I have an find old car worth about $2500. I have put about $4000 in it in the past year and it runs great. We use it to bang about town and as a second car when needed. A couple of weeks ago I was hit, and damaged. The other driver was 100% at fault and his insurance company “salvaged” my car giving me $2700 for it. Of course I can’t replace the car in the condition I had for the one that was wrecked. The insurance company’s body shop quoted $6000 to fix it “If they could fix it at all.” Boy was I bummed. I blogged about the frustration and got a lot of advice. I will tell you what I have done.
I took all the receipts for work I had done on the car and send them to the insurance company. They upped the amount they would give me by $200. Not a lot but something. They also agreed not to “Salvage” the car.
- I took the car to my mechanic who also has a body shop and he quoted $2300 to fix the car. He is also going to touch up some other scratches.
- I will have my car back on Saturday, and be a few bucks richer.
So here’s the deal. First don’t lay down and take it. Get the insurance company to give you the most you can. Second get other estimates. Just because “Uptown” body shop quotes and outrageous price, it doesn’t mean that someone else won’t do it cheaper. After all, it may not be perfect, but it is a 20 year old car and if it look a tad better than “OK”, I’ll be happy and have perfectly good transportation.
Here’s a picture of $6000 in damage:
JVH
