So ... some d*ckwad took it upon themselves to scratch the side of my truck on the weekend and not bother hanging around to claim responsiblity . The scratch is deep -down to the metal and runs right along the area where the passanger side box panel comes up into the bed rail. The plastic bed rail is also scratched.

I went to the body shop today and they gave me an estimate of $875 to fix it which included sanding the panel down, filling the "low points" the scratch caused, prime, paint, clear etc. It also includes a new FX4 decal which Ford is charging an arm and a leg for. Needless to say 0 I'm PO'd. I've decided to go through my insurance as my deductable is only $100 and I'm covered for a rental car for the 3 days the shop will have my truck.

The wifie had an at fault accident with $1,300 damage the other car and none to hers - can't wait to see what this claim does to my insurance premiums . Sorry for the bitchin' - now to my question.

If I go the insurance route they are going to replace the OEM plastic bed rail cap as it is scratched pretty deeply. Does for sell these only in pairs or can they be had individually? Reason I ask is that they are pretty faded and if I get a new on on the passanger side and the old one stays on the drivers sice it will definately look funny. Knowing insurance company's they will try and cheap out and do only one rail if they can. If they can only buy them in pairs I'm golden .. if not I need to get the boxing gloves on. Anyone? TIA

 

They are sold individually. You will have a very hard time selling the faded theory to them. I have never seen anyone win that argument. That said, if you don't ask, the answer is a for sure no. But.... if you win that argument, go straight to the nearest 7-11 and buy yourself a lottery ticket.

 

Yup.

Its like the old argument ive heard a million times. The new paint isnt going to match my faded paint so the whole car needs to be painted.

I have yet to see anyone win that battle.

 

Guess I need to buy me a lotto ticket ..... got them to go for 2 new rails! The "preferred shop" my insurer referred me to was hestitant when I first asked him about it. After a protracted conversation he said he'd include it 2 new rails in the estimate when it was sent with the pictures to my insurance company. Just got word from my insurer that the quote was accepted as submitted and I have a date to take the truck in for the work. Guess it was my lucky day

 

this guy backed into me and his insurance gave me a check for 613 when the estimate was 720. Instead of oem stuff they told the body shop to use some place that sells "reconditioned" bumpers with light scratches since i have an 04 it "probably has worse damage than the newer one will" and a aftermarket lower valance. im glad the check was sent to me, i just pocketed it and pulled the bumper down myself. lol sorry, i just wanted to vent a little since they were griping about insurance people. haha

 

Well My06, you are a lucky man. My guess is that the insurance appraiser guy had bigger things on his mind when scanning your estimate. Count your horseshoes bud.

One small thing to watch for also, make sure that you have a new 3M clear plastic rock chip protector for the front edge of your box, and anywhere else there might be one. They really shouldn't be masked off, and if left off will rock chip and rust in a hurry in that area. Make sure the body shop knows you are expecting a new one to be installed.

 

^x2! A lot of time the person writing the estimate will miss them or the tech will forget to put them on then find them later and think "oh well,whatever" They are there for a reason.

 

A couple of good points! The way my insurance company works is I take the truck to the shop and the truck does the work and then all I do is pay the shop the deductible - which in my case is $100. The shop and the rental car company take care of all the other details.

The shop that is doing the work is my local Ford dealer so when I talked to them about using OEM parts they indicated they only use OEM parts which is an agreement the entered into with the insurance company when they became the "preferred shop" for my area. Given the dealer has this certification my insurance company will stand behind the work for as long as I own the truck.

They also indicated they will be completely tearing down the panel including removing the fender flares [FX4] including the mud flaps as some shops in the area try to get away with masking them off. I realize I got lucky on the second bed rail which helps make up for how p*ssed off I am that some TOOL trashed my truck and was a coward about it.

 

Who is your insurance company?

From what I have seen most insurance companies do not go for the use of OEM parts only. Some companies will offer an OEM endorsement which you have to pay extra for. With the endorsement you can get all OEM parts.