Pre-collision failed to work which leads to an accident. Suggestion needed.

Tomca · Dec 3, 2021

Salamander_King said: ↑

I am very sorry to hear the result of your inquiry. If I may give you a piece of advice as to how to proceed from here, try getting more estimates from other repair shops. Since you do not have insurance coverage for your vehicle, there is no "write-off" on this repair. You will be surprised to find very wide ranges of repair estimates and thus the ultimate cost for repair for the same damage. I just had very minor damage to the side of my car and had a half dozen of repair shops write up the estimate. In my case, it will be covered by my insurance, so the cost to me will not change which is $0. But for my own reference, I wanted to check it myself. As it turned out, the insurance company did virtual inspection only from photos, and the adjuster came up with a $1,693 estimate. Compared to this, six different body shops gave me a wide range of estimates from $848 to $4,419 as shown.

Geico virtual estimate from photos: $1,693 (parts $148, labor @$48/hr 28hr $1344, paint supplies $207, +misc&tax)
Local Bodyshop1 inspected: $4,419 (parts $435, labor @$55/hr 61.5hr $3382m paint supplies $548, +misc&tax)
Local Bodyshop2 inspected: $3,271(parts $781, labor @$52/hr 39hr $2028, paint supplies $358m +misc&tax)
Toyota Certified shop inspected: $2,838 (parts $476, labor @$56/hr 35hr $1960, paint supplies $378 +misc&tax)
National Bodyshop1 virtual estimate from photos: $2,212 (parts $433, labor@$55/hr 27hr $1485, paint supplies $246, +misc&tax)
Local Bodyshop3 inspected: $1,055 (parts $41, labor @$50/hr 16hr $800, paint supplies $202 +misc&tax)
Local Bodyshop4 inspected: $848 (parts $0, labor @$44/hr 15hr $660, paint supplies $176 +misc&tax)

I am taking my car to the Toyota Certified dealer body shop for the repair which is right at the middle of the pack in terms of the range but still substantially higher than the insurance estimate. In your case, since the insurance company is not involved, it will be your best interest to find a body/repair shop that is willing to fix your car at the lowest possible cost but still make the car safe to drive on the road. You may be able to find someone who can fix it less than what the first shop has indicated. Of course, if the car is not drivable, then transporting the car to a new place is going to cost you, and the shop may ask you to pay for the inspection and write up the estimate. But if it can be fixed at substantially less than the value of the car, it is more cost-effective.

And yes, please consider keeping the collision/comprehensive part of auto insurance for your future cars. I keep no deductible collision and comprehensive coverage for all our cars even when the car is 10+ years old. It may cost me a few hundred dollars more per year, but it would be so much cheaper than buying a new car. Good luck.
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Thank you very much for your kind words and your suggestion.

Pre-collision failed to work which leads to an accident. Suggestion needed.

Tomca Junior Member

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Pre-collision failed to work which leads to an accident. Suggestion needed.

Tomca Junior Member