Rear Ended

[webesmart]

Hi folks! New to the forum and want to pose a question.

My husband was recently rear-ended while driving our Cabrio on Route 9. We were pleasantly surprised as the visible damage seemed minimal (but it is still waiting to be repaired).

Has anyone else had an accident where bodywork and/or muffler was needed and if so, where did you have the work performed and were you satisfied?

I'm not getting warm fuzzies from the location the dealership recommends.

Thanks much--

[forestacademy]

Why not just use the dealership? Your not going to find a lot of body shops that have any experience.

[chieftmc]

to hear about your smart

I must agree with forest, not many body shops will have experience with a smart and there will be a considerable markup on parts

[John_H]

I think the dealerships have done 90%+ of body repairs. While generic body shops may be capable, they also may not have a clear understanding of some of the subtleties of what makes a Smart a rigid, complete safety cage. The Smart dealerships have a much deeper understanding.

As it is, most body shops may not have proper numbers on estimated times and material costs to generate a proper estimate. I bumped into this issue when I was getting a custom-painted panel replaced.

[jetfuel]

...go to the dealer...they know what to look for and how it comes apart..

jetfuel

[PerryA]

What does the insurance company say? Who will cover any future problems if the work is not done correctly?

Just look at how many posts there are here about any particular modification or repair and you can see what would be going through the minds of the non-Smart body shop - what the heck do we do with that? Joe, did this come with extra parts?

Is there a reason the dealer isn't doing the work? If they don't have a full maintenance capability, why are they a dealer?

[Suze]

Originally Posted by webesmart

.....

I'm not getting warm fuzzies from the location the dealership recommends.

.....

What do you mean? The dealership recommend a body shop (not do it themselves?) Why? Is it because this is the body shop the dealer always uses and therefor they have the experience?




Why no warm fuzzies?

[webesmart]

I should have been less cryptic ... the location the dealership recommended is one of its own collision centers.

So, after surveying some co-workers, I guess the lack of warm fuzzies is to be expected once the car shop learns that insurance is covering it. The guy in charge acted like a used-car-salesman and it triggered my gag reflex.

But I do want to stress the good news ... the guy who hit our smart was in a Grand Am talking on his cell (we think) and no one heard any screeching brakes indicating he even tried to slow down. The safety videos show how the smart car does in front end collisions and we've been a bit fearful as to how we would survive rear-end collisions. It was really very impressive.

Thanks for all the input--

[ckgonska]

Am I missing something?

Why is body work needed, for $100-$150 just replace the dammaged pannel.

[John_H]

Where did you get the impression just a panel needed replacement? It seemed the muffler was involved from the original post. It may have been quite a bit more than a simple bump if screeching would have been heard if the guy was paying attention. More stuff.

I hope the repair goes quick and clean!