as shops have NO AUTHORIZATION on what to put on your vehicle. Authorization comes from the owner. And if you sign it without the insurances' approval, it is customer's responsibility to make up for any differences.

 

The estimate will be a good indicator in the shop’s ability in accessing the damage done to your car and properly recording the cost of the repair. If you are unfamiliar with the ability of a body repair shop, then you will need indicators that will assure you of their ability in completing a repair. These indicators include examples of prior work, shop equipment, cleanliness and organization, and their ability to access and record the damage via the estimate. You won’t need the estimate in order to cover the cost of the repair, because it will be covered (hopefully) by the insurance carrier. The estimate is important for your records in recording the incident. The insurance carrier will likely send an adjustor to the shop to verify the damage and estimate.

Many insurance carriers will dictate where you should take the car in order to record the damage for their records. You should have the right, irrespective of this, to have the repair completed by an authorized repair shop of your choice. If your carrier doesn’t allow you to do this, then you should review your policy to see whether you agreed to a stipulation that binds your right in choosing a repair facility. If the policy does restrict your choice concerning shops, and if you disagree with this clause, then the estimates from your preferred shop should support your reasons in not having the work done by the insurance carrier’s choice of a repair facility.

Estimates will also support your cause if a repair was incorrectly done or not completed at all. Your insurance carrier should support you if the repair was done incorrectly, but you will have to show that the job was not done properly, and a written estimate completed prior to the repair will help you identify items needed for the repair that was either done wrong or not at all.

 

The detail of the estimate depends on the estimator and how busy they are, how much they like you, if you really appear serious about repairing at their shop, and the amount of VISUAL damage there is. Just because a shop writes down a long list doesn't mean a thing. Just more than likely means they are greedy and ignorant so they click on every item on the program, whether it's neccessary or not. The estimate, if they write one for you, is to start off an estimate for their OWN records, in which later if you DO repair it at the the shop, they will have to inline it with the adjusters/appraiser's estimate. The adjusters/appraisers estimate is the prevailing one, hence the shops estimate is just for reference as they have to abide by the rules, guidelines and regulations of the insurance company as they are the one paying for the repairs. The shops estimates are merely SUGGESTIONS.

According to the DOI a customer can bring it to any body shop they want. It is against the law for anyone to tell the owner where to repair the vehicle, therefor they will NOT dictate you to do anything. And IF a carrier has a DRP, of course they will be more than happy if the customer chooses to go there.

Again, the estimate you get from the shop means nothing, it is just an initial inspection, an opinion if you will. The main inspection time is when you actually drop of the vehicle for them to do an actual teardown to access ALL damage prior to repairing the vehicle, so stop being so adamant about a shop's estimate. After teardown, if they find additional hidden damages, they will notify the insurance and they will reinspect it again to show proof of further damage. Then the shop again, will inline their estimate to what the insurance says, if everything the shop "suggests" is ok, then the shop won't have to adjust anything, and therefor can finalize it. But if they again find more damages, they can open up a supplement again. If it's a DRP shop, it's more direct and no one comes out, unless they are doing a surprise reinspection.

And an estimate will be provided to you, it's the law.

 

I am just giving my viewpoint based on my experience, as well as some not too good experience by others that I've known. I'm not being adamant at all. It is important that you have a record of what's being assessed concerning your car, as well as what is transpiring with the process of the claim.

As you've said, "And an estimate will be provided to you, its the law", that alone tells you that the estimate, or "record" if you prefer, is important for the owner as well as the insurer and shop. That's my point in a nutshell.

 

I'm saying it's the law to provide the owner with an estimate if he is repairing it there. But you were mentioning for him to go to shops and get some estimates. The final estimate that is based on the Insurance company's is THE estimate. Not the initial ones you get from the shop when you do a Drop In, those estimates mean nothing, unless you pay out of your own pocket, then that is their "quote" to you.
Doing a bunch of "drop-in" free estimates will do nothing but waste time. The vehicle will be repaired back to the way it was before the accident. They will not deprive you of that. They may apply used parts or even aftermarket. But nonetheless, it will be repaired.

 

That was why I mentioned later that the insurance adjuster would likely verify the damage and the estimate. I also mentioned that you won't need the estimate to cover the repair if it is being handled by the insurance (later post). It will only serve as a record and a back-up in the event of a miscommunication or faulty work.

Ok..wait hold it.........After-market parts or used parts. Now if this is a new car, and its still under warranty, the manufacturer won't cover aftermarket or used parts. If you have the car repaired with non oem or used parts (even with your insurance), you will run the risk of not being covered by your mfg's warranty in the event of something that goes wrong after its repaired, where you request dealer servicing. Ok, now this car is "fixed" with aftermarket or used parts as you say (I'll make it short this time), your carrier covered this repair, now how do you argue to your dealer that the repair was put back to new, if they discover that the car was restored with aftermarket parts? If you weren't alerted by this before the repair, then how do you intervene and demand the correct fix that will be approved by the dealer? What record will you have that will document that the car was fixed properly?

What will be your recourse if you have no records stating that the car was supposed to be put back to new (or manufacturer's standards)? How do you now take this up with your insurance company that your car which was repaired will not be covered by the warranty because of the use of aftermarket parts? What it will mean is that your insurance company will be responsible for covering the defect in the event that the manufacturer will not warranty the repair (This has happened).

This is my point when it comes to having records when your car is being repaired; in the event of an unforeseen event that could happen as a result of a bad or unsatisfactory repair. The "estimate" won't necessarily prevent this from happening, but you will have recourse for damages if in fact the repair deprives you of warranty coverage. A well written vs. a vaguely written or balloon quote could be your flag to ask questions, at the least.

Sorry, I know its long, and I know what you're saying; I am stressing this point that you have to be aware bc there is a lot of shady business that happens with insurance, and almost anything dealing with cars.

 

Where did you mention it? Show me...

aftermarket for body repairs buddy, hence BODY shop. Of course not the mechanicals, except the radiator and condensers.

An aftermarket fender, hood, etc will not effect warranty.

Only if it was caused by the accident. Like I said, fixed back to the way it was PRIOR to accident. yes?

Your point was for him to drive up to a bunch of shops and GET ESTIMATES, thinking that this would be some sort of safeguard for people that are suspicious/paranoid. My point was that it's a waste of time....

Most shops are only shady to the insurance company. Why would they not try to do a decent job on your car? If you are happy, you will be a repeat customer, or better yet, refer others so they can get more cars in. More cars = more $$$ and that is their main goal.

 

Post #7.

I've noted your points. I will still respectfully maintain my position, again based on my experience.

I have seen some people get burned by faulty repairs and in addition to it, not receive support from their dealers afterwards. Most of these instances could have been avoided by having some documentation in the beginning, and asking the right questions before commencing with a repair.

(BTW...oh boy.. ok it will be short) Many body parts now come with id/part numbers etched into the surfaces.

 

Yes, I see it. I was too lazy to go over all those post. Ok, in reponse to post 7:
When an adjuster comes out to the shop to look at the owner's car, it means the owner has a shop already. Not going around wasting the owner's or the other shops' time by accumulating FREE estimates.
The shop will write an estimate and the adjuster will come to inspect. Again, the adjuster will write the estimate and the shop will have to inline with his. The shop only started off the estimate to prepare it for their own records.

Again, how will accumulating free estimates provent you from being burned?? If you got an estimate from Shop A, B, C, D, and E. But you repaired your car at shop F. How does shop A, B, C, D and E's useless estimates protect you??

Parts have part numbers...okay. Thanks for throwing that in and go ahead and maintain your position, if you have that much time on your hands, it's your prerogative.

 

No problem!