Notice Anything Different???

Norman Hitt

Member
Messages
1,810
Location
Odessa, Tx
As some may know, I had to take a break from posting to my Shop Thread last Thursday, because some "In a Big Hurry" fellow, had reconfigured the Graceful lines and shiny appearance of the LOML's car. Thought I'd post these to see if you could notice the difference.:rolleyes:
The first pic is the car and the LOML and our friendly Ford Salesman. the other pics are of the reconfiguration.:doh: Since the LOML prefers the original "Look",;) she has gotten some bids for the Re-Do, and WOW, I guess it's been longer than I realized since I priced Body Work, since the First Bid was $9,220 (from the best quality Body Shop in town), and then two others that do pretty good work also came in at$6,778 and $6,579 respectively, and all three stated that there would be additional charges for any damages found after teardown, and also for any glass that was broken during teardown. I'm sure glad we don't have to buy new cars part by part.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Well, I seem to have a problem with the file the pics with the damage are in, so will edit this later and add them when I get the problem fixed.Lou Ann's New Car 001-1.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 001A.jpg
    Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 001A.jpg
    124 KB · Views: 46
  • Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 002A.jpg
    Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 002A.jpg
    119.9 KB · Views: 46
  • Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 003A.jpg
    Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 003A.jpg
    103.1 KB · Views: 37
  • Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 004A.jpg
    Lou Ann's New Car, Accident @ OC Feb 12, 2009 004A.jpg
    106.8 KB · Views: 38
Last edited:
Norman,

Even without seeing the reconfiguration, I feel for you. The cost and hassle of getting the car fixed is huge - but only a minor irritation when we consider LOYL is OK.

And I have to agree with you on the costs these days. I did collision and rust repair work in the early 80's. When a cell phone equipped parent swapped paint with my rear bumper cover the bill was over $500 just to sand/prep/paint it!

Just keep repeating "Nobody was hurt" over and over.:eek:

Good luck!
Wes
 
Well, this is just a Bump, 'cause I "Finally" got my pic file straightened out and Added the "Damage Pictures, and thought you might want to see how little damage it takes to cost 9 Grand plus to repair First Class, (especially if you haven't had occasion to price Body work recently).:D

It seems that the "Other Party" has Insurance with a Co. out of Wisconsin, and they do not have an office here, but someone in their Home Office last Friday said they would arrange for an (contract I suppose) adjuster to get with the LOML sometime this week, and would "Try" to arrange it for the first part of the week, but no word yet. That figures, since the LOML is leaving town early Thursday for a three day Seminar.:rolleyes: Maybe someone told them to wait, 'cause that "Red Headed Lady" is tougher to deal with "these days" than I am,:huh: (getting Soft in my Old Age, I guess).:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Last edited:
Ye-ouch! Sure doesn't look like $9K worth of damage, but body shop costs have been going up with all the other things in life lately, I guess. Glad LOYL wasn't hurt, and here's hoping the other party's insurance makes good on their obligation.
 
I tell you that just sucks, the car will never be the same, the never are after getting fixed :doh:

What hit her? Looks like a 1 ton truck with a flat bed on it or something?

What always burns me up is the time wasted, which you NEVER get compensated for, hours of stuff that is often frustrating as well. What is she driving now? A buddy here in Tokyo got hit while stopped in an intersection, waiting to turn, in a turning lane, he got hit head on, a car came through the intersection and just ran into him. Turns out the guy was drunk and taking on his cell phone :doh: My buddies van was badly damaged, the day was ruined, his wife and kids were badly shaken, but thank goodness no one was hurt. He spent hours and hours in the cop shop, explaining then explaining again and again what happened, and he had two witnesses, one the guy behind him, who, thankfully only saw it happen, did not get hit too, and a guy on a motorcycle who was stopped the other way at the same intersection.

So the drunk cell phone talking moron is rich, like RICH RICH RICH, but his insurance will not pay, because it is void, he is drunk :doh: My buddy has 3rd party so his insurance will pay, and then they go after the rich doorknob. My buddy had to rent a car out of his own pocket for work for two weeks while his van was fixed, he did eventually get that money back, but he had to fight for it, two years, yes YEARS later. He also had to spend countless hours in depositions and such for his insurance company in the law suit brought against the rich goof. In the end, he figures he spent a good working week (40+ hours) dealing with all that stuff, and he never got compensated for that time :dunno: he runs his own business, so that is time that is lost to him.
Sorry to ramble on, but it bugs me to see this kind of thing and think of the time wasted by someone who was in a hurry :rolleyes:

I sure hope you get some satisfaction on this one!
 
Major bummer Norman. Sure glad the LOYL came out unhurt. My mom has that same car and was hit about 3 weeks ago along the same side. Only took out the 2 doors and didn't touch the front fender as did on yours. Repair bill was $4600.00. The repair shop told her to be happy it is a Ford product because parts are available at this time, and if it was a Chevy it may have sat awhile waiting for parts as they are not readily available as of now.
 
...It seems that the "Other Party" has Insurance with a Co. out of Wisconsin, and they do not have an office here, but someone in their Home Office last Friday said they would arrange for an (contract I suppose) adjuster to get with the LOML sometime this week, and would "Try" to arrange it for the first part of the week...

Why not have your own insurance company arrange to fix the car, and let them deal with the other company? I've done that a couple of times in the past. I got better service that way, and it didn't affect my premiums, either. Might as well get some service for all those premiums you've been paying over the years...
 
Why not have your own insurance company arrange to fix the car, and let them deal with the other company? I've done that a couple of times in the past. I got better service that way, and it didn't affect my premiums, either. Might as well get some service for all those premiums you've been paying over the years...

Great advice. Insurance companies are for profit, sometimes becoming real hard nosed to save paying out. You pay for your insurance, let them earn their pay and get the fix done for you. I deal with auto insurance claims and the car rentals resulting from them everyday. I tell frustrated people dealing with the same hold ups as you to do this all the time.
 
I'm not sure how it is in your state but you have the right to take your car to any shop you want. I managed the bodyshop at the dealership I worked for in Oregon and know there are insurance companies that make arrangements with local bodyshops to do work for them. In return the bodyshop would do the work a certain way with discounts and lower labor rates and the insurance company sent their customers to those shops. We did that with several companies (it's just part of doing business) and if a customer didn't want to bring his car to us the IC would say all kinds of things to the customer to change their mind but in the end couldn't do anything but pay the bill.

One thing I would like to mention is look for things on the estimate that say "blend". Any undamaged panel adjacent to a part being repaired must be painted as well! I don't care how "good" the painter thinks he or she is there is no way they will get a "butt" match to look good. When you get into the sunshine you will see the difference in the color from one paint to the next. When they "blend" the panel they put color about halfway across the panel and clear coat the whole panel.

Another thing to look for is "adds" things like taking moldings and emblems off and not masked off when painting. It will leave a place where the clear coat will start peeling down road. Also if they go with a used door instead of a door skin, make sure they take the door handles and locks out of the door before painting rather than masking them off (for the same reason as the molding)s.

One last thing to help get a good paint job.... don't take delivery of your car on cloudy or rainy day. Take it out into the sunshine and walk around it and even move the car so you get different light on the repair. This way you can see if the paint matches. With the metallics in paint you can get a different "flop" of the flakes and will make the pain look darker or lighter than the old paint. Thats the main reason for blending.

Sorry for the long post but I hate seeing people pay their hard erned money to insurance companies only to get short cut by a greedy shop.
 
Last edited:
Norman,

Yeah, I have to totally agree with what Royall has said. (I knew there was something I liked about him. Must be the lacquer thinner we brush our teeth with. LOL) :rofl:

We are paying way too much for body repairs these days and we better expect "Perfect" results. :thumb:

So many times I see repaired cars that have one heck of a shine and look like a good color match, from one direction, but as the light changes, so does the color or brilliance. In a color such as your wife's car, the simplest change in the painter's technique will make a whole world of difference in what it looks like. Remember, no human painted the car to begin with. The chances of a human matching the spraying technique of the paint robot are slim. Even with all the training and the latest in advanced spray equipment. :dunno:

When I started out in body work, over 50 years ago, we would have "straightened" those panels out instead of replacing them. Good sheet metal men are extremely rare, if they even exist today. The metal the cars are made from can't be re-shaoped like the old metal could be, either. :huh:

I still can't see how they can charge that much for this much damage. I guess I'm getting too old to understand the new ways. :dunno:

The insurance companies are getting to be a pain too. I'm hoping I never have to use their services, ever. I hear horror stories.

I hope it all works out OK.

Aloha, Tony
 
Why not have your own insurance company arrange to fix the car, and let them deal with the other company? I've done that a couple of times in the past. I got better service that way, and it didn't affect my premiums, either. Might as well get some service for all those premiums you've been paying over the years...

We have done it both ways in the past, but this way seems to work MUCH better for us. The less people involved, the faster things move, AND if they don't move to our liking, I quickly point out that they had better get on the stick, AND honor my wishes, or they can get their Attys ready to battle mine OR my Ins' Attys. We have had so many cars, houses, etc. Insured at the same place (for about 30 Yrs with the same agent, an old college mate), that we get really good rates, and the less hassle they have to attend to on our accts the better the rates stay. Sheesh, currently there are 4 houses, 5 cars, and sometimes a boat and one other car, just a 1% increase on all our policies would be a KILLER.:rolleyes::D (I do get advice & tips from our agent during the process, which is invaluable).:thumb:

Royall & Tony, points well taken. It is going to be interesting, because I'm sure there will be some adds when the tear down starts, and from the info I just got, the current bid is at 95% toward totaling it out, and since it still drives great, I really hope we don't have to go that route.

Boy do I hate these people that think "THEY" are SO IMPORTANT, and in such a Rush that they can't be bothered to wait for the traffic to move at a traffic light. Soooooo... for a right turn, they just swing into some business's parking lot and race across it, to the next block over and rush out onto that street without stopping OR even slowing down before entering the street, (and in our city, they don't even get a traffic citation).:bang::bang::bang:

For Stu; It was ONLY a regular HALF ton ford truck.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I'll update as the Saga develops.:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Norman -- these posts are all on the money. My wife's and my pickup both have the multi-thousand damage on them right now and we haven't fixed them because our co will pay and we pay car rental. My pu hit a hog south of Lexington going 70+, it could have been worse. My wife was hit in mall lot before Xmas. No personal injury; THAK GOD. Take a tylenol and work some wood.

Ray Gerdes
 
Well, this is just a Bump, 'cause I "Finally" got my pic file straightened out and Added the "Damage Pictures, and thought you might want to see how little damage it takes to cost 9 Grand plus to repair First Class, (especially if you haven't had occasion to price Body work recently).:D
SNIP


About 4 years ago, a guy I worked with at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership got a Grand Marquis in (same car as yours) with every glass broken out-kids vandalizing cars. Just the glass and clean up on the interior was close to 10 grand! Jim.
 
About 4 years ago, a guy I worked with at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership got a Grand Marquis in (same car as yours) with every glass broken out-kids vandalizing cars. Just the glass and clean up on the interior was close to 10 grand! Jim.

Boy that was expensive. Glass replacement never has been cheap, and some models, due to their shapes AND how many of a particular model were sold, can be well above the cost of the same items for more popular models. That said, it seems that the glass prices have accelerated even more than some of the other body parts.:dunno:
 
Body work can be very expensive. And (hope I'm not offending anyone), I believe quite profitable.
In the recent ice storm, my truck got what I considered a minor dent on the hood from a falling branch. I figured a couple hundred dollars to pop out and repaint. Wrong. $1,500.00 to fix.
I estimate the high profit part from the cost to remove and replace the bug deflector, $63.00. Maybe a total of ten minutes work.
 

Attachments

  • dent 1.jpg
    dent 1.jpg
    134.7 KB · Views: 8
Body work can be very expensive. And (hope I'm not offending anyone), I believe quite profitable.
In the recent ice storm, my truck got what I considered a minor dent on the hood from a falling branch. I figured a couple hundred dollars to pop out and repaint. Wrong. $1,500.00 to fix.
I estimate the high profit part from the cost to remove and replace the bug deflector, $63.00. Maybe a total of ten minutes work.

Frank that was a good price.:D The hood would have to be replaced. Metal stretches when dented and as you work it. You can "shrink" it up some but the labaor again will eat you up. With white you "might" be able get away with butt match on the paint but white believe it or not is a very hard color to match, right up there with metallics. I had one customer get upset with me for a similar estimate and leave. Came back a few weeks later and showed off what he got from the wrecking yard for 275 bucks. The truck was grey, the hood was grey, but they didn't match:D:D same year same color code but they didn't match. But he was happy and was just trying to get under my skin. I just told him how good of a job he did! :p
 
Top