Got sidewiped. Need body shop recomedation.

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Sawdusted

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Guys,
I need a body shop recommendation. Got sideswiped by a flat-bed trailer carrying a load of 4" iron pipes.

I was in the left lane. Trailer swerved left to avoid another vehicle, sideswiped me and pushed me into the pylons and into the HOV lane. I'm fine but the car needs major body and steering work.

Any of you North Texans have good experiences with a recommend a good body shop? I live in Garland TX, and the vehicle needs to be towed to the shop.

Sorry, no pics now as it got too dark outside. Will take pics when it gets bright outside.
 
See if you can get a recommendation from your insurance agent. They generally know what shops work well with their claims. This worked for us when we needed shops in the past, out of our normal area.
 
Never hang out along side semis. Pass them quickly or stay back. Folks like to sit along side them and this can cause lots of problem like what happened to you. Not saying you were coasting along side him. Just that lots of drivers do.
 
Originally Posted By: JayhawkRoy
See if you can get a recommendation from your insurance agent. They generally know what shops work well with their claims. This worked for us when we needed shops in the past, out of our normal area.



+1

Also if the body shop messes something up insurance will stand behind it.
 
Garland is more or less in the metroplex, Yes?

if it comes to car shopping, I know a guy out in the Midcities (my brother) with a couple Mustangs to sell...
 
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Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Never hang out along side semis. Pass them quickly or stay back. Folks like to sit along side them and this can cause lots of problem like what happened to you. Not saying you were coasting along side him. Just that lots of drivers do.


I was trying to pass him on the left when he decided to close in on me. Just bad luck I guess.

His insurance should cover it.

Now in this case, my insurance gave me 2 options. One is to claim damages against my policy then my ins will pursue the case with their ins co. If they are successful, I will get back my deductible. My car will get fixed first with this option but I may not be able to recover the deductible.

Option 2 is to claim directly from the trucker's ins co. But it will probably take longer and I may have to fork out towing fees and additional car rental s first. And it may take a long time.

Which is the better route?
 
I always choose option 1. I am dealing with my company's folks, understand how they operate and get my settlement quicker. No B S in between. For me and my insurer it is a completely transparent process.

If you deal with the other insurer, you are at their mercy in terms of getting a claims adjuster to review the damage and their approval process. They have no real priority to settle or make quick decisions.

I have always gotten my deductible back, even though it may take some time. I have a very low deductible, so I think the risk is worth it. There has been no doubt as to who was at fault.

Too many insurance companies try to low-ball you and will keep you on a string too long.
 
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If you can tow to Fort Worth, I can vouch for the quality of Omega Auto Repair at 3120 Bryan Ave.

My car got backed into. (hit and run) I paid for it out of pocket. You wouldn't know which panel of my car was hit without me pointing it out. Paintwork is still good 5 years later. (probably better than the OE AutoAlliance paint) No cracking, no chalking.
 
Thanks Spazdog. Fort Worth is a little farther I will talk to my ins co and ask them for recommendations too.

Last time I got hit, Progressive Concierge took care of it with lifetime warranty.
Now I have Geico. I guess I should find one with lifetime warranty here too.
 
The LAST thing that I'd do (from personal experience) is ask anyone who is employed by an insurance company as to where to take a car for repairs. They should refuse to recommend any one particular shop, and tell you to consider any of the shops that are listed on their "preferred shops" list.

Here's why:

I had no idea that the adjuster with the insurance company (whose opinion I thought I could trust) was "buddy-buddy" with the manager at this particular body shop. Together, they were running a scam to fix the cars as cheaply/quickly as humanly possible, while soaking the insurance company for everything that they could. It worked just fine with clueless people who didn't care how their cars were repaired.

I got in the way, and blew it all up. The employees at the body shop got sloppy and let me get too close to my car while it was being repaired. I could see enough to realize that my car was literally being Frankensteined back together.

The day that it finally all blew up, I had the insurance adjuster screaming at me at the top of his lungs, calling me everything but a child of God. After I made a phone call to the insurance company and had spoke to the adjuster's boss about what had happened, I then had to deal with a body shop manager who refused to release my half-repaired/half-butchered car back to either me, or the insurance company. At this point, my car wasn't getting out of my sight. It was over, and my car was coming out of that shop ASAP.

The insurance company sent a flatbed to the body shop, and told the body shop manager that my car would be leaving on that flatbed. It was then delivered to a second body shop in a different town, that agreed to handle the aftermath of this train-wreck.

The repairs had been done to it were so bad that it had to be completely dismantled, everything had to be re-done and re-painted at the expense of the insurance company.

And as a parting gift from the first body shop, my new set of tires (with less than 500 miles) were full of body trim screws.

Yep. It was a wild ride, that's for sure. I was without a car for two months total... all because of that adjuster.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
The LAST thing that I'd do (from personal experience) is ask anyone who is employed by an insurance company as to where to take a car for repairs. They should refuse to recommend any one particular shop, and tell you to consider any of the shops that are listed on their "preferred shops" list.....


I think what JayhawkRoy meant, and what I agreed with was that the word "recommendation" should have been "recommendationS" when it comes to insurance-recommended body shops.

When I deal with insurance claims, I use the claims office. They ALWAYS ask me what shop I would LIKE to use, and if it is on their recommended list of body shops they will let me know, if not, they will cut me a check for repairs. If I ask what shops they use, they ALWAYS give me a list of several shops in my areas, never just one.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I think I will claim against my policy first and let them pursue the case with the truck's ins co.

And of course I will ask my ins co for a list of their preferred body shops.
 
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