Well, it happened on the way to work. Got rear ended by a Honda Civic Si, who got rear ended by a Ford Taurus. Totally the Taurus' fault, it hit the Civic which pushed him into me.

Well, the Mustang is fine except for the back bumper cover, which will definitely need replacing.

Geico, the Taurus' insurance co., has taken total responsibility and has offered the following;

1. Drop my pride and joy off at Freedom Ford, Norfolk, VA.
2. Pick up full size Enterprise Rental, probably an Impala or Altima
3. Come back to pick my car up when it is complete, and they guarantee they work for a year, whatever that means.

Not a bad option, but I'm concerned about how the dealership will handle the vinyl stripes on the rear bumper. Will they have a vinyl shop come out and redo them? They are wider than the Ford stripes, at 10", so stock replacement won't fit. I'm sure they can work that out.

Also, I'd really like to get a GT/CS rear cover instead of another GT cover. I like the look a little better with the diffuser. What are the chances of the dealership going for that? Or, if I pay the difference, how much of a difference will that be?

Or, should I just get them to write an estimate, take the cash from Geico, and take it to the shop of my choice, and get the CS cover and the stripes done right. I imagine I could buy a cover from KC, find a shop to paint the bumper, and I'd only have to stay there long enough for them to put it on, or I bet I could put it on myself, since I have taken of the front bumper before, and it's not that hard.

I guess the big fear is having the dealership screw up my car, have some shop guy take it for a joy ride, wreck it, not match the mineral grey paint, reflash the pcm and somehow lock up the computer from my Kenne Bell tune, get the car back covered with overspray or shop dust throughout the engine bay and interior, or dozens of other problems I have seen dealerships or shops cause.

What do you all think? Anybode seen Freedom Ford's in Norfolk, VA work? What would you do?

Really bummed out about my baby getting hit, but hoping to have her better than before.

Thanks!

 

Give me a Call ! I will give you the Insurance Company Twostep Lowdown!

1-800-570-5554

 

That sucks Brad. I would go with this option personally ~

Or, should I just get them to write an estimate, take the cash from Geico, and take it to the shop of my choice, and get the CS cover and the stripes done right. I imagine I could buy a cover from KC, find a shop to paint the bumper, and I'd only have to stay there long enough for them to put it on, or I bet I could put it on myself, since I have taken of the front bumper before, and it's not that hard.

 

Maybe its just me, but I acually have really good luck with my dealership, especially the autobody shop. I prefer to take it there than any other shop. Ive had many items painted there that came out perfect. They photo-match my paint with a custom made formula (dont know what exactly) of other colors to make an exact match of my paint, whether its faded or not. They dont just buy mineral grey (my color) paint and call it a day.

 

I don't know how you do it, but get the GT/CS rear bumper for your car. It will look kick *** in mineral gray with 10" black stripes. BTW sorry to speak again under such bad circumstances, but Brad.

 

Hey Brad,

That sucks man, but I guess it sounds like it coulda been worse. Work out a way to get the GT/CS bumper, and get your own replacement stripes from BSM, you can get just the pieces that you need. Have Geico pay you for the quote from a dealer for the stripes and labor, then order them from BSM and do it yourself.

 

Brad, sorry to hear about this. Glad it isn't worse. Personally I'd take the money and drop the car off at a shop I'm comfortable with. Or as you mentioned take the cash, get the parts yourself, get them painted and install it yourself.

 

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, KC! Very kind of you. And I appreciate your advice, especially the part number for the CS kit which is cheaper than buying the cover alone! You are a true class act, and we are lucky to have you with us on the forum.

Rich, thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of going that route.

That is great that you have had good luck with your dealership! I have a friend that has bought a few trucks from Freedom Ford, I'm going to see what advice he has about them. Photo-matched paint sounds pretty cool! Whan I had my GT500 wing painted, the guy had 5 different formulas to choose from using paint strips, and it is only a 95% match. Apparantly, paint fades, ha!!

Thanks for the advice! Not many MG's with GT/CS rear bumpers around, and I haven't seen one with 10" stripes yet. I think it would look pretty cool!!

Thanks, Tom, for the kind words. Yes, definitelly could have been much worse. Oh, forgot to mention that no one was hurt. That's more important than the car... I think?
I love working with BSM! They were very helpful when I jacked up a set of bumper stripes before due to my installation error, sent me out a couple of replacement pieces for free! And when I needed stripes for my GT500 wing, "Easy Button" style ordering and only 10 bucks out of pocket. And without the notch in the GT cover, the GT/CS valence should be even easier to do.

Yes, I think I'm gonna go with the GT/CS bumper, get it painted by a shop that can match paint, and instal it and the stripes myself. That way, I won't have to drop it off at a shop, and might actually come out a little ahead $$ wise doing the labor myself. Besides, working on the car, I don't really consider labor, it's just what I do.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05stangkc
Give me a Call ! I will give you the Insurance Company Twostep Lowdown!

1-800-570-5554

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, KC! Very kind of you. And I appreciate your advice, especially the part number for the CS kit which is cheaper than buying the cover alone! You are a true class act, and we are lucky to have you with us on the forum.

WoW!

You are Quite Welcome!

Kc the Parts Guy

 

Talked with a friend that had some body work done by Freedom Ford. He said they never fixed his door seal, even though he took it back. So I'll think I'll find somewhere else to do the paint.

 

Ok, figured I owed everyone that helped me out with friendly advice an update. Thanks again!!!

First of all, nobody has any knowledge of the GT/CS accessory kit rear fascia outside of this forum, ha! I've heard everything from "That's not a Ford part number", "That's a new one", to "That will be $100 more than you told me it would be". If you order the CS bumper cover/fascia, get the accessory kit and not the service replacement. It comes with more goodies (wiring, etc) and costs around a Benjamin less (thanks for the tip for KC!!)

So, got the Mustang looked at. Adjuster gave a quote of $932 for rear cover, painted, and quoted me for a FULL stripe kit since there policy is that stripes fade and the replacement pieces wont' match. Fine with me.

So, got a CS cover on order and ready to paint when it comes in with Mineral Grey for $700 and a set of replacement stripe pieces from Rob at BSM for 20 bucks. So after all is said and done, I will have my GT/CS bumper cover painted and striped with $200 in my pocket!

I'll have before/after pics posted when all is said and done. Thanks again for the advice! You guys are awesome!

 

Well it's a crappy way to have to get it (rear-ended), but your gonna love the car with the GT/CS bumper. It is really very sharp. Mine doesn't show up much because it's black, but I yours will look awesome with that gray. It's nice to know if I ever have trouble like this I can call Kevin. Good work Kevin.

Can't wait for the pics Brad!

 

Hey Brad, glad everything worked out with the insurance company from the guy who hit you. I speak from experience on this EXACT topic, and not just because the collision. I was rear-ended in 2007, by a guy driving a POS Plymouth Duster, and he too had Geico! I was a bit nervous with having to deal with a company and how they would handle my situation. Geico called me about 1 1/2 hours after I got hit, and was rather nice on the phone. The adjuster was a different story!

Car needed a new rear bumper cover, new Borla Stingers (one tip got dented) new Arch pipe (over-axle pipe) and stripes needed to be re-painted. Geico's adjuster didn't give enough money for ANYTHING! Didn't give me the $$$ for the Borla's, or for the stripes! And to top it off, he only gave 1/10 of an hour to tape off the stripes (yeah, good luck on that, getting them straight in that short of time)! Good thing my body shop guy (at the time) deals with Geico on a constant basis, and knows the regional person well. He just made a few calls, to get more money to cover the shortage from the adjuster's estimate. But Geico itself, sent me a check pretty quickly! Gotta give it to them. Only downside, was the GT/CS rear had to wait for another year (but its on now, and looks AWESOME!!). Good luck with your repair, and I can't wait to see pics of a CS rear in Mineral Grey.

 

Well, it's been a while since this happened, and been busy at work, but here are the pics.

First of all, the "damage". I'm sure most people would have pocketed the $932 check from Geico and let this alone, but I can't "roll like that." Ha!



Good news is, this piece will be repaired by the body shop, painted black with painted flat black 'ghost' stripes, and put on the rear of a V6 Mustang owned by the daughter of the owner of the body shop. Her car already has a GT front end, and now it'll have the rear. I gave it to them, free, after I swapped out the GT/CS cover. So my rear cover will live on, making a pretty young woman very happy!

 

Here's the 'old and busted':


And the 'new hottness':

 

Old/busted:


New Hottness:

 

Old 'n' busted:


New Hottness:

 

Love the diffuser on the CS rear bumper.

I don't think anybody here would have pocketed the Geico check though. It's more about the car than the money.

Looks awesome Brad. You got any pics of the whole car. I wanna see that hood scoop too!

 

Here's a shot without the stripes. Thought of leaving it like this for a few seconds, but in my opinion, it makes my a$$ look fat.

 

Gotta get those stripes finished too I see. You gonna do them? BSM?