(http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l622/87tbird/IMG_12421_zps74deb4d5.jpg) Sitting in Bank of America and got sideswiped by an f-150, going to get an estimate tommorow. How much do Nos rear moldings and gas lids go for on ebay? I've seen some but there are none right now.
They are made of unobtanium. Only magic will find those as NOS pieces.
So that means the insurance company will have to pay me a magical number, haha.
When my Bird got busted up (the last one), they couldn't find parts and paid me generously. I used the money to start building the Sport.
Yup, depending on how much i get I may have a 351w in there for summer.
i hate seeing pics like this.... good luck with the estimate.
This is my fear - quarterpanel damage. When the car's ever out, I put the frontend outward so that it would take any damage, rather than the next to unrepairable quarters.
It's a shame that when driving you can control frontend damage to your car, but you cannot protect the sides and rear as they're reliant on other drivers knowing what they're doing, and paying attention. The one panel type that isn't replaceable by bolts...
I see this all the time. Unless you have good collector/classic car insurance, they will magically total your car, and then give you book value for it. You will then have the chance to buy it back from them with some of the money they give you, only with a Salvage Title attached to it forevermore after that. In the end you will probably end up with around $800-1200, and still have a tweaked rear QP, that will cost around $2K to replace with a non-tweaked rear QP and then re-spray the car, at a reputable shop. I've lost several cars this way. Now, I have up to $6K of CC coverage on my Bird, so if it gets "totaled" I can just take their money and buy another one, along with all the parts I need to modify it back to where I had my old one at.
FirstBird,
I saw your pictures of your car in another thread showing the rear spoiler. Nice car, looks like you take good care of it. Get a few appraisals your self. Your probably better off just making sure it gets fixed right. You have a good friend who does good body work in a reasonable time?
You were right they gave me an estimate of 1,000 to fix the quarterpanel. I feel like they'll load it up with bondo and give it a paint job for that much. And I'll be out a car for a week, I'm going to go to a few local places tomorrow and see what they say. I'm 16 and the appraisal guy was acting unprofessional, like I smashed into something and am now blaming someone else for the damage to my car, when he looked at my odometer he asked how many times it had rolled over because at the moment it has around 28,000 miles and when I told him it was original he just said "sure". I don't feel good taking my ride to a place like that. /End Rant
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FirstBird,
I saw your pictures of your car in another thread showing the rear spoiler. Nice car, looks like you take good care of it. Get a few appraisals your self. Your probably better off just making sure it gets fixed right. You have a good friend who does good body work in a reasonable time?
Thanks, I take pride in my car, it's one of those father son projects that was actually finished haha. I'm not afraid of doing the bodywork myself but, for the money they're offering I can't see it be done right, even if I were to do the work.
Without better pictures, it is hard to tell just how caved in the quarter panel actually is... and perhaps more importantly, what is bent and/or damaged behind the panel itself. However, that being said, a good metal man could straighten the quarter out pretty well and use minimal filler. It is all about technique, time and patience. If you find a local shop that has a good metal man, send them the business. If you were to attempt to bang it out yourself, without having the knowledge of how to shrink and expand metal, you can create more problems than you now have. There will likely be some filler used in the repair, which is ok, as long as it is minimal and done right. Good luck!
The thing is there is already filler in that spot, and if they try pulling the dent out I feel that the bondo that is already there will crack.
The filler that is already there is going to have to come out and be redone. To do otherwise will ensure that it will crack and chip in the future, so it isn't really a matter of 'if' it will crack, but when. No paint and body guy worth his salt would ever attempt to complete a repair on top of another repair.
You have no idea what Miickey Mouse some guys pass off as a quality job. That's exactly why i think the repair will cost more. I'll post up better pictures tomorrow and report back on what the other shops have to say.
If your getting lip from the adjuster I'd call their main office and let them know, you may not get anything out of it but no reason for the guy to be a douche just because your young. I run into this a lot myself, I'm 26 but look like I'm just hitting 20 and get a ton of grief especially at nicer restaurants as they think I'm a punk kid and won't tip.
Ill be calling them for sure
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higher quality pictures as promised, also took it to another shop and they said that's about right to repair it but if i wanted to change the whole quarter panel it would cost 3-4 thousand. Also he added that the insurance company i'm dealing with will not send me the check.
First off, if you're the one doing the repair, they have to pay you. They can't tell you that you have to have a shop do the repairs. Don't let them do that. Second, what insurance are you dealing with? That guy most likely wants the work and told you that to try to get your business.
Absolutely. It is none of the insurance companies business who repairs your car, or even IF it gets repaired, as long as they get their release from liability.
Again, absolutely correct. The insurance company may try to tell you a bunch of things, but the fact remains that THEY are the ones with the liability for damages, not you. Don't let them push you around or tell you lies, such as you have to do anything. If I were you, I would take it to as many body shops as possible for estimates. Add them all up together and divide them by the number of shops that gave estimates. This is much more likely to come as close as possible to what the fair repair cost would be. It is reasonable and easy enough to defend in court, if it would ever come to that. There is no good reason that you should be required to have them pay the average of the two lowest estimates, especially when in so doing, there is a better than good chance that the two lowest estimates came from shops that they sent you to.
Which raises such sticky questions as, If they routinely lie to get business, what else will they routinely lie about? If they lie about one thing, why would you place your trust in their abilities and perhaps more importantly to make repairs correctly?
I'll try to see what I can do, anyways If I'm not mistaken i think I stated the part about changing the quarter panel incorrectly. He said that he's dealt with that Insurance company before and that they count every penny, and do not like releasing fundsto people,only to body shops, so that's why he suggest for me to tell them that i wanted to change the whole quarter panel so I could drive the price of the repair up and get more money from the insurance company if and when they give it to me. The insurance company is Infinity, i still need to speak to the adjuster and see what we can do. Thanks Guys
In my shop, we deal with nothing but sub-standard insurance companies with an occasional top tier co, and almost every time a claimant comes for an estimate, they (the claimant) get the money and do what ever they like with it. Point being they have to pay you for the damages caused by their customer period. I'd do as crazy88 said and get a butt-load of estimates and average them out, turn it in to the adjuster, wait a couple of weeks at the most and then start to pester them like crazy, like every other day, till they settle.
Ill be going out this weekend or next week and will take the bird to a few local shops and ask them to give me estimates on changing out the whole quarter panel and Ill do as you guys say add it up and give the insurance company an average. And say that i do not want to repair it (by pulling the sent out) as i want a quarter panel that hasnt been repaired(as far as they know). But the claims agent seems to have dissapeared since he wont pick up or respond to my voicemails.
Admittedly, without reading this thread, THIS is why I shy away from the beloved fox T-Bird and lean on the mustang. Between potential body damage, extremely or impossible to find glass, lights, moldings, trim and panels etc...I'd strongly prefer my drive train in a clean, presentable 88 t-coupe with a roof just it's just not going to happen. Perhaps if something happens to my car I'll look for a decent clean example but these beautiful things are getting super rare.
Yeah I definitely agree on the parts, but there is just something that resonates from a Tbird/Cougar that says, I'm classier and just as capable as a Mustang.
Got 2 estimate for replacing the whole quarter one came out to 2,500 other was 2,200, now just have to get a hold of this dam adjuster.