What a crappy day....

[ridinclean]

Its raining outside as Im walking up to my Marauder at school about to leave and I'm checking her out as I always do when approaching the ride and out of the corner of my eye I notice the passenger side of my car not looking quite like it should. I do a double take and sure enough someone has hit my baby!!! :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: My rear passenger door has a nice dent in it now along with some paint left by this idiot. As Im looking at it I look to the car next to me and there is a kid who waives his hand at me. He then gets out and says that he is very very sorry but that he just misjudged it when he was pulling in. Im thinking in my head yea you just misjudged it a little you *******, now I have a big ass dent in my car due to your non-driving abilities. His saturn had little or no damage to the bumper, figures....So we call the campus police, they come out to write up a report, his insurance is suppose to cover it all but this just pisses me off. I try to take absolutely the best care of my car like I know everyone else on here does, and some stupid kid who probably shouldnt even have a license comes along and screws things up for me. The kid even said "everytime this happens to me I always come up on the short end of it", Im thinking how many times does this happen, he is a freshman in college so what is he 18 or 19 maybe, and he made it seem like its a regular occurence. Now I am concerned that if they cant pull this dent out and I need a new door will whatever body shop that fixes it just try to put a grand marquis door on it?? I want my car to be 100% Marauder! Im also scared that when they repaint it, it wont match up to the rest of my car. The color may be brighter and fresher looking, or the quality might not be as good as the factory paint. I dont want to have some door that looks mismatched. Now I feel like I should get the whole car painted! This sucks, anyways Ill quit ranting now, I will try to get a pic or two up tomorrow...

[GarageMahal]

Sorry to hear about the damage, glad to hear the damage doer fessed up. It does not go that way often enough...

jta

[ridinclean]

Sorry to hear about the damage, glad to hear the damage doer fessed up. It does not go that way often enough...

jtaYea I did give the kid credit for that, a lot of people would have just driven off, the cop definitely agreed with that too

[DEFYANT]

That sucks. At least you got the kid who did it.

[rayjay]

Theres a reason they're called accidents, otherwise they'd be called intentionals... glad the guy who hit your car was honest enough to admit it.

[Skiordie53]

Sorry to hear about what happened. I.m stuck with a bunch of scratches on the side of mine cause some idiot sideswiped me and left while i was parked by my chiropractor. Good news is paint can't be worse then the factory. Most of us here will agree the factory paint jobs are nto good at all.

[duhtroll]

I'd say you have the best of circumstances, given the, uh, circumstances. Odds are you would have had the dent and no one to blame. This kid may be clumsy, but he's honest.

[ridinclean]

You guys are right I know it could be alot worse. Im trying to be optimistic about it. And I know what you mean about our factory paint job not being the best in the business but the dealer that I got my car from repainted the front bumper due to bug damage and if you look closely you can see that the quality of the paint isnt even as good as the factory paint.

[ridinclean]

The damage...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/fnolimit504/DSC00312.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/fnolimit504/DSC00313.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/fnolimit504/DSC00311.jpg

[Fastronald]

Have the body shop replace the "door skin". I used to work in a body shop, it's an easy way to repalce a dent like that.

[Wires]

All the door skins were made at the same time - some destined to go on Marauder doors, others to go on GM doors, some to go on CV doors.

(Unless there is a slight difference due to the different "rub rail, in which case there IS a "Marauder skin.)

So, if yours gets replaced, it was "destined" to go on a Marauder after all, and will thusly be a "Marauder" door skin.

Sorry about your loss. At least when I had to get my bumper cover replaced and my hood fixed on my other car it was my fault.

Hopefully, the rest of your paint is good enough that it can be "Blended in" to look as if it never happened.

Can any body shop people enlighten me about what they do when they "blend in" a body panel? I was told they "blended" my fenders in to match the hood and bumper cover, for example.

Good luck with the repair.

[DeepSea117]

ooh that makes me wanna hurl

at least he was honest, but i think he should take the driving test again. and again. and then send him a place where the innocent, as well as the guilty, get punished--the California DMV!

[ridinclean]

I spoke with his insurance company today and Im going in for an estimate in the morning at the local cadillac dealer. I think Im going to push for a new paint job for the entire car? :D Think I'll have any luck??

[rayjay]

I spoke with his insurance company today and Im going in for an estimate in the morning at the local cadillac dealer. I think Im going to push for a new paint job for the entire car? :D Think I'll have any luck??
Cadillac dealer :confused: They have a exceptional body shop?

[ridinclean]

Ive heard good things about them, I can take it anywhere I want but I figure Cadillac would be as good as anywhere?? I dont know of any good body shops in my area. Plus the insurance company does business with them directly so its easier, I dont have to have a check cut from them, I just go for the estimate and then get the work done and I wont have to deal with the insurance company any more.

[DefyantExWife]

Wow, that blows.

[Bluerauder]

... at least he was honest, but i think he should take the driving test again.
Sorry to hear about the damage. From the looks of the door ripples, the kid must also have terrible reaction time on top of distance judgement issues. :( Obviously, a Saturn is way too much car for this guy.

[CRUZTAKER]

Sorry to hear of your damage.:depress:

I said it before, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN...

SATURN = MORON

Stay away from Saturn drivers at all times. Don't even drive by the dealerships, go around the block, there could be Saturns in motion.

Run, hide, avoid, and by all means, be defensive. :P

[ridinclean]

Well I had the estimate done at the Cadillac place this morning but the soonest they could get to it was sept 26th!! One month away, I'm not driving around that long with my MM looking like its been beaten. The local Lincoln/Mercury place said they will do it, Im dropping it off monday morning. I just hope they do good work...

[jgc61sr2002]

That's a bummer. :( At least the young man owned up to causing the damage.

It the dealer going to replace the complete door? IMO that is that way to go.
As far as a complete paint job I don't think so.

Good luck with the repairs. Keep us posted.

[ridinclean]

They arent replacing the whole door, apparently its just the door skin(so they say). They are pulling the dent out and then repainting the whole door, they said they can blend it in perfectly? We'll see, they sure didnt go for the whole car being repainted, it was worth a try though.

[Joe Walsh]

Oh man! :(

I'm sorry to see that damage....that stupid dork really hit you!

Get a new door/skin and a top notch body shop ....should be good as new.

BTW: I admire your restraint in not making that kid's face resemble your rear door!!!

[ridinclean]

Oh man! :(

I'm sorry to see that damage....that stupid dork really hit you!

Get a new door/skin and a top notch body shop ....should be good as new.

BTW: I admire your restraint in not making that kid's face resemble your rear door!!!Oh believe I very much so wanted to, and I might have had I not had a female friend with me...I was very civil with the kid, but my eyes we like:eek:

[ridinclean]

The verdict...I picked the MM up yesterday and it looks pretty good but I feel that it could be better. If you look very very closely you can tell the door looks repainted and then from a certain angle the body line on the door doesnt look as perfect as it should. However everyone else seems to say it looks great. But then when I point this out to them they see what i mean. What can I do?

Other than that I must say that I am very happy to have my car back. I was driving my 99 vic while it was getting repaired and that car is like a joke compared to my MM. I sold the vic thursday and made a couple grand, so now its time to put some money into the Marauder. :D When I was going to get my car from the shop I saw a black MM at a stop light then not even thirty seconds later I look over to my left and see another one in the turning lane!!! Even my Mom couldnt believe it, haha.

One more thing, yesterday I ordered my JLT CAI kit and installed some nice shiney inserts today, which I must say look great!!:bows:

[Mike M]

I just had my MM delivered to my home in AZ after getting the supercharger installed in Kansas and the delivery service put 4 scratches and a slight dent in the drivers door. I was mad but I took it over to Advanced autobody here in AZ and they had it for 2 days. I didn't have much faith and I had the same doubts you are having now but when I picked it up I was truly amazed. The fixed the dent and repainted the door to perfection. I am in the car business and I can tell a repaint from 30 feet. This job is PERFECT...SCARY PERFECT! I will have them paint the entire car when the time comes in a few years...so keep the faith! It can be fixed correctly.

[RCSignals]

....................... Plus the insurance company does business with them directly so its easier, ....................

That's not always a good thing. As an Insurance company preferred shop, they often look out for the Insurance company to keep their business.

[RCSignals]

The verdict...I picked the MM up yesterday and it looks pretty good but I feel that it could be better. If you look very very closely you can tell the door looks repainted and then from a certain angle the body line on the door doesnt look as perfect as it should. However everyone else seems to say it looks great. But then when I point this out to them they see what i mean. What can I do?

......................

Thats because, I'm sure you'll find, they didn't 'replace' the door skin. They pushed out the dent (or worse, pulled it out) and surfaced it with plastic body filler. The artist who then sculpted and painted it did a poor job.

If it isn't as it was before the accident don't accept it.

[ridinclean]

Ok well I took it back up to Lincoln/Mercury and spoke with the body shop manager, he saw exactly what I was pointing out and he said it didnt look good enough. So they are going to re-do it, I asked about replacing the door skin and he said no, he said it would have to be welded on, which could lead to rusting in the future, so he doesnt recommend that. So I suppose they will do it the same way, hopefully they will get it right this time.

[ckadiddle]

I hope it comes out better the second time. That couple grand will get you a Reinhart Stage One kit installed, ya know. If you havent already made those mods yourself. :)

[ridinclean]

Thats definitely an option, although Ive already picked up a JLT CAI kit and was thinking maybe 4:10's then umm maybe supercharging it. :D We will see, alarm and system comes next.

[ridinclean]

Oh my God, this is getting ridiculous. I finally picked my car up today and it looks absolutely no better than it did after their first attempt. I am so pissed off, the body shop manager who I have been dealing with said that he thought it looked fine and that it wont get any better than this. I asked him about replacing the shell or the skin and he once again downplayed that. He pretty much said that they werent going to do anything else to it, he told me to try dealing with insurance about it and see if they would pay to have the skin replaced. So i get home and called the kids insurance who hit me and they said that unfortunately theres nothing they can or will do about it since I didnt take it to the shop that they recommended. Of course thats where I got the original estimate but they couldnt get to it for a month, which is why i took it elsewhere. I am not satisfied at all with any of this crap, what should I do?? :alone: Take it to the head general manager of the Lincoln/Mercury dealer???

[RCSignals]

You don't have to have a vehicle repaired at a shop recommended by an Insurance company to qualify for Insurance coverage by that company.
Contact your State Insurance Commissioner.

[ridinclean]

I mean they paid for my car to be repaired, they just said that even though Im not satisfied with the repair job that they wont do anything further since I didnt go to the place where they usually work with directly. With that said, still contact my state insurance commisioner??

[dparker83]

Yeah...sorry to hear that. College kids have no idea how to drive AT ALL (excluding myself :cool4: and maybe a few people). I have to negotiate everyday the 17-ft. long mass through a garage full of cars and a lot of tight corners and parking spaces. I'll try to use every bit of concrete on my side of the road and they'll be on the other side cutting the corner (and they'll get ticked at me for it). I'm just lucky something like that hasn't happened to me yet (crossing fingers).

Did you already report this to your insurance company? Is he paying the deductible?

Looking at the pictures, the car doesn't look like it has any big scratches in it...have you heard of Paintless Dent Removal? It only costs $85 a panel (dentwizard) and they do an awesome job, you won't be able to tell (minus the scratches).

Good Luck.
D.J.

Just saw that it happened a month ago...oops :lol: .

[shakes_26]

If you wne tto the shop recommended by the insurance company, and you didn't liek the job they did, by al means go back to the Insurance company, they have pull with them since they send mucho business their way. That said they are goign to do the cheapest job possible.

If you went to a non Insurance company 'recommended/certified/blah blah blah' shop and they did work which you are not satisfied with, then you need to deal with that shop yourself.

The Insruance company has no liability there, they paid for the repair, YOU chose the shop, they'll simply argue 'he didn't use the shop we recommended/certified, blah blah blah'. Of course I paraphrase, except for the blah blah blah part.

In any case, you have no case but to go see the shop who did the work, and deal with them as you would any other business that did not deliver a good service or quality product and fails to correct once given a chance (BBB, consumer affairs, legal, etc).




I mean they paid for my car to be repaired, they just said that even though Im not satisfied with the repair job that they wont do anything further since I didnt go to the place where they usually work with directly. With that said, still contact my state insurance commisioner??

[jgc61sr2002]

Some insurance companies use certain shops for repairs. They will guarantee the repair for as long as you own that vehicle. IMO they are the better shops. If they did unsatisfactory work the Inc Co wouldn't use them.
IMO a good shop is usually always busy.

[grzellmer]

Ridinclean

Had a similar experience with my first new car when I was 25. Hit and run but I caught the drunk and held him for the cops.

I think the repair work done to this point is the most they can do with the amount of MONEY the insurance company will pay them.

Assuming for a moment this is the case you have three options. One, you can go to your insurance company and ask them to lean on the drivers insurance company (sometimes works as they will have to pay if the other driver or insurance Co. doesn't.) Two, you can get a lawyer and file in small claims court. (Weak option and costs you money.) Three, since the damage seems localized to the passenger door, I would check into getting a door off a DOA MM or GM. Beware aftermarket reskins as the panels are sometimes substandard compared to OEM. Also prone to premature rust.

I chose option 3. Yes it cost me a bit of money but my car ended up like it was before the "accident". (And I still have it) Insurance companies will NEVER make your nearly new vehicle as good as it was. Read the fine print.

Good Luck

Z

[Tallboy]

You chose the body shop.

The insurance company paid the bill. They are relieved of any further responsibility. Your problem is with the body shop. If the repair was unsatisfactory you should not have taken possession of the car, or signed the repair order release.

The reason insurance companies use certain body shops is because they are an "Approved Collision Center". This means they can usually repair your car without having the adjuster inspect it first. I was a service writer at a dealership that had a State Farm Approved body shop. The stories I could tell you would scare you so bad you'd have to sleep with the lights on.

[69mach1]

Not sure how handy you are but if it were me I'd do some checking with the junk yards(even out of state) and locate a complete black MM door. That way it's the original paint that you want, no bondo or door skin, and no fading or peeling paint.:banana: It just takes patience to locate the door you need. It's what I would do to fix the problem. I'm a believer in factory paint. Hope this helps.
Best regards,

Jon aka 69mach1 :burnout:



Its raining outside as Im walking up to my Marauder at school about to leave and I'm checking her out as I always do when approaching the ride and out of the corner of my eye I notice the passenger side of my car not looking quite like it should. I do a double take and sure enough someone has hit my baby!!! :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: My rear passenger door has a nice dent in it now along with some paint left by this idiot. As Im looking at it I look to the car next to me and there is a kid who waives his hand at me. He then gets out and says that he is very very sorry but that he just misjudged it when he was pulling in. Im thinking in my head yea you just misjudged it a little you *******, now I have a big ass dent in my car due to your non-driving abilities. His saturn had little or no damage to the bumper, figures....So we call the campus police, they come out to write up a report, his insurance is suppose to cover it all but this just pisses me off. I try to take absolutely the best care of my car like I know everyone else on here does, and some stupid kid who probably shouldnt even have a license comes along and screws things up for me. The kid even said "everytime this happens to me I always come up on the short end of it", Im thinking how many times does this happen, he is a freshman in college so what is he 18 or 19 maybe, and he made it seem like its a regular occurence. Now I am concerned that if they cant pull this dent out and I need a new door will whatever body shop that fixes it just try to put a grand marquis door on it?? I want my car to be 100% Marauder! Im also scared that when they repaint it, it wont match up to the rest of my car. The color may be brighter and fresher looking, or the quality might not be as good as the factory paint. I dont want to have some door that looks mismatched. Now I feel like I should get the whole car painted! This sucks, anyways Ill quit ranting now, I will try to get a pic or two up tomorrow...

[RCSignals]

I mean they paid for my car to be repaired, they just said that even though Im not satisfied with the repair job that they wont do anything further since I didnt go to the place where they usually work with directly. With that said, still contact my state insurance commisioner??

Have they paid, even though you haven't accepted the work?

Usually you are entitled to repair that reasonably puts the vehicle back to the condition it was before the accident.

Your State Insurance commissioner could give you advice in this matter.
You also need to deal with the Body Shop. If they agreed the 'first' repair was unsatisfactory, and there is no change with the 'second' attempt, but they now say it 'looks fine', they're just brushing you off. Do not accept the work. Lodge a complaint with the BBB, and if necessary, the consumer affairs department for the State.