I really have to learn to do my own body work. My wife had her first fender bender with our super clean 03 focus and a parking post the other day. Now the focus was immaculate for a daily commuter and seeing that I've been paying for insurance for a good 23 years without a claim I figures its time to ask for some money back. So we get a quote from the insurance and were off to their recommended body shop. A week later my wife calls to check on her car and they say they need a new estimate because there is more damage. They tell her they may total our mechanically perfect 120k car because of a dent in the door. After some panic they say the damage was from a prior accident. So we then send photos of our unblemished car before the dent. Turns out they damaged the car while they had it and are blaming us. So they are fixing that and charging the insurance. Doesn't effect me but shady step # 1. So today I go to pick up the "finished" car. The hood is up. I say I want to test drive before we do anything. No power no start. The battery is disconnected? Funny I think. Connect the battery and the cooling fan turns on to high speed immediately on a car that's been sitting overnight and its 45* outside. The manager says that it always does that. So now I pull out my ASE and Ford technician certifications and inform them that this car should have no fan until the coolant reaches 120*. They said it was like that when we dropped it off. I said really? So I was just driving around disconnecting the battery every time I parked to turn off the fan and I forgot about that? Next they say their mechanic will look at it and all I have to do is pay for the diagnostic. Oh no I don't think so. Now of course 99% chance its the relay stuck on. Likely due to a welding mistake but by now I'm not saying anything other than you fix it or I have it fixed and you pay the bill or you tell to my attorney. Meanwhile the replacement door sags by 1/4". Remember other than a dent and a rear wheel out of alignment the car was perfect. No gap no body problems and the door opened and closed like new. So as of tonight the shop calls and says they are working on the door and replacing a bad relay. Now the insurance ( Infinity Insurance, don't use them) is saying they won't cover the rental car because the repairs were "finished 2 days ago". I mean seriously. I pay for complete coverage and rental service believing that if I have an accident they will fix my car to "pre accident condition" like my policy says. I've sent them hundreds of thousands over the years. Now I find out when it comes down I get shoddy repairs and poor service. So far the insurance has accused me of fraud 3 times and doubled my rates. The shop has damaged my car done poor repairs and caused mechanical problems then blamed me for all of it. I should have just taken the money from the insurance and done the work myself. And the government forces me to pay these people. That is what mandatory insurance does. They know you have to buy it so they don't provide any kind of customer service or value. OK thanks for reading my vent guys. Anyone that's interested I'll post what happens next. The car should be ready tomorrow. I still don't know if the alignment is right but the auto body instructor at school said they would be happy to look at the car for me after the holiday. I should have gone there first.

 

Some (okay most) insurance companies are like that. And the big ones are too big to know when every shop is taking them for more. At least you know what your car was and is. Some people would have never caught that. Sorry to hear your insurance company is being stupid. I would think after you told them what happened they would say thanks and not use that shop anymore. Go figure

 

Yeah man, insurance companies suck.

 

Yep, when I dinged up my pristine eldorado's door I just took it to a body shop that I knew did good work and ate the cost. I could have saved $1000 turning it into insurance but didn't want the hassle and rate increase for something that was my fault. It's a total shame paying so much money for a service that you do not want to use.

 

I feel you, I been there and done that. But please don't get me started on body shops... lol.

 

leave your insurance company. run. run now. if you are a veteran, USAA. if your mom, dad, brother, or sister is serving, a veteran, or works for the post office: USAA. Else AllState or Nationwide or State Farm. Stay away from Geico. they will drop you after one incident.

most body shops suck. i had a mazda 3 (6 months old) that was rear ended and needed to be fixed (and re-fixed) 3 times. i even had a focus for a rental! my insurance company (USAA) has always been good to me. they've never bent me over (at least not that i know of).

nowadays i trust no one with my vehicles. hence the reason i'm on here trying to find ways to fix a 20 year old truck!

i hope, in the end, the dum-dums get it right by chance and you never have to deal with them again.

 

I keep forgetting about USAA. Thanks for the reminder. I will be telling infinity exactly why I am leaving their company after over 10 years with 4 vehicles total coverage and no accidents or tickets. I hope they miss my money. This is exactly why I became a mechanic. It seems I can't trust anyone to work on anything. So I have to do it myself.

 

I agree with Dubcnea, get USAA. But DO NOT take the car to their prefered body shop. I did that once, and regretted it. By law you have the right to take your car wherever you want and have insurance pay the bill. Take it to a place you know to be on the up and up.

 

Infinity is one of the few companies that will insure my van and LeMans.

 

This x1000. When my mom new 2013 Mitsubishi got rear ended after 4 days. The estimate was about $1000 lower at the "preferred" body shop, which likely means would of been a crappy repair like the Warlockk is dealing with.