Rock Chips/Road Rash/body shop question **UPDATE** GOT IT BACK
 

driving back from vegas, ran into a part of an interstate that was closed and we were delayed for 3 hours, the cause of this closure was black ice which caused a 20car/semi pileup...when they opened it...we got further down the road and they put gravel on the road...so now i have ALOT of chips/roadrash

even my wheels (64x) have chips in them...every body panel except the trunk has chips/rash...oh and a broken windshield

i called my insurance agent and they assured me that this was covered under comprehensive coverage

my question is about what the body shop will do, will they repaint the entire car? will they touch up? what will they do for the wheels? how about the black plastic that is roughed up?


this car is 2 months old and i am literally sick over this

just take a look at the pony :(

Dang that sucks man!!

Sorry you had to deal with that. Hopefully they can get her fixed up good as new for you :nice:

Wow, that is a bummer! So sorry to hear about this. On the bright side, it is only cosmetic. Honestly, I would find the best repair shop in town and let them deal with it. If they are worth a ****, they should be able to make your car look better than new.

Definately sucks! Do your research and find a quality body shop to do the work. I went thru an interview process with several different shops prior to deciding on the body shop to fix mine after I was hit.

I talked with the owners/shop mgrs. took tours of the shops and checkede out their work both during and after repairs.

Take the money from ins. and trade the car. I wouldn't want a repainted new car, hope what ever is done your happy with.

A decent paint and trim "detail" may take care of it, but I'd still run it by the insurance company, just in case, as a full job could still cost several hundred.

So sorry to hear this though :(

here are some more pics

I bet they strip the clear, buff and re-spray the clear. The chips are unsightly but not deep. This is good news.

That sucks, hope it's all good soon.

I'd first take it to a good body shop and ask their opinion. Ask what they need to do to make the paint/body as it was (new) prior to the incident. Then talk to your adjuster. I've found from experience to never take the first offer unless you are happy with it. According to law, you have a right to be made "whole" again, meaning your car has to be repaired to the condition it was in prior to the claim; not better, not worse, but the same.

Good luck. Let us know the outcome.

Now I understand why folks park their prized vehicle during winter months.

That’s too bad bud. I know exactly how you feel. I hit a feral cat a couple weeks ago and the impact tore the splitter and windage tray under the engine ¾ off the car. When I got under there to remove the splitter the rest of the way I found out its mounting holes on the underside of the bumper cover had torn through. So include the entire front bumper cover and fresh paint on that as well. I was super bummed and even though the shop I brought it to were the guys who put the custom painted stripes on my car, I figured they wouldn’t be able to match any of it to the point where it would not be noticeable. They did an absolutely outstanding job and explained to me exactly what they needed to do in order to have it look perfect again. They also have a lifetime guarantee on their work. Two important things for you to pay attention to and insist on: Have the tech walk you through everything he will need to do to make it right again and ask questions even though they may seem simple. Ask what their warranty is since it’s a good indication of what their quality standards are.

As for the argument that aftermarket paint isn’t as good as factory applied paint, don’t buy into it. I’ve had more than one repair done to my vehicles because of gross ignorant neglect at the hands of others and the paint has held up at least as well as the factory paint and the repairs are not even perceptible. The box side on my ’86 F150 was repainted in 1992 and still looks good as new.

Since your damage is so widespread I would guess you are looking at a 100% clear coat at least. If the nicks go through to the color you’re looking at color as well. Again, not a huge deal, a good shop can match the color and metallic so well nobody will know it’s been repaired. The blasted plastic parts are history…they will never look right again. Make sure they are replaced. Look at your AC condenser as it’s very prone to damage from flying objects. You might want to get the body undercoated at this point too since the rocks may have nicked through the unbelievably thin underbody paint.

Winter is super rough on cars. “Habu” is going to bed the day before salt and sand season starts here in MinneSNOWta.

Good luck to ya,
John

first estimate $14,400

replacing everything that isnt painted on the front of the car (glass, lights, grille, etc)
painting everything except rear trunk, replacing wheels

:jaw:

Holy cow, I'd look in to an awesome wrap.

This. Wrap it with a metallic gray matte vinyl and you'll never have to worry about your paint again! Get the new lights and windshield though... Still, wow. That sucks!

Wow dude that really bites!! Only 2 months old !! Wow you must be totally pissed.

Since your car is grey/silver with a lot of metallic in the paint that might be tough to match unless they paint and reclear everything. Silver paint is a b!tch to match. In certain light you always notice a slight difference.

Hopefully as someone else already said, I hope your insurance makes your car right again

Good luck

That's an insane estimate. That tells me it's a repaint. The metallic paint isn't cheap either.

Please make sure this is a GOOD body shop and not some home boy trying to run up the insurance tab.

Paint is ridiculously expensive. The candy-apple red I used for the stripes on my Mustang was $450 for two one quart cans: one quart gold color metalic base and one red tinted top. That price doesn't include the clear coat over the panels that got the stripe work done.

His quote doesn't surprise me a bit. It'll take about a gallon of color to paint the car and an equal amount of clear. To do just the paint job right, every panel, including the nose and tail cone, every piece of trim and...most likely all of the windows will need to be removed from the car to do it the right way. Thats a lot of labor and we haven't even thought about the surface prep time yet. Now would be a good time to consider any appearance changes to the exterior of the vehicle if any were being batted around. The good news is if the shop does a nice job laying the paint down, it'll look a lot nicer than any factory job ever dreamed of bar none.

John

got another quote for $11,600, adjuster wanted another quote due to "high amount of loss", the adjuster made me feel real uncomfortable

adjuster looked at it and said its unbelievable that this all happened in one incident...

...one of the body shop owners said the adjuster asked him if he believes this all happened in one incident

i honestly have no clue what i will do if this doesnt get fixed...i am kinda beside myself right now...pay 40grand for a car and pay for insurance, then insurance possibly dances around a claim

adjuster is looking into it and will get back to me on friday

the 14,400 shop can get me in on the 12th and this is my preferred one, the 11,600 can't get me in until after thanksgiving

the only appearance things i have looked into are flush mount quarter window louvers

Like i said earlier in this post take ins. check and trade car for a new one.