PTRocks

So last week I went out to my car only to find that someone was kind enough to key one full side of it. Today I went to a reputable body shop to get an estimate for the repair. My dilemma is whether to make an insurance claim on it or not. The shop will disassemble anything that touches the panels so there would be no ridges or tape marks in the paint. All three panels on the left side need paint, so the shop would remove the side stripe, rocker panel, front inner fender liner, belt line moldings, door handle, mirror, taillight... everything. The basic cost for the job would be about 1200$, plus another 175$ for the replacement stripe, plus and additional 400$ or so for a full final sand and polish (a full day job).

My deductible is 500$, and the shop says my insurance company won't want to pay for the final sanding, so best case I'm out 900$, or ~1750$ if I decide not to claim. I haven't had any claims for the past 10 years or so.

Would you make the claim?

The Reverend

File the claim, get it down correctly and forget it ever happened. If you don't, you will always remember. The insurance should pay for the final sanding.

houtex

If it's not paid for as part of the insurance, if the final sand is an option that's not factory, then yes, it could be exactly that, they won't pay.

But I'd be not letting a shop tell me what the insurance does. Unless the shop is the actual adjuster, and even then, I think I'd be calling my agent to verify, at the very least.

05GT-O.C.D.

I'd find a different shop first. They're saying the ins co won't pay for things that shouldn't be needed. The sanding, buffing, and denibbing should be kept to a minimum if the paint is applied properly in a clean environment. I would find a better shop, then file the claim. Obviously, when the factory applies the paint they're not spending hours on each wet-sanding them. Take at the look at the orange peel as evidence. Heck, some of your better painters will tell you that the hardest thing about painting a car is getting enough orange peel on the car to match the factory finish for an invisible repair.

File the claim, find a different shop IMO. They're matching a Ford factory paint job, not some custom show-car finish.

PTRocks

The shop is used by a good friend who's a car broker. It's where he sends his high value vehicles to be done. The shop can do all levels of work, the owner showed me some quick and dirty jobs, a job where a final sand might not be necessary, both next to a 160k$ Mercedes.
Basically his opinion was that when doing smaller sections it's easier to get the surface finish right, but it's a lot harder when doing the whole side, when there would need to be more blending of the clear coat passes from one panel to the next (i.e. the quarter gets done, then the door, then the front fender).

I should add that the guy isn't insisting on the final sanding, he's suggesting it given the car's good condition and my pickiness.

PTRocks

double post.

ricksGT/CS

sorry to see that ,some people have so much hate inside them,GOD has a place for them

AnthonyWHAT

Unfortunately someone got me last month, but whoever "accidentally" did it, did not scratch the car much past the clear coat. I was able to compound it out, but I can see where it was. I mean, if someone besides me gets real close on an angle and looks hard enough, you can see the scratch. Well I'm sorry to hear about what happen PT, and I hope everything turns out ok.

cdynaco

Yeah I got a key job last summer when I was volunteering for a local thing at a nearby town. So much for volunteering. It either happened when I was parked at a curb by the Courthouse with intermittent crowds walking buy, or later when I was at a club for a few hours.
It made me sick when I first saw it. Thought geez under 10k miles and its already a Steve McQueen beater. But me and #901 are gonna be together for a lot of years, might as well get the first incident out of the way. There will probably be a few more scratches and a few repairs along the way.
My insurance covered it under Comprehensive as vandalism. $1300 and paid for everything.
My biggest concern was correctly matching the Dark Highland Green. There seems to be some variance beyond the paint code PX. The shop did a superb job. In addition to repainting/blending two sections (fender and RR qtr panel) & pulling some key dings out, replacing some 3M Clear Mask, they have to clearcoat entire sections - you can't blend clear coat.
They did an awesome job! Didn't cost me a dime. And I don't volunteer much these days - and don't take the B for those times. Jerk *** people.

BlueSkyVert

Our cars already have a ton of orange peel from the factory...I wouldn't want one side to look THAT much better than the rest of the car.

If you're going to do it, do it right and have the rest of the car sanded as well. If you are that picky, then you'll appreciate the results! Me, I'm resigned to the ripply paint, lol.

cdynaco

Is your Comp deduct $500? Most have that lower than their Collision deduct.
I was told that Comp claims like vandalism, hitting deer, windshields, etc., do not raise your rates.

Some of the better shops are pretty tied in with the insurance process. By their reputation the Ins. Cos. accepts their determination. And most all is flat rate these days so the pricing would be the same from shop to shop. Unless the shop's reputation isn't good enough for the Ins. Co. - which tells me to find another shop.

y2kcbr

Get it fixed - find the guy that keyed you then get him fixed.

mustangGT90210

That sucks Some people honestly need the s*** beaten out of them before the sense can get into 'em, if you follow. I got keyed at a church out in the boondocks, nowhere is safe, unfortunately

trick25

that is rediculous. some ppl are strait up idiots and dont like others having nice things.

PTRocks

So I got the car back from the shop yesterday. I decided just to bite it and not make a claim, I hope history proves that to be the wrong decision (i.e. no more claims!). It took them about 10 days to get the car done, they had to redo the front quarter and the door, a couple of the guys in the shop mistook it for a regular job and not a high end one. I am very satisfied with the work though, I'll post pictures once I get it washed and waxed, and the stripe applied (still waiting for that to arrive by mail). By the end, the owner was fussing over it as if it was his own car. He was feeling proud that the job met my exacting standards...

2010MustangGT

Sorry to hear...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO48Vr4KIc8

frank s

Nice you got it done, PT. Of course we know you'll bear the invisible scars, even if the paint looks good.

Flagstang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ehVmqo2Z-4&NR=1