Daily driver Infiniti got hit

Dean Jenkins

Dean Jenkins

Promoted Users
My daily driver is a 2014 Infinity Q60 Sport AWD. Really nice car and since I work from home, only 42K miles on it. Managed to make it all these years without a single ding or scratch . . .

The other night one of my son's friends backed into it. Felt bad for her, could tell she felt terrible about it.
But, it happened and told her I understand and have done the same myself, no hard feelings. She gave me her insurance info and I've started the claim process.

Have an appointment Monday morning to get an estimate.

See pics below. I have only done restoration work, no idea about collision repair on newer cars, but would like to have some info when talking to the person doing the estimate.
For the collision experts, does that look like a dent that should be pulled, or panel replacement? The dent is big, maybe manageable, but the jamb pulled back from the door about a 1/4", which seems bad.

If the dent is pulled vs. panel replacement is it reasonable to insist the that whole panel be painted vs. blended? There are body seams all around that quarter panel, including the roof right above the window, so it seems like that would be reasonable.

Thoughts?

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Definitely fix, since the panel is welded. We'd probably have the door off after the bodywork is complete because the repair will be into the jamb. If you're not into open blending you'll end up clear coating the whole aperture after basecoat.
 
If the insurance company writes the estimate, you'll probably get shorted. I'd try to help you write a supplement because I have an estimating system, but it's probably not credible that I'd be doing the work for you given the distance.
 
The insurance company, USAA, assigned it to a collision shop, Capitol Collision, that is in their network, to do the estimate. I used them for repairing my wife's Grand Cherokee and they did a good job.
I'll see what they say at Monday appointment.
Appreciate the offer and if I'm not happy with their proposal I'll reach out to you.

I had a moment of temptation to just get a check from them and do it myself. But, my "booth" is full of sanding block inventory, and I just want to get it done. Plus, they give me a rental car while it's in the shop.
 
i have usaa and they were really good to deal with when i got hit by the deer. they took care of everything, no questions asked. all supplements were taken care of as well. they questioned nothing. i did have an issue though when my wife's sante-fe got totaled in a hit and run. they really shorted me on the amount they gave me. i tried to fight it and it went nowhere. im sure your not anywhere near a total BUT for future, if you ever have an issue where your borderline total or fix. opt to have them fix it because they wont give you squat for the car if you total. for my porsche, i actually pay a little more for them to give me 20% over book value if its ever totaled just because of that incident.
 
Jim C said:
i have usaa and they were really good to deal with when i got hit by the deer. they took care of everything, no questions asked. all supplements were taken care of as well. they questioned nothing. i did have an issue though when my wife's sante-fe got totaled in a hit and run. they really shorted me on the amount they gave me. i tried to fight it and it went nowhere. im sure your not anywhere near a total BUT for future, if you ever have an issue where your borderline total or fix. opt to have them fix it because they wont give you squat for the car if you total. for my porsche, i actually pay a little more for them to give me 20% over book value if its ever totaled just because of that incident.
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Good info. I really like the Haggerty plan for my project car. Just tell them how much I want to cover for and that's that. They charge accordingly.
Which reminds me to go bump it up since the car is nearly done.
@Barry insisted it should be a 6 figure + car, if I do it well, which amazes me, but I'll listen . . .
 
i looked at haggerty. got a quote from them a few weeks ago. for a $300k car they were about $6k a year. that is still $1500 more than usaa with the added 20% coverage.
 
It would be a good idea to tell the Shop that you won't accept any clear blend. Full clear on the quarter, (body side panel) extending all the way to A-pillar and full clear on the door. Things have gotten to a point where they are blending clear. Hope you find/found a good collision shop. IMO though there are very few of them anymore. DRP's are usually some of the worst. They will do it as cheap as possible, which is why your Ins Co recommend them. And stay far far away from any of the Gerber chain shops.
I would start with a Google search. If you can find a Euro type collision Shop that might be a decent place. Find out what paint system they use. Be very vocal and explicit about your expectations. Those types of customers usually will get better service simply because Shops hate comebacks and if they know you are demanding and picky they will do a better job.
Barring that drive to Crash in Idaho and you know you will get a quality repair.:)
Glad I'm not working at one those places anymore. Collision industry has turned to S*&t.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
It would be a good idea to tell the Shop that you won't accept any clear blend. Full clear on the quarter, (body side panel) extending all the way to A-pillar and full clear on the door. Things have gotten to a point where they are blending clear. Hope you find/found a good collision shop. IMO though there are very few of them anymore. DRP's are usually some of the worst. They will do it as cheap as possible, which is why your Ins Co recommend them. And stay far far away from any of the Gerber chain shops.
I would start with a Google search. If you can find a Euro type collision Shop that might be a decent place. Find out what paint system they use. Be very vocal and explicit about your expectations. Those types of customers usually will get better service simply because Shops hate comebacks and if they know you are demanding and picky they will do a better job.
Barring that drive to Crash in Idaho and you know you will get a quality repair.:)
Glad I'm not working at one those places anymore. Collision industry has turned to S*&t.
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Good input. My favorite shop who did a lot of work for me over the years got bought out by Gerber. Owner was a good dude and helped me a lot. Now he's rich and retired. All the techs I knew left. Not going there.
I do plan to set a high standard, including 4 wheel alignment.
We'll see how USAA shop responds. If substandard, I'm open to driving down to Crash. Be fun to meet him...
 
I'm following this. My friends son wrecked his wife suv. It's a 2018 with 26k miles and insurance wants to total it. I don't think it's that bad but then again. I don't know anything about collision industry
 
crashtech said:
I'm neck deep in the collision industry. Big corporations are completing their takeover. Pretty soon getting wrecks fixed will all be like drive thru fast food, quick and mediocre.
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Do insurance companies have a special interest in totaling out cars instead of repair? Like do they get some incentive from the govt or something? He said insurance wants to total it out based on these pictures. Haven't even sent the adjuster out yet
 

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Dean Jenkins said:
My daily driver is a 2014 Infinity Q60 Sport AWD. Really nice car and since I work from home, only 42K miles on it. Managed to make it all these years without a single ding or scratch . . .

The other night one of my son's friends backed into it. Felt bad for her, could tell she felt terrible about it.
But, it happened and told her I understand and have done the same myself, no hard feelings. She gave me her insurance info and I've started the claim process.

Have an appointment Monday morning to get an estimate.

See pics below. I have only done restoration work, no idea about collision repair on newer cars, but would like to have some info when talking to the person doing the estimate.
For the collision experts, does that look like a dent that should be pulled, or panel replacement? The dent is big, maybe manageable, but the jamb pulled back from the door about a 1/4", which seems bad.

If the dent is pulled vs. panel replacement is it reasonable to insist the that whole panel be painted vs. blended? There are body seams all around that quarter panel, including the roof right above the window, so it seems like that would be reasonable.

Thoughts?

View attachment 29596

View attachment 29597

View attachment 29598
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That damage reminds me when I was 19 and a Warner cable company truck backed into me in a parking lot. I got a candy paint job out of it for free!
 
RosharonRooster said:
Do insurance companies have a special interest in totaling out cars instead of repair? Like do they get some incentive from the govt or something? He said insurance wants to total it out based on these pictures. Haven't even sent the adjuster out yet
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As far as I know, the decision to total a vehicle has been purely economic in the deals that I have been party to. I do not know why the vehicle pictured would be considered a total, but pics can be deceiving. Maybe the dogleg damage means a whole uniside has to be purchased? Really not sure. Obviously it looks repairable.
 
RosharonRooster said:
Do insurance companies have a special interest in totaling out cars instead of repair? Like do they get some incentive from the govt or something? He said insurance wants to total it out based on these pictures. Haven't even sent the adjuster out yet
Click to expand...
Decisions are not always made in the interest of the policy holder but rather the insurer or possibly any reinsurer. Strictly a present value/ end of life salvage value and spread between the two over how many years would typically remain and the value of the car depreciating each year a set amount till then up to about 20 year assumed lifespan of being registered and driven for a typical pleasure use vehicle. You can look on your state's attorney general's website or if they have one, an insurance commissioner's website and see all the problems people report. Just horrible.

If it is not in their best interest to continue underwriting a policy to provide income for them on that vehicle being considered for repair--junk it seems to become. Pop an air bag used to be death on some models for "salvage only" on new models right off the lot. If the OP's Q60 car was say 17,500 value pre-accident--then it's before accident salvage value was likely around 5500 on the accounting side at the 10 year or mid-life mark. That leaves a spread of maybe 12K. My guess is they would go to $7000 at most for an insurance repair. It would be too unlikely for them to recoup their liability in policy premiums over the likely remaining life of the car in the next ten years.
 
The estimate is to replace the quarter panel. $5246 o_O
The shop has a good rep for doing good work, so I'll probably just have them do it.
A part of me is tempted to take the check and do it myself . . . (pull dent and paint - not replace quarter.)
 
Dean Jenkins said:
The estimate is to replace the quarter panel. $5246 o_O
The shop has a good rep for doing good work, so I'll probably just have them do it.
A part of me is tempted to take the check and do it myself . . . (pull dent and paint - not replace quarter.)
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well i guess that depends on how much free time you have. because you can doesnt really mean that you should lol. i know when the deer whacked my truck i thought oh yeah i can fix that no problem. after about 5 min i was like what the hell am i thinking. if i do it then this truck will look like this for the next 6 mos. i wised up and just too the truck in and it was like new 2 weeks later. if you have plenty of time and a backup car then by all means but think about it real hard before you commit.
 
crashtech said:
It's actually worse for the vehicle imo to change a panel with that kind of damage, but few guys know how to fix anything anymore.
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Wholeheartedly agree. That is a relatively simple dent to pull out. I can't tell you the number of times Shops I worked for would write it up to replace then give it to me and say repair it. Insurance fraud? Yes but they never seem to get caught. I didn't have a choice.
But replacing disturbs all the corrosion protection among other things. If they have a real spot welder it's slightly better than a MIG. But darn if I would replace that.
 
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