Good source of finding comps prices for 1988 Mustang GT

RedFoxGT said:

Well, basically you have to choose between having it repaired at a State Farm repair shop and having it totaled or, continuing to search for someone who will do the work for a lower price thus, not having the car totaled .

Just to let you know a lot of the independently owned repair shops depend on used parts sourced from the local Junkyard which allows them to keep their prices low. That quote for $2,700 seems extremely high considering you can get good used parts at the JY for a fraction of that price.

Case in point... A couple of years ago my friend's car was rear ended and the bumper, rear bumper cover, and tail lights needed to be replaced. He took it to a small body shop somewhere in the valley (don't remember the name) and the body guy told him that he would call him back with a quote. The next day he got a call from the body guy saying that he found the same car at the JY with all of the parts needed in good shape; even the color was the same. In the end, my friend only ended up paying for the cost of the parts and the labor cost for installation.

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$2,700 High? This is the lowest one at 75.00 per hour labor rate but he told me he will lower it to $60.00 per hour to make it easier to work with insurance. This was the shop that did all the phone calls in front of me calling his vendors for prices of used and or new parts and this was at closing time. (None of the other shops did this and one shop I went to closed at least 10 minutes earlier than what's posted on their sign)

Some of his vendors were suppose to call him back today then he would call me back with more figures but since they didn't call back today he didn't call.)

He showed me what parts were available on his computer and which ones were discontinued and which aftermarketers he would use and which aftermarketers are higher cost. The replacing of the fender has to meet CAPA specs. whatever that is. but that was only $64.00 for a fender.

We agreed that going aftermarket will be the lowest cost estimate and used parts. He had custom cars in there, newer foreign cars just a mix of different kinds of cars. Some of his vendors were closed and they were suppose to call him back today but didn't so this got held up. This shop is a dive. They answer their own phones no receptionist, no waiting room, no private office and cars are all inside close quarters-nothing glamourous here. The bathroom is Not the cleanest place from what I could see but I didn't get a tour like I did of the other two clean bodyshops other places that had pretty receptionists and separate offices. He said I'm at the mercy of what the insurance company will value this car and I noticed all the body shops have similiar computer programs so as far as they could go back on a Mustang GT is 1989 which in excellent condition was $2,700. I'm thinking and I could be wrong but coming in with the lowest repair bill will be to my benefit but all the body shops said the cost of repair has nothing to do with their formula insurance uses 80% damage to value of car-somthing like that which is used to determine value which is in question right now. All the shops got the price of $2,700 in excellent condition as they all have similiar or same computer programs as State Farm.

They all seem to think the car will be totaled and if that is the case that I should get my recent receipts that total over $4,000 for new radiator, all 6 shocks, suspension bushings, steering rack, new camber plates, engine harmonic balancer, all new headlights and turn signals on front end, new catalytic converters and now if they do this the issue of fixing the car is mute because it would have been totalledcrapola and the question of amount of reimbursement $$$ is the next question in amount/value for pay off. to me


I got two other estimates one is $7,367 at $80.00 per hour Labor summary is 38.2 hours of labor (Both of these shops are not State Farm direct service repair shops)

the 7,039 estimate with the $84.00 labor per hour has a labor summary of 37.4 hours.
Both of these 2 shops are listing factory ford part numbers which is probably the reason why it is so expensive in new condition but they told me they won't be using all new parts but probably used parts from junkyard/reconditioned parts. But the estimates from what I see are based on factory new part (Ford part numbers) prices and alot of those parts don't exist anymore. In either of these two $7,000+ quotes they better be using all new parts but we know that's impossible and they admit they won't be all new. If anything those parts better be gold plated at those inflated prices just to bring it back to factory condition.

So now those are 3 independent shops.

The one State Farm direct service repair shop didn't give me an estimate on paper yet as he said he needs to look up figures but this being a direct service center he is the insurance adjuster there.

The other 3 shops requre a State Farm adjuster has to show up at the body shop for the teardown. This place was clean had a waiting room with receptionist, a guy there who has tons of catalogs to locate parts (they have a 1940 Ford Fairlne being restored). The deal primarily in BMW and mercedes Benz and the work I saw they did looked fine. I couldn't tell the AMG there that was a stolen recovery got covered by insurance and each rim cost $1,600 each
He said the damage on my car should not be more than $4,000 and not $7,000. I feel comfortable with this shop if this is true but I don't think he can beat the other independent shops lower price of $2,400 who said he will drop his labor rate for me to $60.00 and that's the best he can do.

I would think that the State Farm Adjuster that works in the body shop would be able to give me the most accurate price since he is a state farm adjuster because it would be nice to know before I officially put in the claim to know if it is totaled then I can decide not to file or go ahead and file the claim if it will be fixed. He should know since he is part of that state farm direct service center system.

Now take this in account that the hood is shut and i can still drive the car but none of these shops will have a total accurate price until teardown happens which means I have to pick the shop to do tear down because that's the place the car will end up staying at. I know they aren't going to put the car back together so I can drive it back to my garage. Plus someone pays for that tear down charge I know state farm pays it for their direct repair shops.

I will have to find more about this from the claims dept. and then ask my sales agent some questions in other areas of this incident like how much will my rates will go up since we have a fraudulant party making back injury claims.

If the claim goes to the loss dept. that means they are considering totaling the car. Each different dept. tells me I must contact the other dept. for any answers:damnit:

But first thing is first I have to pick from the above shops or find a body shop that will have my best interests in mind


In any event I'm in no hurry to settle this I can go the distance if it is to the best interest of the car and me. It can sit in my garage for now but once the tear down happens will probably be the key point depending on the insurance decision to fix or total because it can't stay in that garage unless it is a State Farm direct service repair shop then they will abosorb any of the storage costs.

trbkrb said:

I'd look for used parts for sure. Afterall, it IS a used car, not a 2 yr old one that I would want new OEM parts on. And much of the time a used part will be a genuine Ford part that is better than aftermarket. Take that quote and look up the main parts on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market in your local area. You should be able to find some good used parts and have the person doing the job quote those parts to insurance. Like a hood for about $100. Should be able to drop that quote a bit more. Also did they quote Certifit aftermarket parts? A buddy that runs a body shop uses them exclusively, better quality and good prices CertiFit Auto Body Parts - Home

What parts does it need? You should look on the classifieds here for local parts, and Corral.net and craigslist for parts. Prices should be even better than a salvage yard and you might be able to get the parts yourself much cheaper and save your car in the long run.

Good luck!

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Thanks for the info but most of the parts for the car come from Late Modelrestoration.com. But yes we already agreed that to get the lowest repair bill that I would think influence the insurance company better to fix my car rather than total it would be to use junkyard OEM and aftermarket parts.

Kind of hard to decide which shop as an indepent shop that will come in usually at a lower cost like the ONE above but the other TWO independent shops came in at the highest cost over $7,000. The direct center gave me the $4,000 cost which is more than the first independent shop for $2,400.
I feel though I will have more consumer protection should car be fixed not totaled at direct repair facility but then again the direct facility estimate r rate is higher and they might total car because of that.

trbkrb said:

I'd look for used parts for sure. Afterall, it IS a used car, not a 2 yr old one that I would want new OEM parts on. And much of the time a used part will be a genuine Ford part that is better than aftermarket. Take that quote and look up the main parts on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market in your local area. You should be able to find some good used parts and have the person doing the job quote those parts to insurance. Like a hood for about $100. Should be able to drop that quote a bit more. Also did they quote Certifit aftermarket parts? A buddy that runs a body shop uses them exclusively, better quality and good prices CertiFit Auto Body Parts - Home

What parts does it need? You should look on the classifieds here for local parts, and Corral.net and craigslist for parts. Prices should be even better than a salvage yard and you might be able to get the parts yourself much cheaper and save your car in the long run.

Good luck!

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I couldn't find anything at Classic Corral .net. In fact that website looks like it was taken over by someone else and is different now and not as good like before.

QUOTE=strtrcr50;7951042]Are you dealing with your insurance company or theirs?[/QUOTE]

Insurance company and that estimate I said was $4,000 and now 5,600 and that's with the hood shut.