We have a 2005 Jeep Liberty Sport that was in an accident last week. Our insurance agent gave a estimate of $2,450. to repair it. Another body shop estimated it at $5,530.00. What should we do? It is valued at $10,000.00 in Kelly Blue Book. Is our insurance trying to scam us, since they insist we take it to body shop that they recommended?
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3 Comments
I know they are getting more strict and will try to fix anything if it will save them money. However I think if the damage exceeds 2/3 of the vehicle’s value they will assess it as a total loss. I would check with your agent to make sure. If they do fix it go to a good body shop preferably an ” I-car gold” body shop that specializes in frame damage. Save all paper work! This will help on resale
Oh geesh.. if I had a dollar for every person who freaked out about an insurance estimate being “too low.” The simple answer- NO- they are not trying to scam you lol!
When an adjuster does an estimate it is a PRELIMINARY estimate. They can’t see all the damage b/c the damaged panels aren’t torn off and they dont have the car on a lift etc. You take that estimate with you to the body shop…. and hand them your insurance estimate. They will then review the estimate.. and if they see that it is missing anything and they find additional damage- they call your adjuster who will GLADLY do a supplement.
Again- its no big deal.. supplements happen all the time at body shops. All you have is a preliminary estimate. You dont have to do anything.. the body shop and your adjuster will work out any additional damage.
Now as far as it being totalled… it sounds like you arent near that. Genreally cars are totalled when it cost more to repair the vehicle then the vehicles value.. you sound pretty far away from that.
I promise.. the world isnt out to get you.. if your concerned call your adjuster and they will happily explain to you what i just did. They are people too you know!
Well insurance usually marks your car as “Totaled” if your have done damage to it that is beyond [safe] repair, like messing up the frame, fire, severe damage, etc. Also, insurance considers a car totaled if the price to repair it is more than the value of the vehicle itself or is a very large amount of the cars value.
Your insurance is not trying to scam you, that’s normal procedure. A body shop usually always quotes you higher than what your insurance estimated. Because usually a body shop will see things that need to be repaired that the insurance estimator doesn’t see.
Okay now there’s a couple things to do when getting your car repaired. First, take a look at the body shop that the insurance company recommended. Is it a reputable shop? and is it going to use OEM parts to fix your Jeep? If you have any doubt about the shop, go visit your Jeep dealer and see if they do collision repairs, or have a Jeep collision repair specialist. Most dealerships work with a specialized body shop (or have their own) that will fix your Jeep using OEM parts and technicians trained to properly do so. Usually dealership body shops do a wonderful job, but they usually do charge a bit more than other shops.
The main thing is you don’t want any mechanic or body shop putting together your car again with Non-OEM parts or doing crappy labor. If you want to help guarantee the quality of your car, ask the insurance company if you can have it repaired at another place using OEM parts (like your dealer) get an estimate from them and go from there. I believe in some cases if the estimate of the shop you want to take it too is too expensive, your car might be written off as totaled that way.