I needed to go to Georgetown on Wednesday to attend their City Council meeting, get some pictures, and on the way stop in to see mother and dad. In the process of making a right turn into a driveway, I encountered a boulder I didn’t see and put a dent into the car we’ve had for less than a week.
Such things are not new in my life. I think for the past ten years every new or reasonably new vehicle we’ve had has incurred some kind of a problem caused by me. The most marked one was our brand new trailer in Colorado Springs. On the first big trip out of town turning around in a big parking lot I managed to hang the trailer up on a light post while making a right turn. The tradition continues.
Thursday morning, after our monthly IT Breakfast at Perkins Restaurant (they serve a great breakfast!), I took the car to a body shop recommended by one of the guys at the breakfast to get an estimate. Since we have a $500 deductible, if the cost was going to be less than that, no reason to bother the insurance company. He rang up a total of just over $2,100. A new door shell, labor to take everything out of the current door and put it in the new door, a new sill below the door, painting, blending the paint, etc. and etc. I questioned him on a new door and a new sill. I thought they could be straightened. He assured me that would not be possible.
At that price, I decided to go talk to our Allstate Insurance Adjuster. He went through the process and said the total bill to fix the door and sill would be about $680 … a rather substantial difference. I showed him the other quote and he kind of chuckled and said, “That’s why you should always talk to your insurance.” They have deals and arrangements (which is probably true) and, as I expected, the current door shell does not need replacing, only un-denting, and the same with the sill.
The car goes into the shop (a different one, an Allstate “approved” shop) on Monday for about three days. We’ll be back to a one car family situation during that time. The result is we’re out another $500 and have a car that looks like new again. As my mother said when I told her about it, “At least it’s now broken in…!”
Yikes! I’ve had a nasty experience with a shop up by Tremonton that tried to cosmetic touch ups on my brand-new car that I totalled. (By the insurance adjuster’s estimates.) That was at an All-State Insurance approved shop. I don’t like them because of that experience. It took months of arguing to get them to pay. I’m glad you had a better experience! My mother finally called them, spending a day on the phone talking to their corporate offices until she finally had the president on the phone. He approved the charges—which were double charges since their “approved” shop had billed for all the repairs that they didn’t fix. My dealer ended up fixing it.