While stopped in traffic today I was blessed with the front end of a Jeep CJ and a loaded tractor trailer jammed into my 2005 F 150's *** end. The jeep had one of those rock crawler skid bumpers which went right into the tailgate until his bumper finally stopped forward progress. It was a pretty hard hit. I'm left with smashed tail gate and badly bent bumper.
No ticket to the truck driver. WTF?
My worst nightmare is the off brand sheet metal that will be used to repair my truck. Keep in mind this 2005 has 33K miles and is immaculate. It has only been driven in rain 4 times!
Does anyone know how to get OEM parts out of these crappy insurance companies or prove the off brand parts are inferior?

 

Not sure how insurance works in your part of the country, but can't you just have it repaired at a Ford dealer? I doubt they would use reproduction parts since they are affiliated directly with Ford.....

 

Or, maybe you pay the difference between what the insurance company authorizes and what you want. I don't think a dealership has to use OEM parts. When I was rear ended (different truck) it was repaired where I bought it (new) and they used aftermarket sheet metal.

- Jack

 

I work at a dealer body shop and have been in the collision repair industry for over 10 years.

You can choose any repair facility you want regardless of which insurance company is handling your claim. If you want your truck to go to a Ford dealer body shop then that is where you should take it. The insurance may give you some BS such as they wont warranty the repairs if you dont take it to one of their affiliated shops or that the repairs will take longer if you dont use one of their shops. Any shop worth their salt (especially a dealer) will offer you a lifetime warranty on your repairs. The reason the insurance wants you to take it to one of their affiliated shops is because they steer work towards those shops and in turn those shops do the work and a discounted rate. Sometimes if you are lucky the dealer body shop may be an affiliated shop for that insurance company. You should call the dealer you want to take your truck to and make sure they have a body shop.

As far as parts go you should have no problem getting all OEM parts put back on your vehicle, especially if you take it to a Ford dealer body shop. Most all domestic companies have implemented a part price matching program. This means the dealer is able to match the list price of any Aftermarket/Reconditioned/Used parts. I suppose they figured selling parts at a discounted price is better than not selling any parts at all. This is one reason to be happy you drive a domestic vehicle. Some foreign manufactures are still not doing a whole lot as far as price matching programs. Toyota and Honda seem to be doing more of this lately. Of course high end manufactures such as Mercedes and BMW really dont do it much as far as I can tell.

Just inquire with the body shop before you bring it to them to see if they take advantage of any part price matching programs because you want all OEM parts put on your vehicle.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask me or PM me. Ive been dealing with insurance companies for a while now and sometimes things can get a bit confusing. I have always prided myself on being truthful and honest with customers. There is not alot of integrity in my line of work anymore and i find people on all sides are just out for the $$$. If you dont feel right about something someone tells you or you are confused please dont hesitate to give me a shout. i will do my best to give you the right answers. I hate seeing people get taken for a ride by either the insurance company or a shady repairer.

 

inbe4picsoritdidnthappen

inbe4thatllbuffrightout

 

Check with your insurance company. I know my old insurance provider (Erie) ONLY used OEM sheet metal. I of course figured that out after I left them....

Sorry to hear about the accident. Whether it's a 1905 or a 2005 I'd prefer it to be replaced with OEM parts. Those aftermarket parts never seem to fit right.