Last Wednesday i hit some lady going like 8mph. It was rush hour in downtown Charlotte and i was following her at about 2 car lengths. At the last minute she decided to slam on her brakes without signaling to make a left turn. Her car skids to a stop at the light, and my car skids into hers.

I get out of the car to go talk to her. She's very upset and tells me her husband just went to jail the previous week, and she also has a rental car because she got into a wreck where she was at fault. She's from Florida and was on her cell phone while messing with her GPS. She told me she was lost, had no idea where she was, and thought she had to make a left. (It was 7th street and Dunn if anyone is from Charlotte). I wanted to tell her she can't slam on her brakes without signaling in rush hour traffic and expect no one to hit her from behind but instead i kindly told her my insurance company would deal with everything. Anyway because it's NC i was at fault. She was out of the car talking to me for a good 15 minutes before the cops came and right when she heard the ambulance she got back into the car and demanded to be taken to the hospital because she said she hit her elbow on the steering wheel.

Anyway...

I drive a 94 civic EX coupe with 220k miles on it. There was no mechanical damage and the car still runs fine (radiator isn't damaged, holds pressure, no leaks), but the bumper of the rental Mazda 6 went up on my hood and damaged the hood, headlight, and radiator bracket. The bracket got pushed back a couple inches on the left and moved a few things up. From what i can tell it simply needs a new bracket and everything else will fall back into place.

I've never gotten in a wreck before and my insurance company (Nationwide) told me to go to a blueribbon shop (Keffer Pontiac on Tyvola and Old Pineville) and get an official estimate. The guy who i talked to initially at Keffer said it would cost around 1900$ to fix and depending on the value of my civic it might total the car. Either way i'm going to get it fixed because this car only needs to last me another 1-2 years until i have a steady income and can buy a new car.

My question is, who determines the repair costs of the car? I did an estimate online using a Honda parts website and the parts would only cost 320$. I got a call from CnC Motorsports in Charlotte and they said they could fix the car for 950$, and gave me a break-down of the costs of each part and labor costs. The cost of the parts they calculated was the same as mine and the labor seemed reasonable.

If one place says they'll charge 950$, and the other place says they'll charge 1900$ then who determines the official estimate to see if it's totaled or not? I know someone at the Keffer body shop uses a templete and does an estimate based upon that, but what determines labor costs? Is what determines whether my car is totaled or not simply what a certain body shop charges for labor? How is this fair? I asked both my insurance agent, AND my claims adjuster these questions and neither of them had ANY answer for me.

I apologize for all the explanation. I probably could have done it in half this much, but what should i do? Try to total the car and use the money to get it fixed at another shop and pocket the difference?

8/11/2008 4:15:47 PM

Have them total it and pay you $2k.
Buy it back for $150.
Fix it yourself for $750 after paintwork.
Profit.

8/11/2008 4:20:27 PM

^that's what i'm thinking. I'm pretty sure i can fix the bracket, replace the hood, and install the light myself.

I still can't figure out WHO determines the repair cost though. Is there a set labor and part cost that Nationwide has to go by? If not, then it's determined simply by whoever writes up the estimate on the car whether it's totaled or not, and that doesn't seem fair. (one body shop could total it, another could not).

8/11/2008 4:31:14 PM

Quote :

"Is there a set labor and part cost that Nationwide has to go by?"

basically yes. there are standard labor rates, part costs and time required to fix whatever is wrong and body shops/insurance companies pretty much go by these.

8/11/2008 4:43:36 PM

There's a reason why they told you to go to a 'Blue Ribbon' shop. Car dealerships/insurance companies have volumes of books which explain the time estimates and prices for labor.

The total estimate/buy-back is probably your most economical way, this way you're following their guidelines on getting it repaired, but coming out ahead financially.

Besides, most 'blue ribbon' shops have high costs in order to get more money from insurance. Typically, the work would be done quicker than the numbers they throw on there, but since the 'book' says something as simple as changing a headlight bulb takes 30 min, they have to estimate it at that cost.




Sounds like she's trying to take you for a ride. Admitting that she was messing with the GPS was probably not in her best interest come settlement time. If she got out of the car and closed the door with the arm that she hit (makes sense if the GPS was in the middle of the dash and she had her right arm extended, resulting in it hitting the dash) you may be able to call shenanigans...it didn't hurt enough to close the door so why did the ambulance sirens make any difference.

8/11/2008 4:56:20 PM

Quote :

"Besides, most 'blue ribbon' shops have high costs in order to get more money from insurance. "

Yeah that 1900$ is rediculous. The only thing is the dealer is giving me a free car to drive until they get it fixed, and they'd charge me the hours it took them to determine the estimate (which seems stupid) plus backcharge me for the rental car. I'll find out tomorrow whether it's totaled or not.

8/11/2008 6:09:25 PM

OH DUR HUR, YOU SAID REDICULOUS. GARAGE NINJA TO THE RESCUE.

8/11/2008 7:50:20 PM

That's ridiculous.

8/11/2008 8:25:56 PM

my main man, you drive a 94 civic.

you can spend at most $200 and have a hood/headlight and you can bend that rad. support back into place.



so get a buncha estimates.. and fix it yourself. if you get enough you can even paint it to match

8/11/2008 10:52:50 PM

200$ buys an engine with tranny, lol


those stock radiators suck anyways, im tempted to replace mine for no better reason. then again it made it 16 years.....

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 8:13 AM. Reason : .]

8/12/2008 8:11:53 AM

^yeah my stock radiator made it to about 3 months ago. So about 14 years. Just got a new one, and luckily the bracket didn't damage the new radiator at all.

I'm probably going to be needing a new tranny soon too. Maybe in the next year or so. There's a slight grinding sound (not gear grinding sound, but like bearing grinding sound) in lower gears but only while accelerating. Still drives fine. Would this be something like the half-shaft/CV bearings? I'm slowly learning about cars but that's maybe my guess based upon the sound.

Which i guess wouldn't be the transmission really.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 9:53 AM. Reason : .]

8/12/2008 9:47:12 AM

you guess too much, take it apart and look at it

8/13/2008 11:16:45 AM

If you're anything like me you'll take it apart and then you'll definitely need a new one.

8/13/2008 11:18:56 AM

^heh yeah my taking apart cars experience is very limited. I don't think i'd trust myself to mess with the CV bearings or anything involving the transmission.

8/13/2008 11:21:53 AM

gotta learn sometime

8/13/2008 11:22:47 AM

^you're right, but i'd rather learn when i have another car to drive, and don't have to actually rely on the one i'm taking apart.

8/13/2008 11:23:19 AM

just do it man, it'll be cool

8/13/2008 11:28:42 AM