I think sportracer is on the money.

Generally I will just take whatever estiamte the insurance writes and copy it verbatim into my estimating system. From there i will assign the vehicle to a body tech and have them do a COMPLETE tear down of the vehicle. At that point I will write as complete of a supplement as I can. The supplement will included any deviation in judgement times (such as panel repair/sectioning times), as well as any hidden or unseen damage that was not on the original estimate. At that point the insurance company will normally send out a feild adjuster to go over the supplement with you and come to an agreement.

I generally dont worry as much about coming to an agreement on the original estimate unless it is somethin outrageous. Like if the insurance is paying for single stage paint when the vehicle is a two stage exterior. This rarely happens though.

Sounds like at the least you need to get a new tire & recon wheel. Also, from what you described there may be some suspension damage. Usually when you perform the first alignment it will tell you if there is an issue because you will not be able to get everything within spec. dependig on which value is out of spec (chamber,caster or toe), it can give you an idea of what part may be damaged. If they replace a knuckle I would make sure they replace the hub and bearing assembly as well. I have always done this when replacing a knuckle.

I am not sure why she is giving you so much guff about the check. I have never had a problem with the insurance company making a check payable to the shop. Some insurance companies have different policies, but there should be no reason that they cant make that check payable to the shop.

Any reputable shop will give you a written lifetime warranty on the repairs. If they dont then i would suggest finding another shop. This is pretty standard these days.

a good shop should contact you at least 1-2 times a week with an update as to where the vehicle is at in the proccess and any delays that are expected at that point in time.

 

It sounds like we're probably in a pretty good spot then. The shop called after the adjuster and agent got off the phone with me and told me that the repairs have been approved and wanted to know when I should drop the truck off. We dropped it off last night. Today, I got a check in the mail from Erie for the amount of their estimate. I'm going to hold off on cashing the check as it says "Payment of Property Damage Liability" in the memo. I think that that could be construed as an acceptance of a settlement offer in full. Once the damages are repaired I'll get in contact with the shop and make sure anything above and beyond is paid for before I sign the check over to them. On my way home from work I contacted the body shop and asked if they could call me with an estimate to repair the body damage on the other side of the truck from when someone turned into the driver's side. I figured while they were working on one side the damage to the other side would be cheaper to repair. I asked them to do that on a separate estimate since I'd be paying for that side out of pocket.

Does that sound right?
mike

 

Yup that sounds about right, The payment of property damage liability does not mean that is is all they are offering, its just something they have to put on the check. I put reimbursement for damages caused on mine. The shop will now contact the adjuster for additional payment. So you should be all set. I would suggest looking over the vehicle completely when done and take a test drive first before signing the check to make sure everything is taken care of. Good luck on the repairs.

 

Any update on this? Have the repairs started? Has the shop called and updated you on the repairs? Any supplemental items as of yet?

 

Finally, an update! Hopefully, the last one.

I was called yesterday and told the truck was ready. I had the driver's side of the truck repaired as well from the previous accident I was in. That side cost me about $900.00 since they were already midway through the repairs. They said everything was ready to go, just not to come yet, because Erie had not covered the surpluses to the bill since they had to swap doors out, etc. Today, they called and said the vehicle could be picked up.

A friend took me to Enterprise to drop off the rental truck they gave me. First, I had an impala that the rental company sold and they traded it out for a 2011 f150 supercrew. Nice truck, worthless bed. Enterprise told me I owed them $450 for the rental fee. I called the adjuster and made her correct it immediately. I walked out of Enterprise without a bill. Then we went to the ford dealer to pick up the truck. The outside looks so good, I need to clean the interior. Big time. I started driving the truck back and the truck still had the ridiculous drivetrain vibration. I got it back to my office and called the adjuster. She told me to take it back to the Dealership. I told her I wasn't going to drive it again on the highway and I've put myself out enough. They could take care of it. The dealership called up and said that they never did an alignment or anything on it because the insurance company didn't tell them to. They sent a wrecker to pick up the truck. They called back about an hour later and said it was done and wanted to know where to drop the truck off. There is still a driveline vibration, but I'm thinking it could be the tires themselves. I'm putting a new set on tomorrow and the dealership said when that was done to give them a call if there was another problem.

All in all, I probably made a bigger deal out of this thing than I should have. My only regret is that I'm stuck with the little 4.6 liter engine in my truck when I really liked the 5.0 motor that was in the new f150 I got to drive. I'd really like to drop one of those engines into my truck. I may actually look

Thanks everyone for the help!
Mike

 

Good to hear. Look at the wheels on the side the vehicle was hit on. Look to see if there is a missing wheel weight. Sometimes they can get knocked off and that could cause the vibration from the wheel being out of balance.

Did the alignment help at all?

Is the vibration constant or does it only happen at certain speeds?

 

ida been pissed

 

Well, I went and had four new tires put on the truck tonight and was told by the folks at Sears that one of the ball joints on the passenger side is bad. How do you do not only one, but two alignments on a vehicle without figuring out that one of the ball joints is shot. I mean, I know sometimes you get going quick, but to do two different alignments and totally miss a bad ball joint? It sort of makes me wonder what else was missed. I do get thought that I'm unfortunately probably on the hook for my own alignment since really that is a maintenance item, but I'm inclined to ask what else they could have missed.

Speaking of what else was missed.... I went to roll down the passenger side window today for the first time and about 2/3 of the way down i hear "click, click". I roll the window back up and about 2/3 of the way up you hear "click, click". It's a sound kind of like a piece of hard cardboard getting forced into something or running over a fine crack in the pavement. It really isn't an offensive sound, but it makes me worry that perhaps something was damaged when parts were swapped over. Also, when I'm hitting the lock up, lock down button I hear a sound of metal thudding or pinging against something. Is it just that something is loose or is it likely that they just never put any sound deadener in the door? The only other problem I have is that the gasket around the door doesn't seem to fit right. The rear door seems fine.

Are these big issues, or should I just let it slide. I just hate to have a window fall randomly in the door or anything like that.

thanks folks,
Mike

Oh, and Fordordie1, I was definitely pissed. The settlement was more annoying, but getting to list it all on here was kind of therapeutic.

 

I would defiantly bring the vehicle back to the shop and complain. Those are issues that should not be there and should be fixed. As for the Ball Joint, the accident may have caused this, so worth asking the dealership if they will fix it. It wasn't there before so something caused it. I would not leave there until it is all fixed.

 

Agreed on the return to dealer. Before you go there, call, and ask to to speak with the service manager, and ask him when he will be available to meet with you, without offering too many details about why. Best left done in person. When you get there, point out ALL flaws you notice, including rattles, and window noises, and everything else they touched. If the ball joints are worn, and not damaged in the accident, you should be on the hook for the labor for that, but not the alignment. Their front end guy should have caught it. Replacing front end parts is his bread and butter, and I'm surprised he missed it.

Anyway, when you go to have this mini meeting with the manager, write a list of issues, and hand him a copy of them. Explain to him when you return to pick up your truck, you would like this list back, with everything on it checked off. With the boss involved, it is less likely to go un-noticed, and come-backs are not something management takes lightly. He should also be paying the cost for your next rental, or hand you a loaner off his lot.

As a tech, if a customer hands the boss a written list of valid complaints, you'd best be making sure this customer doesn't have to come back again a third time, it would probably be his job on the line. And with a hard copy list, and you checked it off as complete, there are no excuses.

I would also be asking the manager how his alignment guy missed the ball joints, and why they gave you a vibrating truck back in the first place, when it was one of the things you complained about in the first visit. Explain that the vibration was not there before the accident, you reported it to his employee, and it did not get fixed, and they missed something.... find it and bill the insurance company for it.

The customer is always right, even when they are wrong.

 

Thanks guys, I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow. The funny thing was that when I dropped the truck off I used their key drop. You put the key in an envelope and write on the envelope why the vehicle is there. I wrote on the envelope that the vehicle was there for Erie to do insurance repairs, but I also wrote on the envelope that there was a horrible driveline vibration that wasn't there before and that it was not to leave their shop without the driveline problem being fixed.

The driver's side, the side that I paid for, was repaired pretty well, but they had to do a bunch of work to the bed. They missed a portion of the rear bed where I jack knifed a trailer and folded the rear of the bed under the bed. The damage isn't awful, they buffed it out, but they didn't pull the portion of the bed back out so it sat right. I figured it would be included in the repairs, I think the paint was, but apparently removing the body damage wasn't? The body damage is minor enough that it looks like a person could just pull on the rear of the wheel well and make it all line back up. It only bothers me because there is a plastic trim piece on the bottom that looks like it's begging to hold enough water to rot out the bed. They called and said the estimate to repair that side would be $958 and I approved it. Final bill was $900. The $58 was to put on a trim piece that I had already bought and never put on, so I saved them the cost of the part.

Again, am I right or wrong. Honestly. I don't want more than I'm entitled to.

Mike

 

The other bed damage should have been repaired at the same time. The painter should never have painted it with out checking with the body guy or the shop foreman to see if the customer refused this part or not. A picture would be nice to give me a better idea of what we are talking about, but really, it all comes down to them making a repair estimate for "customer pay", and the tech doing the repairs didn't think he was getting paid enough to repair the extent of the damage. That, or he's a blind idiot. Sounds to me like your dealer is having some office politics problems, or in-fighting, and the customer (you) is losing. You NEVER paint a panel that is not completely repaired, unless management tells you the customer refused that portion. Even then, most shops would throw the tech a couple hours of shop time to keep the customer happy, and keep their reputation in tact.

The manager doesn't want you telling your friends and neighbors.... "look at what ABC Ford dealer neglected to fix on my truck, even after I paid them $900 to do it." I would demand that it be repaired properly too, and I wouldn't pay a dime for that work either. Yes, they are going to have to paint it again.... so be it. Just out of curiosity too, I would crawl up under the backside of the repaired area, and make sure there is some corrosion protection on it. You may very well see several blackened dime or quarter sized paint burns from removing the damage, and if not properly undercoated, will cause problems down the road.

Again, a meeting with the manager, not the front end staff, will put a stop to your problems. You are asking for your truck to be given back to you in the same condition that it was in before the accident, and they got paid to do it. That list I mentioned in my last post will fix all your troubles. Keep a copy for yourself too, in case they "lose" the other one. I would seriously ask the manager to hand you this list back to you with everything dealt with, and checked off. None of my old managers would put up with the sloppy work you are being put through. Tell the manager that you would love to end the story of your ordeal of getting your truck repaired with "but in the end, the manager at ABC Ford took care of me".

I'm sure he will make it all go away. If not.... let us know.

 

Well, I went to the Ford dealership today, with my list. I spoke not only with the head of the body shop, but the head of the service department as well. I started off with my concerns over the ball joint and questioning how their guy could have aligned a truck, twice, with a bad ball joint and didn't pick up on the fact that the ball joint was bad. Both customer service managers agreed that that was concerning. The service manager actually went and spoke with the alignment guy while I spoke with the body shop guy. A separate woman came out, presumably the woman I've been speaking with on the phone and began to get on me about how it was my tires. I told her it wasn't, the truck now has new tires and Sears stated the ball joints were bad. The service manager came back out and the three of us (not the woman) walked around the truck. We went over everything. The body shop guy agreed that they should have repaired the bed and said that the estimate probably only told the body repair guy to repair the front of the bed and not the rear of the bed. He said they'd take care of it. We talked for a while over all the issues and they asked if I wanted to leave the vehicle even though they didn't have a loaner. I told them I needed a truck as I had to make a couple of runs to the dump this weekend and unfortunately, I have to go to a funeral this weekend. They said to go take the truck and monday they'd pick it up. I said that was fine, I needed to put new rotors and pads on the front anyways. He said to put them in the truck and they'd do that with the ball joint. Gratis. They said they'd have a loaner car for me on Monday.

All in all, they were very reasonable.
I'll fill you all in more on Monday!

Thanks again,
Mike

 

Folks,

It's done. I haven't looked the truck over really close, but I did get to drive the truck home tonight and it rides better. I didn't bring in my brakes because the auto parts store wouldn't front me a set of pads (I'm apparently entitled to a free set of pads based on the ones I purchased), so I'll be doing that this weekend. Obviously, my main concern was the ball joint issue. The truck handled tighter and had no shimmy in it. I asked the body shop manager if the ball joint was bad and he didn't really answer that question he just said "we replaced it." I'm assuming that meant it was bad or that it wasn't bad but to shut me up they just replaced it.

All in all though, things seem to be good!

Thanks all for the help with this!
Mike

 

Glad to hear Mike. Did it wind up costing you any additional money to get the come-back stuff settled? I take it all the door noises are taken care of too?