Got into a hit and run, insurance estimates at $4700 damages, body shop is $7600. I want to get it fixed. How does the repair process work?

[2024-GT-Vapor Blue]

Also, do you think it’ll be fine to take on a long drive

We should all have dash cams in 2025. I have been looking at this one since man goal dopes not have the 650 camera completed yet. https://fitcamx.com/products/fitcamx-dash-cam-for-ford-mustang-2024-2025-s650-7th-gen

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[DarkMatterGrey]

I had an uninsured driver hit the rear of my 2022 S550 (rare manual 6 speed) Ecoboost. My insurance company took care of everything, except for collision deductible and diminished value. They said my premiums would go up if I wasn’t the rated driver, was using the car for commercial purpose (DoorDash, uber, etc.), was cited for DUI, or this happened frequently.

 

[timd38]

I have State Farm and the body shop I wanted to use was a State Farm approved shop, so I just dropped off the car and they covered it. Didn’t need to get an estimate. Side note, the repair work was outstanding and painless.

 

[mostWnted]

Shop other estimates and tell them you’re paying out of pocket, a lot of time they are running the numbers up to cover paying deductible and maximum insurance billing

Yeah, I got 2 quotes, one was at $7200 and the other was at $7600. Both had their hourly rates at like $70-100.

 

[mostWnted]

I had a similar thing happen to me but was able to pull the license plate off of my dash camera. About 4 months later, I got a call from the police with the hit and run persons insurance and police report confirming they were at fault. Never expected that to happen. Also didn’t expect them to have insurance. Dash cams can be really helpful.
Damage doesn’t look too bad from the photos. Hopefully it’s an easy enough process to get fixed. Premiums will go up if you go through insurance.

Yeah, I kinda figured it would. But then again, that’s what the insurance is for right? It sucks that aside from paying a deductible, you end up paying a lot more for using what you’ve been paying for anyway.

 

[POHLHAMMER]

Dash cams are great , so long as the owner is behaving...

Don't record yourself being stupid and have things go wrong. You may be supplying the evidence needed to make life very difficult. Just wanted to point out another side of having one.

I personally have two nice Garmin ones that record speed and location, though admittedly I don't have either in a vehicle right now due to procrastination. I need to get it done.

 

[AzkAdAsh]

No idea, lots of variables. Hit and run, might not go up at all since it wasn't your fault. They might ask you to get a police report so it's officially a hit and run?

You're assuming he wasn't the one doing the hitting and the running.

Jokes aside, even with a hit-and-run, premiums usually increase. The most likely reason an insurance company will do this is to recoup the repair costs that would have otherwise been covered by the at-fault parties insurance. Another reason they'd do this is because the whole system is a scam. Accident forgiveness through some insurance companies will help with this, but it still feels insulting being "forgiven" for an accident that wasn't your fault.

 

[Alan Applegate]

When my Ranger got hit about a year ago, I had the same experience with StateFarm as timd38 did. In my case Caliber Collision transported the truck to Lubbock, TX due to the damage. Took 6 weeks (parts issue), but was perfect afterwards. Heck, the front bumper looked better than it did new!

Having not only good insurance, but as good agent as well, pays dividends. I've always said, when it comes to insurance, knowing your agent and calling him/her by their first name is essential.

 

[Neggytive]

I have State Farm and the body shop I wanted to use was a State Farm approved shop, so I just dropped off the car and they covered it. Didn’t need to get an estimate. Side note, the repair work was outstanding and painless.

Anytime a shop is a "preferred" or "approved" shop, the shop has crawled into bed with the insurance company to get work, and you are getting shafted in the process.

Here is an example, or maybe 2 depending on how much I want to type.

1) MAPFRE preferred shops get paid .3 hrs to sand and buff any painted or blended panel.
The industry standard is .3 per full paint hour. Max 2.5 hours per car.

Ford PU truck, 8 foot bed, say 7 hours paint time, that is 2.1 hours sand and buff, but the shop is in bed with MAPFRE so the flat rate tech gets 18 minutes and that includes masking jambs, washing, etc, so you are getting at best a denib and finesse to get any dust out of the paint and not a sand & buff to get a nice smooth defect free surface.

2) MetLife will not pay a shop to wash a car when it is repaired so you get it back dirty, or just enough of a wash job to get all the shop dust off it, and heaven forbid it the car was worked on with a door off and the interior got dirty

3) MAPFRE shops have to use whatever parts I write on the appraisal. If I write absolute crap bottom of the junk pile KSI/Astro sheet metal, and the shop wants Keystone which is still crap but way better than KSI/Astro, they are only getting paid for KSI/Astro parts, they can't come back to me for a PPI (parts price increase) because they use Keystone ( Probably because KSI won't sell to them because they have sent so many crap parts back as unacceptable quality)

THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! THEY ARE GOING TO SCREW YOU EVERY CHANCE THEY GET.

Use a body shop of your choosing, not theirs

 

[Sofa King]

Use a body shop of your choosing, not theirs

That right there!

 

[LouG]

the short version and I am a retired Insurance Appraiser and former shop owner....

The shop as part of the repair process represents you and negotiates with the Insurance company for the amount needed for repairs and part replacements to restore the car to pre loss condition per the language in your policy and state laws.

Hand it to the shop and let them deal with it.

It does not matter what the appraiser wrote on the appraisal, it rarely matches what the shop writes unless it is a very minor accident, and even then it is uncommon not to get a request for a supplemental appraisal to cover hidden damage exposed once the car is taken apart, labor rates, operations, procedures, pre and post scans, recalibrating safety systems, etc etc etc etc.

If you have a good shop you have nothing to worry about.

Good point. My wife's car got shunted from behind, there was just a scuff on the plastic "bumper", but the impact beam was seriously crushed underneath which you couldn't see from behind . $11000 just to replace that beam.

 

[timd38]

Anytime a shop is a "preferred" or "approved" shop, the shop has crawled into bed with the insurance company to get work, and you are getting shafted in the process.

Here is an example, or maybe 2 depending on how much I want to type.

1) MAPFRE preferred shops get paid .3 hrs to sand and buff any painted or blended panel.
The industry standard is .3 per full paint hour. Max 2.5 hours per car.

Ford PU truck, 8 foot bed, say 7 hours paint time, that is 2.1 hours sand and buff, but the shop is in bed with MAPFRE so the flat rate tech gets 18 minutes and that includes masking jambs, washing, etc, so you are getting at best a denib and finesse to get any dust out of the paint and not a sand & buff to get a nice smooth defect free surface.

2) MetLife will not pay a shop to wash a car when it is repaired so you get it back dirty, or just enough of a wash job to get all the shop dust off it, and heaven forbid it the car was worked on with a door off and the interior got dirty

3) MAPFRE shops have to use whatever parts I write on the appraisal. If I write absolute crap bottom of the junk pile KSI/Astro sheet metal, and the shop wants Keystone which is still crap but way better than KSI/Astro, they are only getting paid for KSI/Astro parts, they can't come back to me for a PPI (parts price increase) because they use Keystone ( Probably because KSI won't sell to them because they have sent so many crap parts back as unacceptable quality)

THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! THEY ARE GOING TO SCREW YOU EVERY CHANCE THEY GET.

Use a body shop of your choosing, not theirs

Don’t care if they are in bed with the insurance company if the work is done correctly and on time.

 

[roadpilot]

the short version and I am a retired Insurance Appraiser and former shop owner....

The shop as part of the repair process represents you and negotiates with the Insurance company for the amount needed for repairs and part replacements to restore the car to pre loss condition per the language in your policy and state laws.

Hand it to the shop and let them deal with it.

It does not matter what the appraiser wrote on the appraisal, it rarely matches what the shop writes unless it is a very minor accident, and even then it is uncommon not to get a request for a supplemental appraisal to cover hidden damage exposed once the car is taken apart, labor rates, operations, procedures, pre and post scans, recalibrating safety systems, etc etc etc etc.

If you have a good shop you have nothing to worry about.

^ This.

Whoever told you to pay $8K out of pocket is clueless. That initial estimate will climb close to 5 figures by the time they are done with it.

 

[roadpilot]

Anytime a shop is a "preferred" or "approved" shop, the shop has crawled into bed with the insurance company to get work, and you are getting shafted in the process.

...

THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! THEY ARE GOING TO SCREW YOU EVERY CHANCE THEY GET.

Use a body shop of your choosing, not theirs

Garbage. Had numerous claims over the years, only two our fault (one my wife, one my daughter). Only paid our (low) deductible for those two claims and rates changed very little for those. Never got "shafted". Vehicles repaired to my OCD satisfaction with OEM parts at shop of our choice (local Ford dealer body shop - which was also an approved repair shop - even for our non-Ford vehicle repairs).

Tell me how I got "shafted" ...

 

[Alan Applegate]

For 2+ years I ran the body shop of the largest Chevrolet dealer in Kansas City. Here it is many years later, and I still see prejudice with respect to body shops being in bed with insurance companies. The basis seems to be that they do a worse job of repairs and cost the customer more money. That simply is not true! The real issue lies (pun intended) with lousy insurance companies.

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