Insurance company and my Yellow Cabrio

[Woody14619]

Hmm.. this is odd.

I also have State Farm, and had been happy with them for close to 20 years. I was one of the first people to get a Saturn back in the 90s. This was a Gen1, so it had all plastic panels, just like the smart does now. Within the first year I was t-boned in an intersection where I had right of way. State Farm had no issues with the cost of getting the new panel to replace the old one (which was pretty severely damaged).

A second incident occurred shortly after I got my second Saturn about 8 years ago. I had 130 miles on it when it was disabled by a large metal drawer. The drawer was in the road, and another driver who as not paying attention to the traffic failed to avoid it, ran over it, and after popping both tires on one side, launched it at/under my car. Again, State Farm ponied up for replacing the panels, hoses, and all that without a big fuss.

So... I'm confused why they would be stingy on a smart because of the panels. This isn't new technology. Saturns had the same type of non-painted panels on their cars from 1991 till 2006, and I'm sure thousands of Saturn owners of those year-model cars are insured by State Farm even now. It sounds to me like you have a bad agent who's not up to speed on current car trends, and is trying to cut corners to keep claims down in his branch.

You may just want to switch agents vs switching insurers. But it's never a bad idea to compare coverage rates... Consider this an incentive to do so.

[Dunerunner]

Definately, this agent is in the dark!! Less than $500 to repair the panel? That is a New panel, Labor to remove the old panel and install the new one for less than $500!!
What do they think it will cost to have a body shop pop the dent, remove the panel, prep, primer, sand, paint then labor to replace it?

[jediknight36]

My state farm agent ownes a fleet of smarts down in College Station. I doubt its the company, but the agent.

[drmickeyer]

The SF agent has been fine, We've been with him for over 25 years. It was the adjuster and his supervisor. I have $100 deductible - some special rate I get for insuring everything there. I have been planning on shopping around - now I'll do it sooner. Thanks for all of the advice.

[KarenS]

Who is or WAS your insurance company, if I may ask?

[SuperGeek]

Insurance companies are getting stingy due to economic pressures. A friend of mine hydroplaned in rain in his Mitsubishi - not sure of the model, but it's a rally car with all kinds of sporty goodness. So, he spins, hits a concrete bridge support at 40mph or so, front end and engine are ugly as sin, and he's gone through 2 weeks of arguments just to get them to check the engine. So far they're up to about $16k in repair estimates on a $25k car. Extensive body damage ($6k worth), frame damage (bent in and up several inches), engine, who knows what else. Bending back the frame probably won't bring this car back to a racing condition. GEICO is going real slow on the estimate process and refuses to consider totaling the car unless damage is > 80% of the total value. If they don't total it, he'll never be able to sell it... who would buy a year-old rally car with $16k worth of collision damage? I doubt they can make it run like new.

I need to check with Farmer's on my own policy to see how they'd handle my Smart collision. When I had Progressive and got sideswiped in my Grand Am, they came out and had me authorized for pulling the door out and a full repaint (not blending) within hours. But then, I was paying 3x as much for the privilege. Farmers is cheaper over the long run, even if they only pay for half my preferred repair method. As long as they don't think they can bend a Tridion into shape.

[Ray Ninness]

Just checked the hood on our Smart and it is painted, the inner side is an industrial gray, and you can see the over spary on the underside of the panel??? I haven't checked the body panels, but I believe they too are painted???

Originally Posted by drmickeyer

One month and 2 days after taking delivery of my yellow cabrio I came out of the store with my son and discovered someone had hit the right rear panel and left a dent with blue paint. After the anger had settled, I called State Farm. I was given a claim number and told someone would come to my home and estimate the car. In the meantime I took the car to my Smart dealer and got an estimate, $490.13. State Farm arrived yesterday and told me they would not authorize the dealer to do the repairs although I am free to take it where I want. The estimator told me they would use a heat gun to mend the dent and then repaint the panel. I explained that the panel is not painted, but rather a molded colored plastic and I was told that "we do it all the time". Long story short, I held firm and they finally gave in and authorized my dealer for the repair at full cost - THIS TIME ONLY because "the Smart is not in their database"! I told them I might switch insurance companies and take my 6 cars and 2 homes with me! Beware the insurance companies.

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by Ray Ninness

Just checked the hood on our Smart and it is painted, the inner side is an industrial gray, and you can see the over spary on the underside of the panel??? I haven't checked the body panels, but I believe they too are painted???

Thats odd. I was told that the painted panels (metallic colors) were black molded in with paint. I still wouldn't let just anyone repaint the smart panels.

[drmickeyer]

Originally Posted by Ray Ninness

Just checked the hood on our Smart and it is painted, the inner side is an industrial gray, and you can see the over spary on the underside of the panel??? I haven't checked the body panels, but I believe they too are painted???

The yellow panels are indeed yellow plastic. Our blue Smart is painted with the metallic paint.

I agree with Jediknight that not just anyone will be repairing my Smart - at least not until it's a common car that the body shops have experience repairing.

[smartNup]

We’ve had State Farm for years and so far have never had any problems with them. About two weeks after we got our smart my husband had a deer collision that caused some damage. The only wait from State Farm was because the policy was still in transition when this happened. The body shop that took care of it didn’t have the smart in their system either so it took them a few days to give us a quote as well. State Farm bent over backwards to make sure all of our auto claims were taken care of in a very timely matter.

Interestingly enough we just got a check from State Farm for a reduction in the smart policy.

California does have some very strict consumer protection policies too.