Driving down Highway 880 South near San Leandro today in the fast lane when I drove over (right front tire) what I thought was harmless roadkill. Not so - it spun up under my wheel and thumped hard against my rear fenderwell. Fortunately, Geico insurance categorizes any animal damage as a Comprehensive claim so the out-of-pocket is only $200... but still! How frustrating.

I'm taking it in on Monday for an estimate and probably will have the recommended body shop do the work since the Geico adjuster works onsite. That way if there are any things I'm dissatisfied with, things can be handled right on the spot and work can continue. (Speaking of which, does anyone have experience in the Bay Area with M2 Collision Centers?)

Pics are attached:

 

hahaha eww man what was that?
i dont see any blood

 

Damn dude - that freakin sucks. Sorry for your loss

 

I think your looking at more than 2 hundred to fix that

 

No, you're probably right -- but I was referring to my $200 deductible for comprehensive insurance claims.

It looked brown, bloody, and fairly small on the road, but I guess when you're going 65 and hit it (I must have hit it fairly close to the edge of the tires), it has a tendency to spin up and immediately hit the rear fenderwell hard. I took the next exit and looked at the damage and cried silently in my heart.

 

Sorry man, I feel for you.

 

We used M2 in Milpitas when our van got hit. They were very nice, did the work pretty fast and the paint match is perfect (Gold Metalic). I did have to have them re-align the rear hatch and the side door latch which iritated me a bit because it should have been checked before we got there but they cheerfully fixed it up in about 15 min. Customer service = 5, Body work = 5, Quality control = 3

Good Luck

 

Even in their death, animals somehow are able to avenge their deaths.

 

That sucks bro. I got hit in that same spot.



It should be a quick fix if they do it right. Mine took a workday to fix and you can't even tell I was hit.

 

Yuck!

 

Wow! Your damage was surprisingly similar to mine. Do you know what they had to do? My guess is they have to take down that entire panel, hammer it out, and apply some touch-up paint. How did they manage to hammer it out and paint yours all in one day? That's pretty impressive.

Did someone hit you or did you also run over some rock/roadkill?

I'm taking mine in on Monday to M2 Collision for an estimate - and at that time, if they have availability, I'll have them work on it. Can't wait for my baby to come back to normal!

 

Hey there,

Thanks for the feedback about M2 - since mine is only the rear quarter panel and not the door or bottom piece, hopefully it'll just be a one-day job without any problems with realignment.

 

I'm not exactly sure what they did to fix it. I made the mistake of locking the glovebox and the trunk release so they couldn't dig through anything. I got a call at about 3pm from the manager saying he needed to get in the trunk?? I went down there and they had the dent all fixed and primed. He needed to get in the trunk to actually take apart a few things. I can't even remember what they took off my car but the reason for it was so they could paint that panel by itself so there wouldn't be any tape lines. Whatever they did, they did a great job because that panel is perfectly smooth now and there's no paint mis-match.

 

Lore, good thing you only have to pay $200, that is not a small job, that entire panel/peice has to come off, and it goes from the back of the car, (taking off the gas cover as well) up and over the door windows and to the bottom of the windshield. I have a few scratches that are being taken care of tomorrow, $650, but the tint shop is paying since those idiots are the ones who scratched it.

 

They say pearl paint is a bitch, and I have NBP, its 2.5 weeks old, thank God, so there really should be no problem matching a car with such new paint on it as it is, and the guy I am going to has a great machine that replicates the factory orange peel finish that so many cars have, including ours.

 

Some years ago, a fella I worked with was traveling the National Capital Beltway in the area of Annandale, VA around 9:00 at night when he saw the several vehicles ahead of him suddenly swerve to avoid something on the highway. At least one of the vehicles ran over the object as did my friend. It looked like a large piece of cardboard to him, but the jar he took caused him to leave the beltway and get to a place where he could check out his car. He noticed some blood and tissue, so he returned to the "scene" whereupon the police had cordonned off the area and object. He told a police officer he had hit the thing and the office said, "Yeah, you and everybody else".

What he had hit was a human body, sex unknown due to the extent of damage done to it. My friend was one who didn't easily stir or excite, so this was not all that hard from him to take. When he told me this, it was like telling me, "A funny thing happened on the way to the....".

Oh, the police believed since the body was in the vicinity of an overpass, that it had either jumped or fell from the bridge to the beltway.

 

I got tagged by a Saturn (SL1 that is) and it cost her insurance co $2700 to get a similar looking ding fixed. I got a new rim and tire out of the deal but the bodywork looks like similar damage.

 

M2 is pretty good. but DO NOT GO TO M2 MOUNTAIN VIEW. They are the crappiest body shop in the world. Two week estimate took two months, not to mention what they broke and din't fix.

 

I'm going to M2 in Concord for the estimate. I might just go there for the fix too since I'm working in Concord this week...

Mr GQ Diesel -- mine's on the side without the gas cap but yeah, I know what they have to take off. Pretty gnarly! I hope they do a good job with it.

 

Got the estimate this morning. It'll be a 3-day job and will cost 968.93 ($768.93 paid by Geico) after my $200 deductible. They have to repaint two areas of the car - most of that quarter panel area and part of the rear passenger door since it's so close to the dent.

 

I can't believe our cars are so expense to fix. $1000 for that little of damage, I'm amazed.

 

It might have been cheaper at a different repair facility, but M2's employees and facility look very professional and since the Geico adjuster has an actual working-office there, it makes my life easier in case there is internal / additional damage and the facility needs approval from Geico.

But yes, I thought it would have been a $400-500 job, but with the paint, that's where most of the labor is.

 

I think that company is totally ripping off Geico. My damage was far worse than what you have and it cost me less than half of what your cost will be. Check out my pic again and look at all the white paint on my rear passenger door. They didn't even need to repaint my door, they just buffed it out. You don't even have any visable damage on your door and they want to repaint (probably for blending, right?)? I wonder how long the job would really take and what they would have charged you if you went to them without going through Geico. Probably 1 day@ half the price like me.

 

Funny that you say that because the adjuster who gave me the estimate is actually Geico employee (per Geico's claims dept and what his credentials say) and is not affiliated with M2 Collision other than he works out of there as their Geico insurance rep. He even wrote me a Geico check on the spot, so if it wasn't approved through Geico I'm sure he wouldn't have done it.

(M2 Collision actually wanted me to sign a "tear-down" fee because they thought Geico wouldn't have an estimate for them today, but the Geico rep had already figured out how much it would cost to repair the dent so M2 re-did the workorder, incorporating his estimate).

 

And yes, it's interesting that even though yours looks more damaged than mine, they want to do more blending work on mine. I'm okay with that - if they want to make my paint look normal after the dent repair, that's good... just don't mess it up even more is all I ask.

 

Well, I got it fixed! I just picked it up tonight and from what I can tell, it looks great. The dent's gone, the paint's shiny, and everything looks very clean (since they washed it). I forgot how nice the Anthracite looks when it's clean!

They clearcoated the entire quarter panel as well as the entire door (after they blended it). Amazingly shiny now.

 

Does clearcoat tend to fade over time? I noticed that the areas that they painted (right side quarter panel -- including the area that goes near the roof since it's all one piece -- and right side rear door) is a helluva lot shinier than the rest of the car.

However, in direct sunlight it looks pretty good.

 

Well, 5 months later and the paint still doesn't really look right. I washed it last night, waxed it, and it looked fantastic except for the panels that did not match.

Just great. Taking it to another adjuster for them to look at tomorrow for a re-inspection.

Taking suggestions for reputable, high-quality-prepping, body shops in the East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley/Emeryville) areas.

 

I would've reccomended M2 in Concord as so far I've been satisfied with thier werk.... but, NEVERMIND! Ha!!!

 

I posted on Craigslist discussion forums and someone suggested that I give M2 a chance to make good on their lifetime guarantee... and try to get a rental out of it for my trouble. I'll see what the adjuster says tomorrow.

 

Lore,
Is it the shine that looks bad or is it just a poor paint match?

 

I think it's the shine that looks bad -- in bright light and up close the paint seems to match reasonably well. But the clearcoat seems to have too much "yellow" tint in it which really brings out the different shine and makes it stand out like a sore thumb.

 

This would be the first, middle and last step. Lifetime Guarantee and insurance company recommended. They own the repair and you need to be satisfied. You'll learn a lot about the business tomorrow when you take it back. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I went to a body shop in Sunnyvale today (Fenders Collision) and talked to the paint guy. Really nice, explained exactly what he would do, but the damn adjuster wasn't there to look at it.

And then to your point, I went to M2 Mountain View later on to see if they would do the work for me as it was an M2 (Concord) goof-up to begin with. They said they'd be happy to, but I wasn't as comfortable talking to the people there as I was at Fender's. The M2 staff seemed more confrontational and gave more excuses instead of providing solutions. They didn't give me a lot of comfort over their ability or willingness to do the work.

The paint match is just off... too weird.

I think I'm going to try to get a Geico adjuster to look at it and ask them to let me go to a different body shop in the Bay Area. I've heard Premier Auto Body in Berkeley is pretty good -- any experience?

 

Okay, car was redone by M2 Collision in Concord again. Insurance company wouldn't let me try to go to a different shop unless I let M2 try it again.

They did a piss-poor job of prep and clean-up, but the paint at least now looks the same consistently across the passenger side. They reblended the paint near the original damage and re-cleared the entire side.

For some reason the DuPont clear they use still has some yellowish tint to it, so that's the biggest difference compared to the other side. And they blended in basecoat across the doors so they don't appear patchy anymore (like the factory paint looks, depending how thick they laid it on. It was especially apparent with my Anthracite doors).

It's not factory paint - you can definitely tell it's newer or shinier or something when you compare it to the other side - but at least it matches all the way through now.

*Sigh* - that's what happens when your car gets hurt, I guess.

 

WTF - Not factory paint? IMHO, it came with factory paint. I would think that even if they don't use factory paint they are supposed to be able to match it. That's why they call themselves professionals. Should be 90-95% same and very,very difficult to tell.

My SSM 02 MDX was hit on each end of the same side and I defy you to identify the side. Perhaps give it a few weeks and a couple of washings then start all over again. You do plan to keep it a while right? Would it match better if they buff out the whole car?

 

The clear coat is DuPont, which has a different formula than what the factory uses. The blending is dead-on right now (meaning the Anthracite basecoat matches the factory areas that they did not repaint) but the clearcoat is what makes it look different.

The entire passenger side looks the same now that they've cleared the entire side (with the exception of the bumpers and side skirt). That's what they "matched." However, due to the coloring of the DuPont clear, if you compare the driver's side (in its entirety) to the passenger's side (again, in its entirety) you would notice a difference.

At this point I doubt ANY body shop can make it look consistent without repainting the entire car with the same type of clearcoat.

 

Great... my moldings weren't installed correctly so I took it back to the body shop and guess what? M2 Collision (all of their chains) is now bankrupt and cannot do any more work.

There was about 10-15 people (former employees) standing around the building when I got there this morning.

 

That sucks, I was going to take my Anthracite 2nd Gen there for an estimate. Call your local Acura or Honda dealers. Ask them who they recommend for their body work. I have had good luck with dealer's recommended shops.

 

Well this is ultimately an insurance issue -- I just need Geico to step up and pay for the molding replacements.