White Van with the Blues

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by mikracer

Are you having to go through your own insurance because the driver of the other car was uninsured? Sucks if that's the case, I would think that her parent's insurance would be on the hook for that.

Insurance companies will almost always send out their own adjuster if you go to a shop that isn't in their network. As others have said, I would think that they are going to total the van because of the cost of repairs being a high ratio of the van's value.

You always go through your insurance company, then they deal with the other driver's insurance.

And the adjuster is normal, they just want to come out and make sure $9000 is a 'real' estimate, not padded to make more money for the auto body shop. No worries, that's a legit estimate in my experience, State Farm gave me a similar amount for similar damage on my old van - after they sent out a State Farm adjuster.

[killacks]

Thanks for the feedback, folks.

So, I scheduled an appointment and the adjuster came and performed an estimate for the van. He seemed to be a fan of the vehicle. Also, he was familiar with my shop-of-choice (SOC), mentioning that they do great work. My lasting impression was that repair seemed to be the favorable course of action, in his opinion.

That being said, his estimate was for ~$2500 less than the SOC. This was mostly due to two details: 1) he spec'd a used section of the left side panel rather than new, and 2) a used driver's interior step/door frame rather than new.

I've yet to communicate with the insurance about the next steps. I'll follow up when I know more.

[killacks]

Insurance agree to repair. It's been in the shop a minute or two. Can't wait to get it back

This...
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Plus this...
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Equals this...
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[Glider]

[bemerritt]

Sounds like a happy, yet annoying, ending! I guess if you ever wanted to change paint colors, now is the time haha.

[killacks]

Got it back! The work looks pretty fantastic, too. Maybe I'll post pics when I have a chance to take some.

I did have a couple issues though, which will be addressed by the shop when I bring it back later today. The first was the alignment (again, sigh). It seemed to track left, especially noticeable at highway speeds.

The second issue was the rear AC/heater. When I attempt to use the rear AC, the ceiling vents don't function at all. Instead, heat comes out of the floor vents. Google told me that this is likely a small part in the rear AC/heater system that went kaput. I'm thinking this could be a result of the impact to that side of the vehicle maybe?? In any case, to my recollection it worked fine prior to the accident so I brought that to the shop's attention.

Thanks to all that chimed with moral support throughout this accident-repair process. I can't say enough about having a like-minded shoulder to lean on

[Jsweezy]

Sorry to hear about the alignment but glad you got it back.

The heat on the rear Ac only comes out of the floor, that's just the way it operates.

[killacks]

Originally Posted by Jsweezy

The heat on the rear Ac only comes out of the floor, that's just the way it operates.

^ I mean to say that when I turn the rear control on to AC or Max AC, heat comes out of the bottom vents while no air at all blows out of the ceiling vents.

Prior to the accident, turning on the rear AC or Max AC would blow cold air from the ceiling vents, and no air would come out of the floor.

[Jsweezy]

Oh ok, yep that sounds like an issue, sorry to hear that man!

[Annie O]

I have always just let my shop deal with any revisions to the cost assigned by the adjustor. If all else fails i guess you could file an appeal, but there was one excellent shop back home that handled discrepancies most successfully. Looks like your shop is doing good work- hope they can make things right with the rear vents!