Body Damage Need Advice

What does the insurance company have to do with it? You're not obligated to go to their body shop, you take it to your body shop and submit the estimate to them. Look like you're going to need a new rear quarter, trunk lid, bumper cover,bumper, possible control arms, exhaust... make sure they look at floor pans and frame rails. They can't deny your claim from your choice in body shop and your insurance company should help you deal with the other drivers insurance company that's what you pay premiums for.

I really hate to see things like this happen but usually if its the other person's fault and you both have the same insurance they usually try and sweep things under the rug real quick and take it to one of their preferred body shop which is somewhat quick. This happened to my parents when they got rear ended by some lady with the same insurance as them (GEICO) the experience was pretty quick and painless.

Still if it isn't do like I did on a previous accident and just keep calling the other driver's adjuster, and their boss, and their boss's boss, sooner or later you'll annoy the hell out of someone high up and put you in a three way conversation with the other person's adjuster and a complaints department at corporate and you'll have your check in no time and your car fixed.

Airbags don't usually go off in rear end collisions, they would not help if they did. You get pushed back into the seat, not forward into the steering wheel. I hope everything works out for you, with your wife's health and the car.

Having the same insurance company sucks!! They will try to get the job done for as little as possible but stick to your guns and demand Ford OE parts only and have the job done at body shop of your choosing.

tommyroc said:

demand Ford OE parts only

Click to expand...

BOOM!!!!

Best advice yet. Double, and triple check that they use only FORD OEM parts...demand they do. I made the mistake of not making sure when I was rear ended. Now, I have a crappy ass rear bumper that doesn't even line up. The body shop guys that handed the car back were even embarrassed as they could only get it to line up so much. It really looks like dog****. To a trained eye, some might say it's been in an accident and hasn't been fixed. The corners that end into the wheel well are bent inward and the lines between the rear quarter and bumper look to be drawn by a 1st grader.

Glad your wife is ok.
Get OEM parts.
Go to your body shop.

I hit a deer in my car a while back. I took mine to my local Ford dealer to get repaired. They used what I wanted them to. All ford parts is the way to go!

The new stangs are very easy to repair the kind of damage you have. The body, pans, etc.. are easy to cut out and weld in replacements. Don't even worry about the bent trunk pan.

GT/CS07 said:

The more I look at the damage the more I am unsure what can be repaired properly.

Click to expand...

My old 98 v6 was totalled out for less damage than that. I was hit on the driver's side, right rear side. I didn't want to be the one to say it, but it wouldn't shock me if they totalled it out. How many miles on the car?

anthony05gt said:

The new stangs are very easy to repair the kind of damage you have. The body, pans, etc.. are easy to cut out and weld in replacements. Don't even worry about the bent trunk pan.

Click to expand...

Easy maybe. But definitely not cheap. Just a dented hood and new pony grill was going to set me back just over 3 grand according to the dealership (estimate done by them). Just a hood was $1300 without paint last I checked. I don't know if the rear quarters are aluminum like the hood, but I'd imagine they are. I see this getting expensive real fast.

EDIT: Well, maybe maybe not I guess. Your quarter goes for about 650-ish. Thought it'd be much more.

Been down this insurance road before. I can advise two things. #1. Have (and insist) the Ford dealer repair your car. You will be getting Ford parts, and it willmost likely be done as close as correct as possible. #2. Unless you have Geico Ins. Co., Get a lawyer that deals with insurance claims. It will more than pay for itself in the long run, plus you may actually come out ahead in the end or at worst break even. Paying $700-$1100 for a lawyer will avoid lots of problems, plus he knows the laws better than you do. I especially advise a lawyer if medical payments are involved since medical payments can wind up being worse than the actual damage of the car. Your wife MUST claim "NO FAULT", otherwise you will get hosed/screwed. Do yourself a big favor, shop around for a good accident lawyer, That is my best advice aside from asctually having the FORD dealer fix the car and do the bodywork. The FORD dealers in my town all do their own bodywork. +1

Glad that I could offer my two cents... Most insurance companies are crooks until they get pressured, Then they "miraculously" see things your way. That is my experience. A small story, In 2004, (I live in Florida), I lost parts of my roof in a hurricane, and the entire roof needed to be replaced... The new roof cost $12000, (I went with the best, HOME DEPOT, I didn't want a fly by night operation that would possbly desert the job in the middle as what happened to many others) As I said, The new roof cost $12,000, but the insurance company would only pay half ($6,000), To make a long story short, after six months of no action and fighting them to pay the 2nd half (the other $6,000), I threatened to sue them and had my lawyer draft up a "threat letter", Within 3 days, They called my house and said "The 2nd half of the check is on the way." , Then after they paid, I immediately dropped them and went with someone else. The moral of the story is, In this day and age where just about everything is cutthroat, You have to always fight for what you want, which is unfortunate....Sometimes things go smooth to your advantage, but more than most times they do not. You always have to be on the defense. My 2 cents, and my experience.

Hope you take my advice, and I hope that it all works out for you.

Tony K.

If your medical insurance figures out that your wife's injuries are accident related they may deny her coverage. I know someone who went through this with a long term injury. Consult a lawyer. She may have spinal cord problems for the rest of her life. Don't settle a claim till you get expert advice.

Where abouts do you live? I work in St. Petersburg, FL at a body shop that specializes in 05+ mustangs