Body Shop / Insurance Co.

[liquidblue]

At the suggestion to start a new thread, I'm going to ask a few other questions since I've never had to do this with body shops and insurance, etc and want to go at it the right way. Short story, OE rims and tires were stolen. Driver's side was on the ground and passengers side was up on a scissor jack placed right under the side skirt. Adjuster paid only for wheels and tires. I noticed further damage to quarter panels from forcing the wheels out in addition to the rocker panel so I took it to a shop for an estimate. They said call insurance and ask to adjust the estimate and they'll have the adjuster come in and look at the damage and approve the work at the shop and start working on it right away. Shop suggested bringing in the car on Tuesday, have the guy come in on Wednesday (a day at the shop? Is that necessary? Doesn't sound right.). Does this procedure force me to use this shop? I'd rather have the adjusted check, pay for the body work and purchase whatever rims and tires I want. Wasn't a fan of the OE rims, but having property stolen and damaged has me looking out the window every 5 minutes.

And a couple of other questions. What kind of damage, if any, would there be if the car was resting on its rotors overnight? What kind of wheel locks should I be looking at? Parked next to an Accord at the body shop and looked to me like the wheel locks on it were the exact same as the ones I'm using on borrowed rims and tires I'm using now. I guess I could just use 20 wheel locks like someone suggested in the other thread I posted. Haha.

 

[ViviTheMage]

You would have to talk to your insurance claim rep about what to do about getting a check for the rims you want, I am not sure if they'd allow you to do that, but ask him/her. They probably want you to leave your car for a day at the shop, because the insurance adjuster has a tight schedule on claims or something, I am not sure how that process works, I have never needed an adjuster before.

Man, that really sucks though...I cannot imagine waking up, going to make car, and have it on fuckin jacks and rims/tires gone...let alone the damage they did to the body of the car while stealing your rims/tires.

The best thing you can do is get not so common key locks nuts for your rims...I HIGHLY doubt they'd have the tools to drill them out on the spot, without making a lot of noise.

I would check CL/ebay for your rims/tires, since you probably know the brand of tire, and rough ware level on your rims..maybe they are stupid enough to post them on there, to try to sell them...and you can at least catch them so you don't have to look out your window every 5 minutes!

 

[Meghan54]

The best thing you can do is get not so common key locks nuts for your rims...I HIGHLY doubt they'd have the tools to drill them out on the spot, without making a lot of noise.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to defeat key lock lug nuts without a drill or other "loud" tools.

 

[ViviTheMage]

You'd be surprised how easy it is to defeat key lock lug nuts without a drill or other "loud" tools.

I am sure there are ways around it, but if it's a problem .. a little extra complexity might make them look away from stealing his again.

 

[HarryLui]

What car was this?

 

[Schadenfreude]

If your car is not in the shop already, the insurance company can send an estimator to a specified location outside of the shop (it just has to be accessible - no guard dogs, etc.); of course you will have to verify w/ your insurance company, but I'd be surprised if they declined.