aggies15

So I got in a little fender bender a few weeks ago where the front end of my car had to be replaced (hood, grill, bumper, etc.). No engine components were damaged. Initially, the repair shop told me that it would be a pretty quick turnaround since almost everything is bolt-on and/or can easily be replaced. Fast forward 1 week and they're still working on it. I follow-up with them the week after on a Monday and they tell me it should be ready by Tuesday. I call Tuesday and it's now pushed to Wednesday. It's now Friday and it's finally ready. When I spoke to them yesterday, they told me that they decided to waive my deductible as well as give me a full detail on my car.

Is this common? It's not like I've had to wait a crazy amount of time or anything for these repairs so it seems kind of odd that they would offer that without me really complaining or asking for anything. This makes me a little suspicious of what happened as my car was being fixed. If a body shop damages your car, they are responsible for reporting it, right? This could all just be the body shop doing me a solid and I'm just being a little paranoid. Any thoughts?

Also, without naming names, this is a very reputable dealer within the DFW area.

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

sounds like good service to me.

I'd be looking to make sure they didn't repair the bumper, etc. as opposed to replacing it. I've seen that before. But, paint alone is like a week long process.

aggies15

That's what I'm thinking too but just wanted to make sure that this is somewhat standard practice.

C43Ayemgee

If parts were scratched and not exactly broken, they could paint & repair them. Atleast they waived your deductible. I've waited 3 weeks twice before to fix bumpers

stockbmw

The longer the car stays at their shop, more storage fees they can charge back to the insurance.

merlin3008

I'm glad your car is back. I know how frustrating accidents can be. This is fairly normal. First off, the repair taking that long is not out of the ordinary. To do paint work correctly takes several days on its own. They have to order parts fit them paint, clear coat, etc. It take a long time. Every bit of body work I have done that was rushed has looked like it was rushed. So if it looks good, don't fight it.

Second, more than likely the body shop or dealer didn't "waive" your deductible. They're not going to just pay for part of your repair. What probably happened is that they were able to do the job for what the insurance adjuster estimated the job at without requiring you to pay the extra money. This happened to me once. I had some front end damage that the insurance adjuster estimated at $2,500. So the company wrote the body shop a check for $2,000 since I had a $500 deductible. Turns out, the body shop called me up and told me that the adjuster included a new rim in the estimate but there is no reason to replace it. It only had a small scratch and it could be repaired easily. That took the job down to $1,900. They actually gave me back $100.