O/T - Body Shop estimate

[BigLou]

Sorry for another off topic thread but...
Last week we had an incident in our driveway involving 2 of our cars. One, a BMW suffered some dents on the drivers side rear quarter panel and rear bumper.

I thought I would handle this without the insurance company so I went to 2 body shops for estimates. One at the dealer and another that had repaired one of our cars earlier in the year which I knew was in my insurance company's network. Needles to say I was pretty shocked by the estimates. I eliminated the dealer right away because the labor rate was significantly higher and they thought he job would take 2 weeks. However the other body shop still came in twice what I was expecting so I put in a claim so that I could get another opinion.

The Allstate adjuster estimated about half the hours that the body shop had and therefore the estimate was about half of the body shop estimate, though I will admit that there was also a difference in scope of work regarding what needed to be re-painted (not the damaged area but the blending area). I called the body shop in and of course, being in network they have to honor the insurance company estimate. Both the body shop and the Allstate adjuster thought he job could be done in a week.

What I would like to do is actually pay the bill as calculated by the insurance estimate out of pocket to avoid a potential problem with my policy (it would be the 2nd claim this year). I am hoping to do that simply by paying the bill in full when the work is done and then telling Allstate to close the claim without issuing payment.

My question is - does the body shop look at someone coming in without insurance like they have a "kick me" sign on their back? The double hours thing bothers me - were they padding the estimate or is the insurance adjuster low? On the other hand, both the dealer and the body shop had similar hours - is that simply because they were using the same software to do the estimate? I guess I want to know if they were trying to get one over on me.

Anyone with experience in such matters?

 

[Blitz8RUCrazy]

tl;dnr

Body shop estimates:
$500,000 - Arm
$1,000,000 - Leg

 

[Extra Point]

I will give you an estimate for the job, ummmm, $2,950.52 Fifty two cents is for Eric.

 

[Bleed_Scarlet]

I will give you an estimate for the job, ummmm, $2,950.52 Fifty two cents is for Eric.

I don't know where you are located, but there is an excellent and honest body shop in Passaic that I have ( unfortionately ) had to use a few times and been very happy with price and service

G&C auto body

Might want to call them if they are close by

 

[mesa4234]

Once you have multiple panels/body parts affected, the shops will increase the cost immensely. They will add in blending the etc which definitely adds to the cost.

 

[RU85inFla]

Have you ever asked a doctor what his costs are without insurance? Same thing. Insurance companies negotiate better rates by guaranteeing business. You are part of the network so they should honor the rates without claim. One of your benefits as an insurance customer is access to the companies negotiated rates.

 

[czxqa]

Have you ever asked a doctor what his costs are without insurance? Same thing. Insurance companies negotiate better rates by guaranteeing business. You are part of the network so they should honor the rates without claim. One of your benefits as an insurance customer is access to the companies negotiated rates.

Yeah, healthcare works like that but that's a far cry from bodywork at a shop. The doctor either gives you the prescription or not. The dentist either fills your cavity or not. Thy don't look at you and say OK i have 17 billable hours to do this 30 hour job so where do I have to cut corners to get in under that dollar amount and still make a few bucks. He has to pay his bodyman to repair the sheet metal, bondo, block sand and then over to the paint guy to primer, paint, blend and sand again to make sure there's no orange peel in the paint, and then he has to worry that you're going to complain because even though you're only paying for 17 hours of work, you're probably still going to expect 30 hours worth of quality. The two businesses are completely different animals.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

I I think your experience is counter to what it should have been. In my experience, body shops should always charge you LESS if you tell them you aren't putting it through insurance. They try to make whatever they can off the insurance companies. If they know you are paying cash, they should do it for less.

That said, there is a huge discrepancy in prices, and most people don't know a thing about the business. A lot of these shops charge prices that can be beat by half, easily, and stay in business. There are a couple by me that are always busy, and their prices are through the roof. They trade on reputation, and because people in this area are mostly affluent and too lazy to shop around. You need to continue looking for the right body shop. If you want to get a great price, get to body shops in lower income areas. Those guys can't stay in business ripping people off like the big shops do.