2005 BMW 545i

[EightySix Four]

Fantasy land. That is not a $3k repair, period. Like you said, your mom's bumper and a few scratches on a Camry were $2.5k. In reality of course nobody knows how bad the damage is without inspecting it in person, which is why bidding in this manner is an extremely risky crap-shoot.

I completely agree. They had to take the rear seat out of the vehicle the damage was so extensive. At first I believed that may have been due to a side airbag going off, but if you look closely you can see an interior panel in the trunk have been removed due to damage as well.

That car was bought at that price because it is at least that valuable to part out, not repair (would be my guess).

 

[KDKPSJ]

10 grand? Now if it was 10k, the total cost for the car would be 24k, 2k above the KBB average for a non-accident 545i. Lets not get carried away here. The reason why it was 1.2k for you to fix your hood, because when body shops do estimates for repairs, they have a limit the insurance company will pay them. They always try to meet that limit so they will charge you for things you don't really need just so they can get the insurance money.

Unfortunately, nope, that's insurance fraud as Skoorb said. Also, that 1.2k was a quote from several bodyshops, and believe or not, the appraiser from insurance company estimated it to be 1.5k damage. And no, I've never let the bodyshop to deal with my insurance company unless I have to.

Anyway, glad to hear you didn't bite this one. If you did, I am sure we should have seen "Shxt, what should I do with this car! Is repair worth?" post here.

 

[mafia]

The bidding ended at $17k. I hope the winner knows what he's doing.

Thats a big difference then the original 8k. Probably could get a non-damaged one with clean title for that amount, if you really tried.

That is called insurance fraud. There is a difference between an estimate and the actual work done, otherwise any fender bender the estimator would run up the estimate as high as they could without encouraging the insurance company to write it off.

The insurance company went in to inspect and review everything before the payment was made. I'd have to look into the records and see. But from what I remember after reading the receipt, it seemed as if there were a bunch of unnecessary items.

 

[StageLeft]

Thats a big difference then the original 8k. Probably could get a non-damaged one with clean title for that amount, if you really tried.



The insurance company went in to inspect and review everything before the payment was made. I'd have to look into the records and see. But from what I remember after reading the receipt, it seemed as if there were a bunch of unnecessary items.

It's possible they replaced a lot of those items even if technically they did not need it, though. When mrs rear-ended somebody in our car the estimate was $6500 and the actual repair was $6500. I looked at the list of things replaced and it was very long. I think in this case they probably said what is the worst-case of stuff we'll need to do and that was their estimate and then they quite literally did replace all those parts even if technically when they got to them they found that maybe such and such didn't need to go. My guess is they do this instead of ripping it open and then deciding that various parts can stay because by then they've already ordered the parts and have them all sitting there and so they put them in.

I'd like to hear from somebody who really knows exactly how bodyshops estimate repairs because I am inclined to think they generally are pretty close on the final bill to the estimate.

 

[MiataNC]

I'd like to hear from somebody who really knows exactly how bodyshops estimate repairs because I am inclined to think they generally are pretty close on the final bill to the estimate.

It's been years since I was in the business...

Modern cars are designed to distribute the forces of a collision throughout the entire structure of a car. Watch a crash test in slow-mo and you will be amazed by the ripple effect that passes through the entire car. What looks like a simple door/quarter hit may require replacing structural/safety components in areas of the car that appear to be unaffected by the visible damage.

It really comes down to how experienced the estimator is. You can never see the full extent of the damage until you get the car apart and start fixing it.

With experience an estimator can tell by looking at visible damage what the invisible damage is likely to be. He/She will also have an idea of how complicated the repaint will be (some makes require a 3 step process or a complete repaint to get it right), and how much area beyond the repair zone will have to be painted to make everything match.

I always recommend people get estimates from the body shops that the dealers send their cars to. These shops will have the most experience with a given make/model, and they will give you the most complete/accurate estimate. They can then shop around for other shops if they don't want to deal with the one the dealer uses.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Just adding to the pile..


With damage like that you would want to put it on a frame machine and have it tested before buying.