Just got my car fixed
09-22-2009, 09:13 AM
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Just got my car fixed
About three weeks ago I ran over a small animal on the highway going about 60-65 miles per hour. The damage was more extensive than I thought. The radiator, AC condensor and the blower fan were all pushed back and dented. Front bumper was pretty much destroyed along with the foglights. Headlights were later found to be broken by the body shop techs at the Honda dealership I took the car to. Also some scratches on my hood from the flying debries.
The insurance quoted at about 3800 dollars and quickly rose to 4600 dollars by the body shop. The insurance ordered used parts for my car being a older car with over 90k miles on it. However, the body shop didn't like the used radiator due to some rust and so I opted for a brand new after market radiator instead. The insurance also neglected to include the foglights in their estimate along with the wrong headlights. The repair was only supposed to take 7 business days but turned into 9 due to all the mistakes the insurance company made.
However, the good thing is that for some odd reason, the body shop put in a front lip for me.
My car originally does not come with the front lip and now it looks 10 times cooler. Aside from that, they did an okay job on the paint. I am bringing it back to have them repaint the front bumper to get rid of two super deep scratches around the foglights. They also put my passenger side headlight a little higer than the drive side. Also, they managed to scratch my fender when they were installing the passenger headlight. Not sure if they will do anything about the fender since they didn't do any work on them. I figured they will try to get out of that, but I will ask to see if they can do some touchup so that it won't be so apparent. And I thought going to the dealer's bodyshop would be better........
The insurance quoted at about 3800 dollars and quickly rose to 4600 dollars by the body shop. The insurance ordered used parts for my car being a older car with over 90k miles on it. However, the body shop didn't like the used radiator due to some rust and so I opted for a brand new after market radiator instead. The insurance also neglected to include the foglights in their estimate along with the wrong headlights. The repair was only supposed to take 7 business days but turned into 9 due to all the mistakes the insurance company made.
However, the good thing is that for some odd reason, the body shop put in a front lip for me.
My car originally does not come with the front lip and now it looks 10 times cooler. Aside from that, they did an okay job on the paint. I am bringing it back to have them repaint the front bumper to get rid of two super deep scratches around the foglights. They also put my passenger side headlight a little higer than the drive side. Also, they managed to scratch my fender when they were installing the passenger headlight. Not sure if they will do anything about the fender since they didn't do any work on them. I figured they will try to get out of that, but I will ask to see if they can do some touchup so that it won't be so apparent. And I thought going to the dealer's bodyshop would be better........
09-22-2009, 10:30 AM
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I have Farmer's insurance. They aren't exactly the best people to deal with some time, but their rate is somewhat cheaper than others.
I am not sure if I want the shop to repaint the bumper now. I am really impress with the rest of the paint, all smooth and shiny. I don't want them to repaint and end up with some more imperfections on it.......what should I do??
I am not sure if I want the shop to repaint the bumper now. I am really impress with the rest of the paint, all smooth and shiny. I don't want them to repaint and end up with some more imperfections on it.......what should I do??
09-22-2009, 10:32 AM
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If your not happy with the paint have them respray it.
09-22-2009, 11:33 AM
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I already contacted them to have them respray the front bumper due to the scratches.
I am just worried that when they respray, they will make some more imperfection. Right now, since it is a brand new bumper, the rest of the bumper is super nicely painted. I am just afriad that when they sand it down again and prime, there will be some bubbles in which they'll have to use sand paper to buff out. I should ask to see if they can do partial respray, no?
I am just worried that when they respray, they will make some more imperfection. Right now, since it is a brand new bumper, the rest of the bumper is super nicely painted. I am just afriad that when they sand it down again and prime, there will be some bubbles in which they'll have to use sand paper to buff out. I should ask to see if they can do partial respray, no?
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09-22-2009, 03:00 PM
#8
Unless the gouges went into the plastic,they probably will only have minimal primer spots if any. Even if you were to spot any dirt or fish eyes or other imperfections you can ask them to buff it. You're not running a big risk of getting a 'not as good' paint job than you have now
09-22-2009, 05:30 PM
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The scratch runs into the actual plastic, looks kinda melted plastic without the burnt marks. Something thick must have slashed my bumper.
I am going to drop my car off at the shop tonight, they said it should take about 2 days. Hopefully it will turn out better!
I am going to drop my car off at the shop tonight, they said it should take about 2 days. Hopefully it will turn out better!
09-22-2009, 05:30 PM
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The scratch runs into the actual plastic, looks kinda melted plastic without the burnt marks. Something thick must have slashed my bumper.
I am going to drop my car off at the shop tonight, they said it should take about 2 days. Hopefully it will turn out better!
I am going to drop my car off at the shop tonight, they said it should take about 2 days. Hopefully it will turn out better!
09-25-2009, 11:31 PM
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Just picked my car up several hours ago. Yay, no more scratches! However, I noticed that the front lip doesn't sit as flushed as it did the first time, but it's good enough for my taste.
One thing though, I realized that my fog light was overpowering my HID while pulling up my mother's house. I took the liberty to try correcting it myself. After studying the manual, I began unbolting the 10mm bolt under the inner side of the fog light. However, after a good 15, 20 turns, it doesn't seem to want to come off. I took a peek under the lip and it doesn't seems like the bolt is connected to the fog light at all. So I stuck my hand into the opening in the underliner and attempted to reach the fog light bulb. Of course I couldn't reach it, so I yanked on the wire and the bulb came loose.....Apparently they just kind of stuck the bulb in the housing. I took out one clip and a bolt holding the underliner and the bumper and put the bulb back in the housing the right way. Now my car doesn't have a blinding fog light anymore, yay!
One thing though, I realized that my fog light was overpowering my HID while pulling up my mother's house. I took the liberty to try correcting it myself. After studying the manual, I began unbolting the 10mm bolt under the inner side of the fog light. However, after a good 15, 20 turns, it doesn't seem to want to come off. I took a peek under the lip and it doesn't seems like the bolt is connected to the fog light at all. So I stuck my hand into the opening in the underliner and attempted to reach the fog light bulb. Of course I couldn't reach it, so I yanked on the wire and the bulb came loose.....Apparently they just kind of stuck the bulb in the housing. I took out one clip and a bolt holding the underliner and the bumper and put the bulb back in the housing the right way. Now my car doesn't have a blinding fog light anymore, yay!
09-26-2009, 04:18 AM
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Just picked my car up several hours ago. Yay, no more scratches! However, I noticed that the front lip doesn't sit as flushed as it did the first time, but it's good enough for my taste.
One thing though, I realized that my fog light was overpowering my HID while pulling up my mother's house. I took the liberty to try correcting it myself. After studying the manual, I began unbolting the 10mm bolt under the inner side of the fog light. However, after a good 15, 20 turns, it doesn't seem to want to come off. I took a peek under the lip and it doesn't seems like the bolt is connected to the fog light at all. So I stuck my hand into the opening in the underliner and attempted to reach the fog light bulb. Of course I couldn't reach it, so I yanked on the wire and the bulb came loose.....Apparently they just kind of stuck the bulb in the housing. I took out one clip and a bolt holding the underliner and the bumper and put the bulb back in the housing the right way. Now my car doesn't have a blinding fog light anymore, yay!
One thing though, I realized that my fog light was overpowering my HID while pulling up my mother's house. I took the liberty to try correcting it myself. After studying the manual, I began unbolting the 10mm bolt under the inner side of the fog light. However, after a good 15, 20 turns, it doesn't seem to want to come off. I took a peek under the lip and it doesn't seems like the bolt is connected to the fog light at all. So I stuck my hand into the opening in the underliner and attempted to reach the fog light bulb. Of course I couldn't reach it, so I yanked on the wire and the bulb came loose.....Apparently they just kind of stuck the bulb in the housing. I took out one clip and a bolt holding the underliner and the bumper and put the bulb back in the housing the right way. Now my car doesn't have a blinding fog light anymore, yay!
09-27-2009, 06:02 PM
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Yeah, I have Farmer's insurance, they are slacking a bit at times. I had my car repairs at the Luther Collision and Glass Center in Hopkins, Minnesota. For those of you resides in Minnesota, I would stay away from that place. The paint job itself is good after they repainted it, but the work ethics they have is horrible. Fog light bulbs not put in right, front lip put back on with gaps. I want to have them reinstall, but it will probably be worse or create some more scratches here and there. Oh well, that's part of life, I guess....
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