Subaru Outback Forums banner

WWYD if your '13 OB had 7k of damage

2K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  Novablue 
#1 ·
fellow owners, what would you do if your car had 1k miles, and was hit in rear driver corner, no frame damage, and causes 7k worth of fixes? it's also the SAP pkg in BBP. I'm worried the body shop won't be able to match the BBP exactly bc of its unique color, and sux that it still has dealer plates.
thinking I should sell the car and start over again, and try to find another BBP SAP. if its no frame damage, u think its worth keeping?
here's the kicker, this OB replaced a car that was totaled by a student lowing into me! arghhhhhhbh
 
#3 ·
Find a good independent appraiser and see about a diminished value claim against the other insurance company to offset your loss on selling the car, if you do.

Even if you do repair the car, hire the independent appraiser to supervise the repairs and appraise the results to ensure high quality work.

With the help of such an appraiser, I got my insurance company to total my '10, and generously settle, due to poor quality and fraudulent repairs by their referral shop.

The body shop/insurance industry is horrible, with a few exceptions, as far as I can tell. On your own the game is rigged against you, based on my experience. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
Everyone gets all worked up over this. Your car is bound to get stone chips, dents, dings and scratches. They will fix it right, you won't be able to tell, you will never know the difference. You are going to lose your arse if you trade in a brand new car like that. The accident is going to show up and regardless of diminished value claims, good luck on that one as you would need to be back to brand new purchase price to make you whole again.

My point, stuff is going to happen anyway, just be glad you got it out of the way the first few weeks....LOL, not funny but you know.
 
#5 ·
You will lose money if you trade and buy another.
 
#6 ·
If you use a good shop, you'll never know the difference. To help with the insurance company going to bat for you if it's not right, use one of their "preferred" shops. Even though you aren't required to use a "preferred" shop, you lose leverage through the insurance company if you don't. Many shops offer their own lifetime warranty on the repair. You can also look for shops that participate in iCAR (Gold-rated is preferred), it's an industry group related to training and education of body repair techs.

You can also ask what they use for a paint matching system and paint booth. My preferred shop uses a paint mixing system certified by German automakers and a paint booth imported from Italy.

Yes it requires homework, but the results are worth it.
 
#7 ·
I do not think trading it in is a good idea. You will surely loose money on the car. But if you are not going to be able to get over the fact that your car is not the same (i can relate) and you can take a loss, then go ahead and trade it in. I would just deal with it, you probably will not even notice it was damaged once the repair shop is done with it, my wife was involved in two accidents with her Forester in a three month period (folks like to run red lights around here), car was never totalled and the shop did a great job. Although the wife says the car does not handle/feel the same I just think it is in her head.

Hope everything works out for you.
 
#9 ·
Our 04 Fozzie XT was hit badly enough in the LF wheel that we needed new timing covers. Our insurer elected to fix the car, which they later regretted, as additional damage came to light. I've been driving the car for 8 years since the repair, and I have literally never once noticed anything to suggest that the car was nearly totaled. A competant shop can work wonders. If you have a hack fix your car, you will always know that a hack fixed your car. I have driven cars that got hit and were never right again, I understand your position. Get it fixed right, and you'll be fine.

Our Foz was hit almost a year to the day after we bought it. A driver (talking on a cell phone) turned left through a red light and hit our car as my wife crossed the intersection on the green. My wife and my Mom opened their doors and stepped out of the Forester, at which point that car never owed me another cent. The Foz went to Cranberry Collision in Dennis, MA. We went out to dinner, which I thought was way better than going to the hospital.

As I type that story, it makes me realize that I'm going to have a very hard time saying goodbye to the Forester.
 
#10 ·
Body repairs on a uni-body are simple for most shops properly equipped. Find a good shop that has good reviews and a decent warranty for their work and forget anything ever happened. It sounds like you just need a new bumper and some touch up. Paint, even metallic can be repaired and you'll never notice.

If there is power train damage then start looking for another car.
 
#13 ·
Yeeeaaaa. I know.

I worked auto body for a while and I have an idea what $7k looks like even with out a picture. I always love it when people who don't/haven't worked in the industry say things like "dump it" "it will never be the same."

He asked what I would do, I would keep it. :D

I understand why someone would want to get rid of it. It's kind of like if you get a fire in your home, sometimes the owner will still smell smoke even if everything is replaced and cleaned up.

Still as others have said: Get diminished value, no matter what you do.

Me? I wouldn't worry at all and I haven't. 11 years ago I had a $5k job done on an old Nova. The back end was pointing out 15 degrees off.

Shop did a great job and the car was never totaled. Car never had rust (from the repair) and I put another 85K miles on it in that time with no body issues. Good shops do amazing work, bad shops do crappy work.
 
#12 ·
With mileage that you you should be able to get a diminished value claim based on the new price of the car. In short your car is new. They should cover the damages and whatever the diminished value is based on immediate trade in. You will be rolling in a new subaru with absolutely minimal cost out of pocket. If you get the body shop to buy it or the insurance company to total it you should be in the same shape and not have to wait for the repairs.

The key here is that you have to ASK for diminished value. You may be able to get the adjuster to total it as if it were an untitled new car (hey it happens on demos.) Watch the tax component as well - if you don't have a trade its going to run you extra nickels. Hold your ground with the adjuster, get the name of the most rabid ambulance chaser in the area and DON'T SIGN AYTHING (including the back of any "preliminary settlement" checks).

Figure out what the out the door cost is for a new equivalent subie, get a trade value for yours AS IT SITS (unrepaired). The settlement value to you is the delta between the two - then the shop or the dealer takes the wrecked / unrepaird one and your roll off the lot no dollars out.

Hope this helps.

Sorry for the ramble.

Chris
 
#14 ·
Yeah well yours is one story mine is another based on 3 cars all of them never the same, repeat never the same.
It was a new car this isn't a stone chip but serious damage.
Having gone through months of not having the car available then getting it back and countless trips back to try and get it corrected which never happened I can tell you it isn't worth the time and effort of the owner to go through this.
I am sure having been "in the industry" you have never seen customers come back pissed off because the repairs were done poorly.
My experience based upon dealership, independent and independent working for the insurance company is that none of them ever were the same and we sold all of them within a year or two of getting them back after countless trips and time to the repair facility.
OP it is your call and I wish you a lot of luck on what you decide because you are going to lose money if your trade it in and you are going to lose time and be frustrated if you get it repaired and it isn't right...
 
#15 ·
I'm sorry you did not have good experiences. So does that mean anytime a car is hit it needs to go the crusher? I'm not trying to minimize your bad experiences. If any of those shops had fixed even one of your cars right you should not have had an issue. I didn't get lucky either I have sent many people that way and had two other cars fixed there too. They do amazing work and warranty the work for as long as you live (or sell the car). Everyone I have sent there has been very satisfied with Aldercrest. No I never worked there or have any affiliation with them (I clean floors now anyway).

Out of the 100 plus shops in my area, maybe 10 are any good. Ask around, find a good shop. I would recommend not going to a shop recommended by a dealer. Most times dealers only recommend shops they get a kick back from. I went that route once and was very disappointed so I have been on that side too. Auto body doesn't have the same standards as auto mechanics and there are more bad ones than good ones in my opinion. I hear your story all the time but not from the shops I've chosen to work with.

There are professionals and there are amateurs. I'm sorry but it doesn't sound like you met a professional yet.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top