body shop recommendations

[cruizin18]

Sat my 99 suffered a big hit at a merge where another driver failed to yield. Not sure I'm on the right link however anyone have recommendations on what body repair shop to tow it to? I'm in Bethesda.
thx in advance!

Thanks in advance.

 

[CakeMountain]

It's a little out of your way, but they do great work.

Frank & Bill's Auto Collision Center | Frank and Bills

www.frankandbills.com

 

[cruizin18]

thx!

 

[DrivenLyfe]

https://www.mandkautorepairinc.com/ has done good work and a quick turn around before.

 

[cruizin18]

thanks! Discovered the insurance companies have a preferred list of shops. Will cross-check.
I'm worried once the shops get into it, could be a total.

 

[TRDdrew]

@cruizin18 i work for a body shop and deal with the insurance companies on the daily, feel free to shoot me a PM and i'll give you some advice on the subject.

 

[cruizin18]

thanks! Discovered the insurance companies have a preferred list of shops. Will cross-check.
I'm worried once the shops get into it, could be a total.

So wound up going to Quattro Body Shop. Fingers crossed.
Thx for all the recommendations! Time, distance and Erie Insurance list narrowed choices.

 

[cruizin18]

Follow-up. So got word back from Erie and they're calling it a total, heartbreaker. Parts are very hard to get and they are at $11,500 without brakes which blew out on the collision and I suspect was the ABS MC. No number yet from Erie although I'm guessing it's not gonna be great. Within the Last year or so I had a ton of maintenance and upgrades done; new coils, a new radiator, water pump (last month), OME shocks, Borla stainless cat back exhaust, Toyo tires, and went plus 2" on rims to Tundra 18's, a new battery, sound-deadened doors with new stereo and speakers, all LED interior, new trailer hitch. Was going to keep it for many more years. Only 170,000 and owned it for 23 years with all records. No frame, engine, or suspension damage.
Amazing what it costs to replace parts.

 

[CakeMountain]

Buy it back and put a used hood, fender, and headlight on it. Buy yourself an arb bumper and never worry again.

 

[JohnVee]

@TRDdrew and/or others can probably discuss "salvage title" and insurance buy backs with knowledge of the DMV area regulations. It might be worth investigating in order to keep the vehicle that you have so much time into and planned on keeping for a long time. Now that you know you'll have to pay out of pocket instead of relying on insurance (common for older vehicles, and it seems "old" gets newer every year), it won't hurt so much when you do, and your insurance rate will likely go down.

You should also look into Hagerty's, or a similar, company for insurance at "agreed upon value". I'm not sure how a salvage title would factor into that, though.

The key here is that you haven't turned over the vehicle to insurance yet. It remains yours until you accept their offer on the claim.

I'm not very intelligent. Don't take anything I say as gospel. But...plenty of people here have knowledge in this area. Hopefully they'll chime in.

 

[cruizin18]

@TRDdrew and/or others can probably discuss "salvage title" and insurance buy backs with knowledge of the DMV area regulations. It might be worth investigating in order to keep the vehicle that you have so much time into and planned on keeping for a long time. Now that you know you'll have to pay out of pocket instead of relying on insurance (common for older vehicles, and it seems "old" gets newer every year), it won't hurt so much when you do, and your insurance rate will likely go down.

You should also look into Hagerty's, or a similar, company for insurance at "agreed upon value". I'm not sure how a salvage title would factor into that, though.

The key here is that you haven't turned over the vehicle to insurance yet. It remains yours until you accept their offer on the claim.

I'm not very intelligent. Don't take anything I say as gospel. But...plenty of people here have knowledge in this area. Hopefully they'll chime in.

Excellent advice, really appreciate it. Never had to deal with a total before.

Buy it back and put a used hood, fender, and headlight on it. Buy yourself an arb bumper and never worry again.

i like this idea!

 

[CakeMountain]

 

[cruizin18]

So today I got the updated total loss information.
Huge thanks to everyone here esp to TRDdrew for his advice and time on how to proceed with all this and Erie insurance. Drew, I owe you a few beers if I ever make a club meeting
I will say Erie Insurance came through with fairness and professionalism. It was a slow start then went quickly. I think Erie did a very fair and honest job aside from some initial delays. I kindly rejected the first offer of $16,500, and after providing receipts for all the minor mods and upgrades they increased the final offer to $18,300 which I think is better, not perfect however I should take it. Something I found out, receipts older than 12 months are not considered and be sure to review the comps sheet, a few mistakes were in there and corrected.

I can buy the Truck back for $3,000, however a long shot since I don't have the space, time, or skill for this work. So it's probably goodby to a long and happy relationship with my friend of 23 years even with imperfections it's still the best.
Will try to post any other follow-ups for those interested.

Maybe a 200 series is in my future?

Cheers

 

[1MOA]

Just a word about insurance companies and totaling thresholds. We just renewed our commercial vehicle insurance for my company and had to go through a presentation on new ( last 24 months) changes to auto policies due to prices parts availability and shop availability.
Since shops are overwhelmed with work right now and the costs of replacement parts has gone up on average 40% totals are now more common than ever before.
Also with new vehicles having aluminum panels plastic bumpers the commercial side is taking a huge hit because the vehicles are damaged more and take much more to get fixed. If they are out of service replacement vehicles can't be sourced at all and now most commercial policies will exclude replacement loaners while being repaired
I believe all of this carries over into private policies as well. Our agent told us point bank to keep our older vehicles take care of them and run them until they can't go anymore because the new vehicles are flimsy and cost us and them way more money.