When I heard that answer to my question on the phone, I had to roll my eyes and say, oh no, here we go.
" ALL panels have to be painted"
Well, is that true? I figured you could by new factory painted smart fenders and a hood cheaper than you can get unpainted (can you even get unpainted) parts and paint them?
This was the phone conversation as it started when the adjuster was trying to set an appointment to examine my car. My insurance company wanted me to take it to the next county and leave it at their "guaranteed" shop. Don't think so. The guy was a little upset that he had to come up here since the car is drivable. Well too bad. Was upset that he wasn't able to get to see it within the first 24 hours of contact either. Sorry, not going that far out of my way, stop my business just for an adjuster.
The car is drivable and unless you look REAL close at it, you can't tell it's even broken. On close inspection, both fenders have cuts in the paint, the "hood" is broken, as is the right headlight and the large black plastic thing behind it. The tree limb that hit the car caused the right fender, grill, tow plug, and fog light plug to pop out. The parking light is popped out and I cant' get it to reseat. The fender is bowed, bent out of shape.
The limb bounced off the front of the car, then hit the left pillar and dented it and then bounced over the top of the car. I don't think the tridion is damaged, but that pillar cover is going to have to be repaired or replaced.
The car took an amazing hit and came out remarkably well. But I'm worried about what might be damaged UNDERNEATH the panels and the tridion cover.
I sure would like to hear "bodyshop" repair and insurance experiences from other owners. I'm VERY leery about taking this guy's word for what actually might be damaged. After all, the last adjuster called my Subaru 3K of damage and it was actually about 13K. I don't wanna get stuck again (although the other claim didn't cost me anything extra other than LOTS of time).
Sorry, I don't agree with "all them small cars is alike".
You really need an estimate from a Smart Center to really know what's going on. There isn't a database built up on the Smarts in the US yet so there are no standard times and costs.
Some panels are purchased painted from Smart. Some panels are purchased injection-molded in the proper color requiring no paint. If you need paint (like my Merlot Red) either a painted panel or an as-color plastic panel can be used, the latter usually being slightly cheaper.
If the adjuster has no inclination of talking at great lengths to the Smart Center, they are not going to get accurate values unless there's new data within the last very few weeks.
You really need an estimate from a Smart Center to really know what's going on. There isn't a database built up on the Smarts in the US yet so there are no standard times and costs.
Some panels are purchased painted from Smart. Some panels are purchased injection-molded in the proper color requiring no paint. If you need paint (like my Merlot Red) either a painted panel or an as-color plastic panel can be used, the latter usually being slightly cheaper.
If the adjuster has no inclination of talking at great lengths to the Smart Center, they are not going to get accurate values unless there's new data within the last very few weeks.
Good point. I'll give him the number of the nearest smart dealer (Indy). Yeah, I know this is all new to the industry. That's why I'm asking for input and experiences from others who have been banged up. I'd be pretty happy if all this stuff is as cosmetic as it appears. But, like with my Subaru, you never know.
Well their defianatly is no need to paint the entire car. If you have a stock color, then you can order new replacements in those colors. You can change out the hood yourself.
I don't know I would trust anyone to know what to do with a powder coated trident. You may want to make sure any body shop knows that.
I also wouldn't trust anyone but the smart center to know what is is sopposed to know what it looks like under the panels.
If they first say all small cars are the same, your insurance company is going to be paying for their learning curve. But then after that, they may become experts
Hmmm... the tridion cover is POWDER COATED? Crap. OK, they can disassemble the entire car and re-powdercoat it.
Has anyone else had to have their front windshield "pillars" repaired? did they just paint them and say "good enough". Sorry, that's not good enough. Grrrr....
Think I'll call the Indy dealership myself and ask some questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by forestacademy
Well their defianatly is no need to paint the entire car. If you have a stock color, then you can order new replacements in those colors. You can change out the hood yourself.
I don't know I would trust anyone to know what to do with a powder coated trident. You may want to make sure any body shop knows that.
I also wouldn't trust anyone but the smart center to know what is is sopposed to know what it looks like under the panels.
If they first say all small cars are the same, your insurance company is going to be paying for their learning curve. But then after that, they may become experts
Hmmm... the tridion cover is POWDER COATED? Crap. OK, they can disassemble the entire car and re-powdercoat it.
Has anyone else had to have their front windshield "pillars" repaired? did they just paint them and say "good enough". Sorry, that's not good enough. Grrrr....
Think I'll call the Indy dealership myself and ask some questions.
Re powder coating or a touch up would not be a good option. You could just have the entire trident pained to a unique color so its all the same. Just like they wanted to do with your panels
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