Any reason I shouldn't go with one of the shops on my insurances list?

Some ■■■■■■■ hit my parked car and just took off at some point this past night. Got a lovely banging on the door wake up from security at 2 am. Anyway, now I have a bunch of damage to fix, mostly cosmetic I think. Any reason I shouldn’t just got with on of the shops on the recommended list from State Farm? These are the three closest to me. I think Herbs by the airport is also on the list and close to work.

In my opinion, it’s the way to go. I have State Farm as well, and have found that using their list makes it fairly painless. They do all the paperwork etc. (I used The Body Shop, but that shop was literally between my house and office.)

Car rental was more painful, but just because, well, car rental staff…

I had a good experience fixing hail damage using the Caliber Collision in Allen/Fairview (kinda behind Cabelas).

I’ll also generally 2nd Caliber Collision (the one in Frisco). Not 10/10, 8.5/10. Set me up with a free rental even though my insurance didn’t call for it, so…

I can’t speak directly to the one on Manor Way, though.

One thing about using a body repair from the insurance provided list (I’ve done) is it is MUCH less painful because they have dealt enough with the body shops they suggest where they won’t quibble over what the body shop recommends instead of questioning things back and forth and causing delays. And the overall process feels more seamless

Yeah that’s sort of what I figured. I’ve used caliber before when somene else’s insurance was paying. But assuming the asshat who plowed into my parked car can’t be found it’ll be on mine. Honestly I’m also a tiny bit considering just trading it and getting a bigger car. Been thinking abiut it off and on anyway

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No matter which repair place you take it to…be mindful of their car rental insurance policies. The repair places always have car rental agents nearby, such as Enterprise Car Rental. Check first with your own insurance agent to make sure they will cover the liability of the rental car. Strongly suggest you have your insurance agent contact their agent to understand what is what before you pick up the rental car. Otherwise you could be out up to another $40 per day for the rental car liability insurance.

I have used Service King in the past without any hassles.

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Yep, thanks. Luckily my policy covers $50/day up to $1200 a claim for rental car. Im probably going to get one here in a bit

The cost of the car rental and the cost of the car rental liability policy are two separate things. One is covered and the other may not be. Check with your agent.

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Oh sorry I misread your original statement. I do believe she said it was covered but I’ll double check. Thanks!

Had a VERY bad experience with Service King lately.

They used to be my go-to for auto body work.

Never again.

Re insurance on rental

Yes, check. And READ. We even knew this, TOLD THEM we didn’t need it since we had coverage, the person doing the paperwork set us up with it anyway and we didn’t catch it.

It took fighting with corporate and involving our insurance company to get them to waive the $600 bill for their insurance. REALLY annoying

In Texas, you have the right to determine where to have your car repaired. You also have the ability to demand OEM parts. One of the reasons a shop may be on an insurance company’s list of go-to’s is because they will tend to perform repairs utilizing used and/or aftermarket parts. Whether these parts match the integrity of the OEM part is a subject open to debate. The industry keyword is “Like Kind & Quality (LKQ)” Personally, I demand OEM whenever possible, under the theory that “it had new OEM on it before the incident, it will have new OEM when you repair it”. Their insurance will raise a whole stink about OEM vs LKQ… go read up on that to get informed.

That being said, my truck (sport trac) is no longer a production model, so lots of parts are only available used or aftermarket. So I went ahead and used a insurance shop when I got hit, cause I needed a cab pillar and Ford wasn’t selling those new anywhere. I used Herb’s @ 635 and 35, and had a good experience. My buddy had a bad experience at the Herb’s @ 635 and Garland. FWIW.

depending on your vehicle. i would even consider not reporting minor body damage to insurance. either do it yourself or out of pocket for a body repair.

i used to drive a lot of 80’s motorcycles and any insurance claims would total the vehicle. minor dents, silly stuff. i ended up having to apply for salvage titles. all because the motorcycle fell over once or twice. this was my experience with geico.

i ended up never calling the insurance company. even when i was limping off the road. it became too risky to trust the insurance company to handle stuff. there was no channels for me to contest these “totals”

minor body damage goes into your liability and you risk having an increased rate for something that you could have easily taken care of yourself.

I’ve seen cases where a 2MPH parking lot bumper bump ended up costing a couple thousand because the mechanic deemed a bumper replacement was necessary because “the plastic inside was cracked” rolls eyes

You can also adjust your policy to your personal pain threshold for out of pocket expenses. Assuming you can afford the out of pocket expense, setting up a $2000 or $5000 deductible vs a tiny $100 dramatically lowers your premiums, but still covers you for major accidents.

For this one I want it fixed. It’s still worth a decent amount on resale
Yeah I did that on my old car, but not really a choice on this one. It’s not even 3 yet.

sorry just now circling back.; that is actually minor body damage. you’re looking at a bumper, a light cover, and a grill. the hood is the only real expensive part. looks entirely cosmetic to me.

idk if i hit send on that message the other day but honda is actually really good about posting their OEM pricing for body parts online. which is the only reason you would HAVE to go oem.

It’s actually both lights and both fenders too. A good number of pieces are just off the car entirely. There is something wrong with my airbag sensor too. I did drive it around to the back parking lot, and I would saw it doesn’t steer smoothly (takes a little effort to turn the wheel, kind of hard to describe). There isn’t anything hanging/smushed in either wheel well that is obviously causing it. Either way, there is a police report and insurance was already called. There is likely security cam footage, but if not it’s under my uninsured motorist. Regardless, it doesn’t drive right so it’s gotta be taken somewhere

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I guarantee that Details limited in addison will do a better job than any of those places.

ditto - they’re the mcdonalds of body shop work.

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