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Hope it’s not totaled

4K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Moparrebel 
#1 ·
I’m on vacation. Made the mistake of letting my younger brother drive my car because he is watching our house. Has less than 10k miles on it. What do you think? Looks like just the body that can be fixed. Airbags didn’t go off and under the hood looks fine. No leaks or anything.looks like it literally hit only just in front of the hood.
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#4 ·
If you take it to the typical "industry standard" shop, it will likely be "fixed".

If it gets to a shop that actually does complete repairs and follows Dodge procedures, with all mandatory part replacements and inspections, it could get close.

I'm assuming it's a V6.
 
#6 ·
No worries, this will be fixed and not totaled. Use-- and insist on--only OEM parts. There are some shops that will use knock offs and they wont fit right. Also, "take charge" of your rebuild; inspect the progress several time and take pictures. The body shop wont care and if they know you are paying attention they will work to keep you happy and do a great job.

Now, go kick your little brothers ass.
 
#18 ·
Ouch! Way to ruin your trip to Vegas. After it's fixed lil' bro has to wash and wax it weekly.....forever. (After attending a detailers course)
 
#19 ·
Strongly insist on OEM parts..by default, you will not receive OEM parts less you make this request formal. Review final invoice to ensure of this.
Pursue Diminished Value with your insurance, it will amount to thousands of $$.
...and above all, take it to a reputable shop, inspect the entire repair and dont sign acceptance nor drive away with it when its all said & done, unless it meets with your total satisfaction.
The shop is being paid to put the car back to pre-accident conditions, not just skate by with "good enough"..which sadly is the go to modus operandi for most body shops.
Best of luck.
 
#20 ·
Strongly insist on OEM parts..by default, you will not receive OEM parts less you make this request formal. Review final invoice to ensure of this.
Pursue Diminished Value with your insurance, it will amount to thousands of $$.
...and above all, take it to a reputable shop, inspect the entire repair and dont sign acceptance nor drive away with it when its all said & done, unless it meets with your total satisfaction.
The shop is being paid to put the car back to pre-accident conditions, not just skate by with "good enough"..which sadly is the go to modus operandi for most body shops.
Best of luck.
Diminished value doesn’t apply to the person who caused the accident, it’s for the injured party to be made whole again.
 
#22 ·
While painful to see, probably not that serious. 'course, that's something for a highly regarded body/repair shop to confirm from an inspection of the car to determine the extent of the damage.

Here's a pic of my 2020 Scat Pack after having been hit (twice) while parked.

Automotive parking light Car Vehicle Grille Plant


No vital fluid systems breached. Car was unoccupied so no air bag deployment. Steering/suspension undamaged.

Total cost to repair: $8007. To give you an idea of how much variation there can be from the initial estimate to the actual/final estimate the initial estimate was $6300. But after the other driver's insurance finished its estimate of the damage then body/repair shop took over and upon tear down found another $1700 worth of damage.

Parts replaced: Driver side fender; front bumper cover; driver side head light. Lots of plastic brackets and spoiler like plastic under/behind the bumper cover. A/C condenser. Not holed but something scraped against it and bent fins down in a 1 inch plus wide by at least 6 inches long area of the condenser.

Hood was repaired.

Initially insurance wanted to use whatever parts it could get the cheapest, but I said I would not accept the car repaired with anything but factory parts. Car is new, bought new in Nov. 2020 and had just 1729 miles on it.

Long story short all factory parts were used with the body shop helping by being able to "price match" factory parts with aftermarket parts. Thus factory parts were obtained at the same price as aftermarket parts. I think the only exception was the condenser which I do not think the body shop was able to price match.

This is important. The new car warranty would not cover an aftermarket condenser. The insurance company would. Bu if the condenser did develop a problem how many hoops would I have to jump through to get the car repaired when having to deal with not only the dealer service department but the insurance company? Lots I bet.

Yet another complication with the presence of an aftermarket condenser this could mean the entire heating/AC system not covered by the new car warranty. And the insurance company specifically said it does not warranty any systems into which aftermarket parts are installed. And the factory warranty booklet says pretty much the same thing. Only factory parts are warrantied and any system with non factory parts is not warrantied.

Sure in around 50 years of driving I've never had a heating/AC system act up. But just as sure as I'm sitting here had I got that car back with an aftermarket condenser and no warranty on the heating/AC system it would have acted up.

You will have to find a highly regarded body/repair shop to take the car to. My SOP is to pick a body/repair shopo with no business ties/partnership with the insurance company which will pay for the damages.

I do not like to try to insert myself into the repair process and certainly not try to tell the shop how to do its job, but I like to let it be known I'm keenly interested in getting the car repaired to its pre collision condition as best as humanly possible.

While avoiding being a pain in the ass I try to visit the shop at various times to see how things are progressing.

Will end by pointing out things move slowly. I figure it is a "good" repair that has the car back to me properly repaired in 30 days. My Scat Pack was done in about 3 weeks. Accident on Jan. 16/17, and I picked up the car on Feb. 5. Turns out the factory head light was the hold up. Took a week for it to arrive or the car would have been done sooner.
 
#23 ·
While painful to see, probably not that serious. 'course, that's something for a highly regarded body/repair shop to confirm from an inspection of the car to determine the extent of the damage.

Here's a pic of my 2020 Scat Pack after having been hit (twice) while parked.

View attachment 1015124

No vital fluid systems breached. Car was unoccupied so no air bag deployment. Steering/suspension undamaged.

Total cost to repair: $8007. To give you an idea of how much variation there can be from the initial estimate to the actual/final estimate the initial estimate was $6300. But after the other driver's insurance finished its estimate of the damage then body/repair shop took over and upon tear down found another $1700 worth of damage.

Parts replaced: Driver side fender; front bumper cover; driver side head light. Lots of plastic brackets and spoiler like plastic under/behind the bumper cover. A/C condenser. Not holed but something scraped against it and bent fins down in a 1 inch plus wide by at least 6 inches long area of the condenser.

Hood was repaired.

Initially insurance wanted to use whatever parts it could get the cheapest, but I said I would not accept the car repaired with anything but factory parts. Car is new, bought new in Nov. 2020 and had just 1729 miles on it.

Long story short all factory parts were used with the body shop helping by being able to "price match" factory parts with aftermarket parts. Thus factory parts were obtained at the same price as aftermarket parts. I think the only exception was the condenser which I do not think the body shop was able to price match.

This is important. The new car warranty would not cover an aftermarket condenser. The insurance company would. Bu if the condenser did develop a problem how many hoops would I have to jump through to get the car repaired when having to deal with not only the dealer service department but the insurance company? Lots I bet.

Yet another complication with the presence of an aftermarket condenser this could mean the entire heating/AC system not covered by the new car warranty. And the insurance company specifically said it does not warranty any systems into which aftermarket parts are installed. And the factory warranty booklet says pretty much the same thing. Only factory parts are warrantied and any system with non factory parts is not warrantied.

Sure in around 50 years of driving I've never had a heating/AC system act up. But just as sure as I'm sitting here had I got that car back with an aftermarket condenser and no warranty on the heating/AC system it would have acted up.

You will have to find a highly regarded body/repair shop to take the car to. My SOP is to pick a body/repair shopo with no business ties/partnership with the insurance company which will pay for the damages.

I do not like to try to insert myself into the repair process and certainly not try to tell the shop how to do its job, but I like to let it be known I'm keenly interested in getting the car repaired to its pre collision condition as best as humanly possible.

While avoiding being a pain in the ass I try to visit the shop at various times to see how things are progressing.

Will end by pointing out things move slowly. I figure it is a "good" repair that has the car back to me properly repaired in 30 days. My Scat Pack was done in about 3 weeks. Accident on Jan. 16/17, and I picked up the car on Feb. 5. Turns out the factory head light was the hold up. Took a week for it to arrive or the car would have been done sooner.
I just noticed something crucial everyone MISSED, if you had your yellow splitter guards on, things wouldn’t have been as bad,😆 sorry I couldn’t help myself.
Did you get your hood issue looked at?
 
#25 ·
There’s a shop here in NJ that somehow keeps the property inside as well as outside spotlessly clean, he has just as much pride in the repaired vehicles. It’s a very large shop too. The landscaping rivals upscale homes.
 
#26 ·
This is the only shop anyone should be going to if they are in that area. It's one of the best, if not the best collision shop in the country.

 
#27 ·
I just got the go ahead to take the car to a shop. We have a reputable shop here in oceanside ca called lens auto body..I am hoping it’s a sign that they will be able to fix it and not say it’s totaled. I just got back from my trip. And it hurts to see haha. But I’m just trying to remain positive. Everything runs fine lights even turn on still haha. No leaks or anything. So we will find out Monday what they say.
 
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